Ann Doss Helms

State and local officials are working to clear the way for parents to create neighborhood learning pods – and for schools and community groups to launch supervised settings for remote learning. 

As parents scramble to find care while schools are teaching remotely, Iredell-Statesville Schools is creating a network of options using empty classrooms, reassigned staff and a lot of help from community partners. 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools opened to teachers and other employees Thursday to prepare for a pandemic school year like no other.

At least, most of the district's 177 schools opened. The district confirmed Thursday evening that Walter G. Byers K-8 School and Hawthorne Academy of Health Sciences told employees to work remotely "while the facilities were cleaned and disinfected due to a positive COVID case in those facilities."

More than 9,000 Charlotte-Mecklenburg teachers are returning to their classrooms Thursday to prepare for the start of school. Some of them are wondering: If the schools aren’t safe for students, are they safe for us? 

Gaston County commissioners voted 6-1 Monday night to move a Confederate monument that has stood in front of the courthouse since 1912.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board voted unanimously Thursday to cancel in-person orientation and join at least 52 other North Carolina school districts in an all-remote opening Aug. 17.

A majority of Gaston County commissioners Tuesday night agreed to seek legislative approval to let citizens vote whether to remove a Confederate monument outside the county courthouse. The move followed a public hearing where most speakers favored removal.   

A majority of North Carolina's 1.5 million public school students will begin the year learning from home.

That has become clear less than two weeks after Gov. Roy Cooper recommended that schools open in person with social distancing on Aug. 17. But all-remote remained an option, and the Cabarrus County school board's Thursday night vote to pursue that option pushed the total past 50%.

On Tuesday the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board heard from people who asked for less in-person class time in August, as well as people who asked for more. But officials stayed focused on how to carry out the school reopening plan they approved last week. 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools families have until Sunday to enroll their kids in a Full Remote Academy if they don’t feel safe letting them return to school. But CMS has chosen a remote experience for all students, at least for several weeks. 

About 2,100 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools employees are at risk of losing their paychecks if the district’s all-remote plan stretches well into the school year. 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will reopen for two weeks of in-person orientation starting Aug. 17, then shift to remote learning for an indefinite time.

North Carolina school districts now have two options for reopening in August. They can start with a mix of remote and in-person classes that allows for social distancing, or decide it’s not safe to bring students back and start the year remotely. 

A panel of Gaston County residents voted 7-5 Monday to remove a Confederate monument that has stood in front of the county courthouse for 88 years. The vote came after heated debate over whether the statue represents white supremacy. 

Schools in Charlotte and across North Carolina have been closed since mid-March because of the coronavirus. Online classes became the new norm. Many in-person graduations, sporting events and proms were canceled. Now, state health officials say North Carolina’s coronavirus trends are moving in the wrong direction. As fall draws closer, what’s next for schools? Will buildings reopen?

Home-schooling has been growing steadily across North Carolina, especially in the Charlotte region. And early signs hint that those numbers could keep growing in the coming school year. 

There was a lot of talk about unity and common ground at the first meeting of Gaston’s Council of Understanding, but sharp differences emerged, too. Twelve volunteers gathered to hear each other’s views of the towering Confederate monument that stands outside the courthouse where they met.

Twelve volunteers will walk past a towering Confederate monument into the Gaston County Courthouse Tuesday to discuss whether that statue should be removed. The outcome will provide one measure of just how much perspectives are shifting on matters of race, power and history. 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students could cycle through one week of in-person classes and two weeks of remote learning after they return to school Aug. 17. That’s one scenario for coping with the coronavirus presented Wednesday night.