75 cehts
THE CHRONICLE
See Opinion/Forum pages on A4 &5
See Sports on page Bl
Volume 46, Number 47
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.
THURSDAY, August 6, 2020
Hairston discusses Plan ( for school
reopening in virtual town hall
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
In less than two weeks
students will return to their
virtual classrooms for the
start of the 2020 school
year. To help shed some
light on what learning will
look like here in Winston-
Salem/Forsyth County,
last week Superintendent
Angela Hairston partici
pated in a virtual town hall
where she discussed ‘Plan
C’ and answered questions
from the community.
Last month Gov. Roy
Cooper gave districts the
power to choose whether
to open schools under Plan
B, which calls for schools
to limit the maximum oc
cupancy of all facilities to
50% and other restrictions,
or Plan C, which continues
remote or virtual learn
ing. A few days later, the
Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County Schools Board
of Education approved a
recommendation made by
Hairston to open schools
under Plan C.
Hairston said when
looking at the number of
COVID-19 cases in For
syth County, the number of
teachers and other employ
ees who don’t feel safe re
turning to the classroom,
and the lack of resources,
opening schools under
Plan B at this time would
be putting lives in danger.
“As a public school
district, we’ve been tasked
with trying to balance our
number one priority -
providing a safe, sound,
quality education for all
students - with the task of
also protecting the safety,
health, and wellness of the
nearly 55,000 students and
8,000 employees and their
respective families,” Hair
ston said.
Although students got
a taste of remote learning
Photos by Alphonso Abbott Jr.
For the first vine weeks, WS/FCS will start school virtually on Aug. 17.
at the end of last school
year, during the town hall
hosted by Action4Equity,
a local grassroots organi
zation that advocates for
equity for all students,
Hairston said when school
starts on Aug. 17, things
will be different.
In the spring remote
learning was more “self-
paced,” but moving for
ward students can expect
more face-to-face learn
ing, with a more structured
schedule and an attendance
policy. “Our teachers will
actually log on and teach
a regular schedule and stu
dents will have a schedule
just as they would if they
were in school,” Hairston
said.
Students will receive
their schedules at a virtual
orientation before schools
start. According to Hair
ston, students in elemen
tary school will have less
screen time than students
in middle and high school.
The first week of classes
will be used for students
to learn the ins and outs
of virtual learning and the
platform they will be us
ing. Most instruction will
be conducted using Micro
soft Teams, but the district
has approved the use of
Zoom as well.
One of the biggest is
sues with virtual learning
in the spring was getting
students to participate.
When schools were forced
to go virtual, more than
7,000 students across the
district didn’t participate
regularly. To try to remedy
the problem, the district
has established groups of
employees who will estab
lish Cares teams at each
school. According to Hair
ston, the role of the Cares
teams will be to ensure stu
dents are engaged.
“Their sole purpose is
to, upon referral from the
school, be in the commu
nity working with parents
and students on the best
way to conduct virtual
learning. We don’t want
to lose any children,” she
continued. “We know that
sometimes there are a lot
of stressors in the home
and parents need help;
we’re not confused about
that. So Cares teams will
be in the community ...
they will knock on doors
... and as my grandmother
would say, be our boots on
the ground, people in the
community helping chil
dren who have lost their
way.”
Cares teams will also
be tasked with setting up
learning centers through
out the community. Learn
ing centers will provide
students with a safe space
to use computers, ask
questions and receive tu
toring if needed.
The district will also
offer training for parents to
learn the various platforms
ahead of the new school
year. Sharon Frazier, WS/
FCS program manager,
said the district will start
introductory training ses
sions for parents this week.
She said the training ses
sions will be recorded and
made available on the dis
trict’s website.
“We’re going to have
to push things out quickly,
but we will have some ses
sions that will begin next
week,” Frazier continued.
“And that’s just technol
ogy; there will be other
sessions as well, including
helping parents to set pro
tocols for learning at home
and helping students stay
organized.”
After the first nine
weeks of virtual learning,
district leaders will consid
er opening schools under
Plan B. Hairston said they
will collaborate with local
health professionals, com
munity members, teachers
and students to develop the
plan that will be presented
to the board of education
in October.
Nonprofit renovates housing for homeless
BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY
THE CHRONICLE
As affordable hous
ing around the county
continues to dwindle, it is
becoming more difficult
to find than in years past.
To help combat this is
sue, City with Dwellings
(CWD), in collaboration
with other nonprofits, have
begun renovating housing
in the city for homeless
individuals at high risk for
COVID-19.
CWD, their collabora
tors and volunteers, are
renovating dilapidated
housing on Inverness
Street here in the city. The
group is working on 12
units to be move-in ready
by the end of August. The
volunteers have been put
ting in countless hours
of backbreaking work to
have the units ready by the
expected finish date.
Photo by Alphonso Abbott Jr.
One of the apartments being renovated for the homeless on Inverness St.
“It’s a culmination of a
collaborative project that
is intended to get folks
who are medically fragile
related to COVID and who
are homeless, out of the
shelters where that kind of
congregate setting is dif
ficult for maintaining safe
spacing, and to get folks
off of the street,” said Russ
May, co-founder of CWD.
May says that Derwin
Montgomery, executive
director of the Bethesda
Center, was one of the
major contributors to put
ting the initiative together.
CWD first partnered with
See Housing on A2
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