At Davie County Schools we are dedicated to being a trusted resource for your family and always making decisions in the best interest of children. By being one of the few districts in our area to open to in-person learning in August, our teachers and staff have shown an unwavering commitment to our students. We appreciate the trust families and the community have shown in our team. The current process we have in place has brought us far during an incredibly tough time. We have been able to avoid major disruptions to instructional time and were able to open in Plan A for elementary schools in October, which has meant limited instructional interruption for students this school year as well. We are confident in our positioning as a district and the tough decisions we have had to make to benefit our students this year.
Senate Bill 220 has been signed to ensure all NC schools open for in-person instruction in Plan A or B, at the discretion of local districts. It is important to note that Davie County Schools is already in compliance with Senate Bill 220. We have had thorough conversations involving our district leadership team, the Board of Education, the districts’ attorney, principals, teachers, other district leaders, Davie County and North Carolina Departments of Health and Human Services, Department of Public Instruction representatives, and members of the ABC Science Collaborative. We have also heard from many parents, students, and community members. This collective feedback has helped drive our decision-making process and confirmed that we must think through the advantages and disadvantages of our decisions for the short and long term wellbeing of our students and staff.
I have been a strong advocate for providing in-person learning for our students this year to the full extent of the law. However, I want to accomplish that in a way that is most beneficial for our students. Making a plan shift at this point in the year would involve significant changes in student schedules, reassignment of teachers, classroom capacity issues and more. Given our steady and successful course of action thus far, we are concerned that the disruption for students would outweigh the benefits of gaining limited in-person instructional days before the end of the year. With students preparing for and taking exams the last two weeks of the school year, we would gain only 12-14 instructional days, plus we must consider transition time for students to adjust to the mid-semester teacher and schedule changes that are inevitable. Additionally, by not maintaining social distance in Plan A, the impact of more widespread student quarantines could cause even more in-person time lost than staying in our current plan. Moving forward, we will stay the course with our current schedule and not disrupt our students any more this year. Transparency is important, so I encourage you to take a moment to watch our specially called board meeting from today. Our meeting provides even more in depth details and discussion.
We are planning for the long term to make sure we are on track for a more stable and routine 2021-22 school year. We have come too far to make changes that could upset future planning, take away from the hopes of a graduation ceremony for our seniors, or put students and staff in an unsafe environment. Again, we appreciate your support as we make these important decisions in the best interest of our children. Thank you!
