Thursday, Sept. 24, by a 5-4 vote, the Guilford County Board of Education approved a reopening plan for Guilford County Schools (GCS).
It’s all based on public health indicators continuing to trend in the right direction, which means a sudden upsurge in COVID-19 cases could delay the whole process.
In October, pre-K through fifth grade students will be back in the classroom five days a week And middle school students will spend two days in the classroom per week. In January, high school students will return to the classroom two days per week.
Pre-K through second grade students will be returning on Oct. 20 and third through fifth grades will return on Oct. 26.
The elementary schools will follow the state’s Plan B, using all available space to allow for social distancing. Morehead Elementary and Rankin Elementary will be housing their fifth grade students at other sites.
Students at four separate schools, Gateway Education Center, Haynes-Inman Education Center, Herbin-Metz Education Center and Christine Greene Education Center, will also return five days a week.
Three schools that serve both elementary and middle school students – The Academy at Lincoln, Allen Jay Prep and Johnson Street Global Studies – will be following both the elementary and middle school guidelines.
Middle schools will return for two days of in-classroom instruction per week, beginning with sixth graders on Oct. 20. Seventh and eighth graders will begin on Oct. 26. Half of the middle school students at each school will attend on Mondays and Tuesdays and half on Thursdays and Fridays.
Wednesday will be reserved for remote learning for all students and for deep cleaning the buildings, which will also be deep cleaned on Friday evenings.
High school students will not be back in the classroom until next semester, beginning on Jan. 20, and will follow the same guidelines as middle school students with two days of in-classroom learning per week.
However, specific groups of middle and high school students, including students who are homeless, students in foster care, students with disabilities who are served in self-contained classrooms, students in the first year of English language acquisition and students with multiple risk factors will return to the classroom on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays beginning Oct. 20.
The daily schedule for students will also be altered, with the elementary school day running from 7:35 a.m. to 2:05 p.m., the middle school day will be from 8:35 a.m. to 3:25 p.m. and the high school day from 9:35 a.m. to 4:25 p.m.
Students may be registered for the virtual schools until Monday, Sept. 28 at 5 p.m.
More information on the planned reopening of GCS can be found at www.gcsnc.com/reopening .
