Being caught between a rock and a hard place is never an enviable position.
Unfortunately for the Macon County Board of Education, and superintendent Chris Baldwin, that is exactly where they find themselves at the moment.
On Aug. 17, the 2020-21 school year began with schools operating under the state’s designated “Plan B” due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. That format calls for a mix of in-person and remote online learning with students receiving instruction part of the week.
While “Plan B” is far from ideal, the thought was that 50 percent of in-person instruction is better than “Plan C,” which features remote learning only.
A majority of school districts in rural areas of North Carolina chose to go back to school under “Plan B.” The thought process was that maintaining social distancing of at least six feet between students, wearing face coverings at all times, and leaving Fridays open for extra cleaning and sanitizing of school buildings would be enough to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Offering a virtual remote learning only option for students at high risk, or for those who didn’t feel comfortable going back into the congregate classrooms, seemed like a reasonable alternative for families that chose that route.
But “Plan B” has not gone as planned.
As of Monday, Macon County schools have a total of six confirmed positive COVID-19 cases at four different sites. As a result, there have been 102 students sent home to quarantine for 14 days because they were potentially exposed. A total of 46 teachers, administrators and support staff are also going through a 14-day quarantine, which has created a staffing shortage.
The school board called an audible on Monday night and closed Franklin High School, Union Academy, Macon Middle School and Mountain View Intermediate school to in-person instruction through Sept. 11. The rest of the schools in the district will be reevaluated on Friday.
School board member Tommy Cabe said it best, “No matter what we do, someone is going to be mad about it.” He’s right, and that isn’t fair. None of the choices are good, and the space between the rock and the hard place is shrinking.