MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Mooresville students will soon be back to in-person learning a full five days a week if their families choose for them to do so.
In a news release Friday, the Mooresville Graded School District (MGSD) announced the Board of Education had unanimously accepted the recommendation of superintendent Stephen Mauney to make the return under Plan A on April 7, 2021. The board says the district submitted a plan to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) and shared relevant COVID-related data with the ABC Science Collaborative out of Duke University. That submission enabled grades 6-12 to fully return under Plan A, but now MGSD is expanding the full in-person plan to all students.
The district admitted that social distancing is not possible under Plan A, but there are several safety protocols the district says will be in place. Among those requirements include temperature checks, masking, thorough disinfecting, and not holding large gatherings like an assembly. MGSD also said the district would continue contact tracing and quarantining.
The April 7 date was chosen to allow the district to hash out transportation logistics, order food for school meals, return furniture to classrooms, and ensure teachers have the opportunity to be fully vaccinated.
Parents who chose for children in grades 6-12 to learn fully virtual can still have their students complete the year fully at home. However, MGSD says they're allowing flexibility for families who may have changed their mind after filling out commitment forms in February based on the previous two-cohort plan. Any families who wish to switch their students to learning fully virtual or fully in-person need to contact their child's school by 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 24 to make the change. However, families who don't want anything to change either way do not need to do anything; their child will remain fully virtual if that was their choice or will return to full in-person learning if their child was already in-person under Plan B.