Merrill: WCPS has to “analyze local implications” of potential move to Plan A for elementary schools

Gov. Roy Cooper paved the way Thursday for the Wayne County Board of Education to move forward with a Plan A reopening for elementary school students — a decision that could come at the board’s October meeting, if not sooner.

Middle and high schools, however, must still operate on the state’s Plan B hybrid model.

And while the state-mandated Virtual Academy would remain intact for those parents who do not want their children to return to campus, should the BOE give WCPS schools the green light, thousands of local children could begin a return that is closer to “normal” than Plan B has been able to offer.

More students will be allowed to ride together on buses and occupancy limits in classrooms would be eliminated.

But certain precautions — including mandatory mask-wearing — would remain.

The district will still be required to adhere to the following checklists, which were published this summer as part of the “StrongSchoolsNC Public Health Toolkit.”

Everything from health screenings, frequent hand-washing and procedures that must be followed in the event symptoms are displayed on a school campus are included.

In a memo sent to staff by interim superintendent Dr. James Merrill that was released by WCPS Thursday, the district leader said he and his team will work in the coming days to “analyze the local implications of such a move” and said the welfare of students and staff remains “paramount for district leadership.”

Specific areas of interest, Merrill said, include:

• Potential cleaning and supplies needed for schools to operate under Plan A.

• Uncertainty of how many K-5 students will request to be moved to the Virtual Academy and the timeline needed for parents to request such moves.

• Potential impacts to teacher and student schedules.

• Implications of split (5th grade) grade configurations between elementary and middle schools.

• Potential challenges and timeline needed to schedule bus routes in Plan A.

• Determining “Plan A” logistics and the timeline needed for potential implementation.