Having lost many parts of their final year of high school to COVID-19, including prom, awards nights and other senior activities, many Orange County seniors are relying on their graduation to be one final hurrah.
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services' P-EBT program, which aims to help North Carolinians combat food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic, will provide families across the state with additional food benefits.
This story is the third of a series featuring the newly elected members of the Orange County Schools Board of Education. Jennifer D. Moore has 12 years of experience in North Carolina's public school system as an exceptional children's instructional assistant. One of her priorities will be providing students with the resources they need for success during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Orange County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School boards' budget proposals are likely to change after review from the County Commissioners due to unexpected revenue loss from COVID-19.
Orange County Schools Superintendent Monique Felder told Board members that the program would expand New Hope Elementary’s existing dual-language program. According to a board member, a bilingual teacher would switch between Spanish and English throughout lessons, allowing for both native English and Spanish speakers to learn some of each language.
Students, parents and teachers in local school districts are trying to adjust as schools transition online due to COVID-19. Caroline Spencer, whose son is a senior at East Chapel Hill High School, said her son has been assigned grades in his classes based on his work from before school shut down, and his classes have been canceled. “He's pretty much done,” she said. “He’s been accepted to college and he probably won't have a prom or graduation, and he's right now just focused on hoping that he gets to start school in the fall.”
This story is the second of a series featuring the newly elected members of the Orange County Schools Board of Education. Carrie Doyle, who has been both a teacher and a parent in Orange County Schools, said she hopes she can be a voice that encourages cooperation while also seeking to make sure that all voices are heard.
The cancellation of school and senior year events have nonetheless presented a challenging time for the high school graduating class of 2020.
More than 60 percent of the district’s students receive free or reduced-price lunches, he said. That’s why Durham Public Schools launched a daily meal support program on March 23 after closing schools a week before. For two weeks, district employees distributed meals to students at 81 sites across the county. But on April 6, the district stopped the program after an on-site employee tested positive for COVID-19 and most of its staff applied for state emergency paid leave through April 30.
The Board approved a recommended budget that included: $230,000 to address compliance with Orange County Living Wage State-mandated costs for retirement or hospitalization $78,000 to complete Chapel Hill High School’s renovation And $1,580,000 to reduce class sizes.
We know students, parents and teachers who are adjusting to online schooling have stories to tell — and we want to help you tell them.
The Board debated on many aspects of the budget, such as whether to expand the preschool dual-language program, food distribution for students during COVID-19 and teachers' responses to remote learning.
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board of Education met Thursday night to discuss the superintendent’s recommended budget in the wake of COVID-19.
The North Carolina State Board of Education approved the “State of Emergency” COVID-19 sick leave for school employees on March 27. How will this affect essential school employees like custodians?
Bus drivers and nutritional workers in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools system have been volunteering in a lunch program to provide students with meals during the COVID-19 outbreak. Just as Durham Public Schools ends their lunch program, CHCCS agrees to pay the workers in their district for volunteering.
The money for these projects, among others, would come from the new Climate Action Tax that the commissioners approved as part of the budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year. It is estimated that the additional quarter-cent property tax will generate approximately $469,272 in revenue for the county to use for climate mitigation projects.
The U.S. Department of Education recently announced that states would be able to bypass federal standardized testing requirements for the 2019-2020 school year due to complications imposed by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Current superintendent of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools has been placed on medical leave, so Abele will be taking action to lead adjustments due to COVID 19.
In preparation for the implementation of at-home learning until May 15, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education estimated the need for 225 MiFi hotspots to address the technology gap among elementary school students. The Board is also setting up approximately 500 Chromebooks for elementary school students that will tentatively be available for pick-up at the Lincoln Center or may be delivered to students directly.
With the closing of all public schools until March 30, students in CHCCS and OCS face a new struggle: remote learning.
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