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CMS Tells Families Screen-Time Relief Is Coming

Charlotte Barber
McAlpine Elementary students doing remote lessons from a neighborhood pod.

Relief is coming for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools families who say remote learning means too much screen time for their children, Chief Academic Officer Brian Kingsley told the school board Tuesday.

He says CMS will release new standards for screen time next week.

Kingsley says the change comes in response to complaints from families who say their students are tied to a computer screen for hours on end every school day.

That was never the intent, he said, but some lessons and assignments have run long as educators try to make up for time lost during last spring’s hasty switch to remote lessons.

"We want to make sure that we’re minimizing screen time as much as possible," Kingsley said.

He said elementary and middle school principals are already starting to offer families print alternatives to some online work.

"If we do have families that want to be less reliant on our curriculum and resources that are available to them via technology and more reliant on the actual books that they can read at home, we have personal copies for our students as well as workbooks and other print resources," Kingsley said.

Kingsley noted that remote learning will continue to play a big role as the district transitions into Plan B this fall. That plan calls for students to rotate between one week in class and two weeks at home to allow for safe distancing in schools.

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Ann Doss Helms has covered education in the Charlotte area for over 20 years, first at The Charlotte Observer and then at WFAE. Reach her at ahelms@wfae.org or 704-926-3859.