CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After Governor Roy Cooper gave a baseline to all school districts to at least offer a mix of in-person and virtual learning, some of CMS's own employees are asking for the district to only offer remote learning.
With about a month until school starts again, CMS teachers and parents still don't know what the school year will look like, even with the governor giving his recommendation.
Each district will now have to make their own decision.
"School districts will have the option of plan C, all remote learning," Cooper said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
CMS plans to make its decision at a Special Meeting on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
"I think that it's a great time to be innovative and to continue where we left off," said Cara Waite, a fifth-grade teacher at Oaklawn Language Academy in Charlotte, a CMS school.
She believes all students learn better in-person and in a classroom, but doesn't believe it's worth the risk in a COVID-19 world with so many unknowns.
"I just don't think it's the right situation for us to be the guinea pigs," she said.
Waite said she thinks plan B, the hybrid plan, would work great for districts in counties that aren't being hit hard by the virus.
Since Mecklenburg County is leading the state in cases, she wants to see CMS choose remote learning only for at least the first quarter of the school year, or until cases start to level off.
"I'd say my worst fear, is getting myself sick, my family sick, my elderly parents, grandparents, my son sick," Waite said.
If she's told to go to a classroom to teach, she said would, but she'd be timid and nervous to do so.
But some parents are hoping CMS will choose plan B so their children get some in-person learning.
"I really want him to have that structure of school," said Belinda Johnson, whose son will start kindergarten in a CMS school in the 2020-2021 school year.
"Going into kindergarten this is like the foundation for him," she added.
As a working nurse, her biggest concern is leaving the virtual teaching up to Kendrick's grandparents.
"And with them being in their 60s, I mean, they just got an iPhone a couple of years ago, if that tells you anything," Johnson added. "For him to have to learn online, that's scary."
She said she would prefer classroom instruction full time, as long as safety precautions are taken.
WCNC will bring you the decision CMS makes on Wednesday both on-air and online, once it's made.