Cooper: ‘Now it is time to get our children back in the classroom’

The governor was joined by State Superintendent Catherine Truitt, State Board of Education Chair Eric Davis and Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Mandy Cohen in pushing for the return of students to the classroom.

The leaders sent a letter to local school board members and superintendents on Tuesday encouraging in-person instruction across the state.

>> Read the letter here.

According to leaders, research shows that with proper mitigation measures, in-person learning is safe.

“Protecting the health and safety of the people of this state, especially our children and our teachers, has been our goal,” Cooper said. “We know school is important for reasons beyond academic instruction. School is where students learn social skills, get reliable meals, and find their voices. Research done right here in North Carolina tells us that in-person learning is working and that students can be in classrooms safely with the right safety protocols in place.”

Cohen said safe in-person learning requires proper safety protocols, which the state has worked to put in place since the start of the pandemic.

”Even with the thousands of students and teachers attending school in-person across the state, we have seen few COVID-19 clusters in our public schools,” Cohen said. “Our department will continue to serve our school communities, offering resources and support so we can keep our school doors open.”

NCDHHS released an updated public health toolkit, which details specific health and safety protocols K-12 schools must implement to keep students and teachers safe during in-person instruction.

According to the new guidance, “Kindergarten – 5th Grade Students should return to in-person instruction five days per week to the fullest extent possible while following all public health protocols.”

The guidance also states that students and teachers who have health issues should be given the option to remain fully remote.

The governor did not give a timeline for when districts should make the switch to in-person learning but said he is flexible and willing to work with local districts.

“Let’s give these local boards a chance,” Cooper said. “They’ve had to make some very tough decisions on the ground. I think we agree our decisions are best made about education at a local level.”

[ County-by-county guide: Here’s when, where you can get the COVID-19 vaccine ]

Increasing evidence suggests that, with prevention measures in place, there are low rates of COVID-19 transmission in primary and secondary school settings even with high rates of community transmission. Data also shows that children infected with COVID-19 generally have mild or no symptoms, and are less likely to spread the disease.

“Learning loss resulting from COVID has the potential to be a generational hurdle, but the data we have seen shows us that schools can reopen safely if they adhere to COVID prevention policies,” Truitt said. “For many schools, the logistics of returning to in-person instruction five days per week will be a challenge, but this is absolutely a challenge we must face head-on so that all students have a chance to fulfill their potential. With strong prevention measures in place, and the scientific research to back them, now is the time to act. North Carolina’s students cannot lose any more time.”

“We know that to equitably and fully address the needs of the whole child in every student, it is imperative that schools reopen for in-person instruction,” Davis said. “Since August, public school leaders have proven the merits of the safety protocols that have kept our schools safe for students and staff.”

Cooper now finds himself in the unique position of being at odds with both Republican leaders and the state’s largest lobbying group for teachers. The North Carolina Association of Educators wants more reopening money and safety protections for teachers, while Republicans are calling for a statewide requirement to swiftly reopen K-12 schools.

“We were really disheartened by what we heard at the press conference today,” said Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE president.

She urges the governor to reconsider his decision.

“It’s really important that people know that we all want to return to in-person instruction,” Kelly said.

“Even some states have made teachers a priority by setting aside supply for educators to get vaccinated. We want North Carolina to join these other groups.”

The governor said he has issues with a plan from state lawmakers that would force districts to offer at least partial in-person instruction to all of their students, though parents must be given the choice to keep their kids at home.

“I don’t think that’s the way to go,” Cooper said. “I think the way to go is to get our local boards to take this action, and I believe that most of them will do and hopefully all of them will do so because it’s the right thing to do.”

[ ALSO READ: North Carolina lawmakers propose bill mandating in-person K-12 classes ]

Cooper said he worries Senate Bill 37 would compromise safety guidelines and added local school boards need flexibility to make decisions on their own. The governor also cited local control as a reason for his decision not to issue an executive order.

In September, Cooper encouraged districts to reopen K-5 classes for in-person instruction. He did not extend that recommendation to middle schools and high schools. Updated guidance from his administration on Tuesday reiterates prioritization for younger students by allowing elementary school kids to go back in person without having to maintain 6 feet of physical distancing.

The bill introduced by three Republican lawmakers and supported by GOP leadership cleared its first committee vote on Tuesday.

“These poor little kids, sitting in front of these screens, it’s just criminal what we’re doing to them,” said GOP Senate Majority Whip Tom McInnis during the education hearing. “We need to put them back in the classroom. We need to give the option which you’ve given here. This is great legislation.”

The plan calls for all K-12 students to return to in-person instruction within a couple of weeks of it becoming law. Cooper hinted at his opposition to the bill as is, but did not say whether he would veto it if it reached his desk.

“We’ll continue talking to the legislature,” Cooper said. “I have concerns with this legislation that’s going through right now and hope today spurs actions by local school boards, and I think that that will happen.”

The change is a relief for some and scary for others, but it’s not expected to have much of an impact on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School district, where all students are remote until at least Feb. 12.

Pre-K, elementary and kindergarten through 8th grade students and some students with disabilities are set to return to the classroom on a rotating basis starting Feb. 15. Students in traditional middle and high schools are set for their return on Feb. 22.

CMS Superintendent Earnest Winston has continually said the district is ready to bring back students, but said he would give a comprehensive update at next week’s board meeting.

The strong encouragement from the governor certainly makes Feb. 15 date more likely, but it doesn’t mean everyone is pouring into school buildings.

CMS is bringing in students under Plan B -- which is a mix of in-person and remote learning.

In Cabarrus and Union counties, schools are also operating under hybrid plans. Younger kids are back 4 days a week and middle and high school students are back 2 days.

“Unless I have a vaccine, I’m not going to feel fully confident and safe,” said Heather Drye, a seventh-grade teacher in Cabarrus County.

Drye said that her son struggled after contracting COVID-19, while a close family member died from complications connected with the virus.

“That’s just what’s so scary is how it can affect people differently,” Drye said. “If we need to go back, why can’t we get vaccinated now?”

She added, “It’s just sad, because I feel the state’s losing a lot of teachers over this, because they just feel they’re underappreciated.”

Chair of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education Elyse Dashew sent Channel 9 the following statement:

“If there is one thing we all agree on, it’s that students need to be back in the classroom. Virtual learning works for some students, but not all. The Governor and the counties have a responsibility to give school districts every tool possible to make the classroom safe, especially while COVID rates are high and new strains are emerging. This includes following Dr. Fauci’s call to offer surveillance testing and to expedite vaccinations for school staff. This also means following the latest CDC guidance which reinforces the importance of taking steps to reduce community transmission.

Our board voted on January 12 to bring students back into their schools on February 15 and February 22. That will be a joyful day, and we will do everything in our power to keep our students and staff safe.”

Teacher advocates are upset Cooper and public health officials have not placed teachers higher up in the vaccine priority list.

Tamika Walker Kelly, president of the educators association, criticized Cooper’s decision to pressure districts to go forward with more in-person instruction.

Kelly said in a statement that “without the widespread vaccination of educators and strictly enforced social distancing, it is impossible for many schools to open safely. ... If Governor Cooper feels so strongly about resuming in-person instruction quickly, then he should support educators and immediately bring the full weight of his office to bear to get all educators vaccinated by the end of this month, just as 25 other states have been able to do.”

NC reports lowest number of new virus cases in over a month

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is reporting 2,926 new positive COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, which is the lowest number in more than a month.

There are a total of 2,741 hospitalizations, with 261 people admitted within the last 24 hours. The daily percent positive rate is 10.2%, a slight increase from the past few days. 67 more deaths were reported, totaling 9,409 since the start of the pandemic.

Two new resources that will help provide North Carolinians with more information on vaccines were also announced. First, the state’s call center has now expanded its operations and will be open seven days a week to help answer questions about vaccine eligibility, how the vaccines work and more. The number for the call center is: 888-675-4567. Additionally, NCDHHS launched an online search tool where users can enter their ZIP code or current location to find nearby vaccine providers.

As of Monday, 26.5 million Americans have received one or both coronavirus shots. According to Bloomberg, there are now more people vaccinated than there are COVID-19 cases. Since the start of the pandemic, 26.2 million Americans have tested positive for the virus.

North Carolina marked more than a million doses of the vaccine administered across the state on Monday.

What about closer to home?

As of Tuesday morning, there were 86,872 cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) with 786 deaths due to COVID-19 reported among Mecklenburg County residents.

Highlights about the 86,204 COVID-19 cases reported in Mecklenburg County as of January 31, 2021 include:

• About 3 in 4 reported cases were adults ages 20 to 59 years old.
• About 1 in 20 reported cases were hospitalized due to their COVID-19 infection. While everyone is at risk for severe COVID-19 complications, reported cases who were older adults (≥ 60 years) were more likely to be hospitalized compared to younger individuals.
• About 8 out of 10 have met CDC criteria to be released from isolation.
• During the past week, an average of 610 laboratory-confirmed infections per day were reported compared to the 14-day average of 641 confirmed infections. This represents a decrease over the last 14 days. These data are based on Mecklenburg resident cases reported to MCPH.
• During the past week, an average of 372 individuals with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infections were hospitalized at acute care facilities in Mecklenburg County. This represents a decrease over the last 14 days. These data are based on daily census counts from acute care facilities in Mecklenburg County reporting to MCPH.
• During the past week, an average of 10.7 percent of individuals who were tested in Mecklenburg County were positive for COVID-19. This represents a slight decrease trend over the last 14 days. These data only include ELRs for molecular (PCR) tests submitted to NC DHHS for laboratories electronically submitting negative and positive COVID-19 results.
• Seven hundred-seventy-seven deaths due to COVID-19 occurred among reported cases.
• Almost all deaths were among older adults (≥ 60 years), 13 deaths occurred in adults ages 20 to 39 and 89 deaths were adults ages 40 to 59.
• All deaths, except nineteen, occurred among adults with underlying chronic illnesses.
• Almost half were non-Hispanic Whites. The disparity in COVID-19 deaths among non-Hispanic Whites is related to differences in race/ethnicity of residents of long-term care (LTC) facilities actively experiencing an outbreak.
• Nearly half of deaths were connected to active outbreaks at long-term care (LTC) facilities.
• Among deaths not connected to outbreaks at long-term care facilities, nearly 3 in 4 were non-White, with 40 percent being non-Hispanic Black. As previously noted, these disparities are largely driven by higher rates of underlying chronic conditions that increase risk of severe complications due to COVID-19 infection among these communities

Based on publicly available mobility tracking data, social distancing represents a fairly stable trend in Mecklenburg County over the last 14 days.