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See the latest news and updates about COVID-19 and its impact on the Charlotte region, the Carolinas and beyond.

As New School Year Nears, NC Revises COVID-19 Rules And Offers Money For School Nurses

A new compromise bill will require all K-5 schools to hold classes five days a week with no need for physical social distancing.
Nancy Pierce
/
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
State officials say face coverings remain the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools.

North Carolina health officials are working on streamlined rules for COVID-19 safety in schools, as they prepare for a year when vaccination is up, cases are down and students are expected to return in person.

"We really should take a moment and feel celebratory about how far we've come, because rates of community transmission are relatively low," Chief Deputy Health Secretary Susan Gale Perry told the state Board of Education Thursday. "We are getting more folks vaccinated; we need to do more work on that."

She said her office plans to update its rules later this month, eliminating some mandates to reflect the lower risk and latest research. For instance, she said quarantine rules are likely to be revised or eliminated.

"We are also very aware that more districts now want flexibility to react to the unique circumstances in their community," Perry said. "There is considerable variability across our state, in communities and in counties, as far as the percentage of the population that is actually vaccinated."

But the requirement that students and adults wear face coverings in school seems likely to continue. Perry said data from North Carolina schools last year indicates that masks could prove useful at a time when children under 12 still can't be vaccinated, many adults have chosen not to be and the highly contagious Delta variant is reaching the state.

"Proper masking was the most effective and has been the most effective mitigation strategy to prevent COVID-19 in schools," she said. "And they found that that was the case more so even than the social distancing."

That won't be popular with everyone. In Union County, some parents and school board members have said it's time to lift the mandate. Iredell-Statesville Schools recently issued a news release saying the district "anticipates masks to be optional," later clarifying that it was based on an erroneous assumption that the COVID-19 state of emergency would be over June 30.

CDC Weighs In

Perry told the board the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to update its guidance on COVID-19 safety in schools in the next few days. State officials want to incorporate that information into their revised rules, she said.

That update was released Friday. It emphasizes the importance of offering in-person classes and says masks generally aren't needed outside. But it says face coverings should be used indoors for anyone who's not vaccinated.

"CDC recommends schools maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance between students within classrooms, combined with indoor mask wearing by people who are not fully vaccinated, to reduce transmission risk," the update says. "When it is not possible to maintain a physical distance of at least 3 feet, such as when schools cannot fully re-open while maintaining these distances, it is especially important to layer multiple other prevention strategies, such as indoor masking."

Screening Tests And More School Nurses

The state Board of Education also heard a report on COVID-19 screening tests in schools. The state has $300 million in federal aid to spend on a screening program for K-12 schools, and state nursing supervisor Ann Nichols said more than $200 million of that will be available to beef up school nursing staff across the state. To get the aid, school districts will have to add COVID-19 screening tests in the coming school year.

Nichols said those nurses can also help with other needs. For instance, she said vision screenings were sidelined during the pandemic.

"In order to make sure that students aren’t going two or three years without vision screening and unidentified and treated visual deficiencies, this staff could be used to expand a screening testing that the school normally does in order to catch up," she said.

Districts and charter schools have until Sept. 13 to opt in to the COVID-19 testing program, which qualifies them for the aid to hire and train school nurses.

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Updated: July 9, 2021 at 4:00 PM EDT
Updated to reflect the release of new CDC school guidelines.
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.