Tuesday marked the first day back to school following the winter holiday break for students in Macon County.
Highlands was the exception, where students are taking part in a week of scheduled virtual learning through Jan. 8. The in-person school schedule will restart in Highlands on Monday, Jan. 11.
With the number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases continuing to grow across Macon County, the decision to use the virtual platform for a week was the correct one.
A similar format for the rest of Macon County Schools was on the table during a special called meeting of the board of education on Wednesday, Dec. 30, but the board couldn’t pull the trigger on additional virtual learning. Nantahala representative Missy Evans was blunt in her assessment that parents want their children to be in school, not at home learning via computer.
Superintendent Chris Baldwin noted that the “most vocal parents” support sending children to school for in-person learning and that he has fielded numerous calls on the subject since the school year began in August under the “Plan B” format, which includes both in-person and virtual learning.
While there is no question that the virtual platform for K-12 students is far from ideal, and in no way compares to the in-person classroom experience (Baldwin himself has said as much), there has to be room for the use of virtual learning as Western North Carolina goes through an anticipated post-holiday COVID-19 boom.
Coronavirus vaccinations are progressing, albeit at a pace slower than anticipated, and may offer teachers and students some respite from COVID-19 this spring as phased implementation reaches the schools, but those days are still weeks away at least. For now, the schools must continue to enforce mask mandates, socially distance when possible and promote hand washing and sanitizing of surfaces.
Scheduling an extra week away from the classroom in favor of virtual learning is a step that Highlands was willing to take. Once again, Highlands has emerged as a leader in public education by putting the health and well being of its students and teachers first.