UNION COUNTY, N.C. — Schools that have been closed for months are now set to open for students as the coronavirus continues to change people’s lives.
The first students will return to Union County Schools in 10 days, five months after they walked out of the school for the last time back in March.
Channel 9 got a first look at how local schools will protect children, like at Shiloh Valley Elementary School. Changes include symptom checks, social distancing and masks. That’s all in addition to limiting in-person learning to one day a week, with students staggering their return.
The first thing students have to do is pass a health screening. Once they get the all-clear, they can go into the school.
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It’s going to be a learning experience that looks a lot different, but one teachers say is filled with care for their students’ health and happiness.
“I‘ve been practicing for 40 years. I feel very secure we can do this safely,” Lucinda Ourant, the school nurse, said.
Ourant is a main player in making sure Shiloh Valley Elementary School ensures a safe reopening on Aug. 17.
“We’ll be wearing masks, social distancing, six-foot distancing in classrooms, in the hallway, in the cafeterias,” she said.
Each student will get five reusable masks on their first day as they follow arrows to get to class. They won’t be able to miss the posted signs reminding them to cover their cough.
Teacher Melanie Moore is already in her room, getting everything ready for her kids.
[WSOC SPECIAL SECTION: RETURN TO LEARNING]
“We’re still doing instruction. We’re still learning. It’s just different than how we did it when we went to school,” Moore said.
Those differences include eating lunch inside the classroom, having a pared-down recess without playground equipment and broadcasting lessons live to students at home, while also teaching to a small group of kids in person.
“In my class, I have the most, maybe six?” she said.
Having a small group of students is a major benefit, Moore said. Students only coming to class one day per week gives her the opportunity to have one-on-one time with each of her students that they didn’t get in the spring.
“Really focus on getting them the extra attention they need,” Moore said.
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One of the big questions is what are schools doing if students or staff start to show COVID-19 symptoms once they’re already inside the building. The nurse said that they are currently creating an isolation room, where anyone who is symptomatic will go until she can examine them.
Despite the changes, some teachers still aren’t comfortable returning. Some said they were never given a choice of returning or going all virtual, and feel the district misled them.
Thursday night, the School Board Chairwoman sent Channel 9 a statement saying a survey of about half the teachers found 86% felt comfortable returning. However, we have obtained a copy of the survey, and comfort wasn’t directly addressed in the questions.