CRAVEN COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) – School district leaders in Eastern Carolina are worried about a spike in coronavirus cases among students and staff following the upcoming winter break, especially after the recent surge they saw following Thanksgiving.
The Craven County Board of Education is holding a special meeting on December 29th to review coronavirus trends in the community to help them decide whether it is safe for students to return to face-to-face instruction in January.
Lead Nurse for the district Amy Heflin says if families can try to stay home and limit exposure, they can keep everyone in the schools safe. “I understand our board is going to meet later this month and make a decision, but we’re hoping families will cooperate and help us so that we can get the kids back in school as soon as possible,” said Heflin.
Carteret County Schools decided to start remote learning in January for a few weeks to allow for an anticipated surge following the holidays. Dr. Rob Jackson, the School Superintendent, says the remote learning start is being implemented to keep more people from being potentially exposed if there is an increase in COVID cases.
“Out an abundance of caution, our board of education made the determination to make a virtual bubble if you will, following our winter holiday, to allow us to get past that post-winter holiday surge so that when we return on January 19th, we’ll be able to hit the ground running hopefully with no hiccups,” said Dr. Jackson.
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