Avery County schools go full remote to minimize virus spread ahead of Thanksgiving

AVERY COUNTY, N.C. — Avery County Schools have switched to full remote learning to minimize virus spread ahead of Thanksgiving.

All schools in the district will learn from home Monday and Tuesday before they go on break for the holiday.

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School officials said it’s partially due to concerns that Thanksgiving will lead to more COVID-19 cases across the county, which is in the critical tier for the virus with a 14-day positivity rate of more than 11%.

Avery County Superintendent Dan Brigman told Channel 9 the impact has not been as severe on the school system. There are 2,000 students who attend Avery County schools but only about a dozen have tested positive for the virus.

“We hope to move forward and minimize the exposure risks in our schools. This is a precautionary measure. We have had some positive cases in our schools. We try to be as transparent as possible with our stakeholders,” Brigman said.

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The county returned to in-person instruction in mid-August, which is much earlier than other school systems in our area. All students in the district attend class four days a week.

According to Brigman, the school district was in close contact with the health department and county manager before making the difficult decision to go all remote. They plan on bringing the students back next week.