Hyde County Schools implements plan for distance learning and meal delivery

Published 4:54 pm Monday, March 16, 2020

On March 14, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper issued an executive order prohibiting mass gatherings and directing the closure of all K-12 public schools to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

In the time since the order was issued, Hyde County Schools has decided to launch a “School Without Walls” program. Kindergarten through 2nd grade students will have “drive-through assignments,” while 3rd grade and above will partake in a “virtual learning environment.”

After conducting a brief survey, Superintendent of HCS Steve Basnight said that the overall population of home internet access for younger children was high than anticipated. “We will continue to provide any students who may have internet availability challenges with paper assignments that will cover the same learning objectives as our virtual assignments,” Basnight said.

“Our plan is to open our ‘School Without Walls’ at Mattamuskeet and on Ocracoke Island on Thursday of this week,” he added.
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Julio Morales, public information officer for Hyde County Schools, said that this program will “truly be a hybrid system to address those students and families with lack of digital accessibility at home.” Faculty will be available daily the talk directly with students and their parents via phone calls, emails and video conferencing to address questions and follow up on assignments.

“Because we have have been developing our capability for the past year, we are prepared to sustain this program for as long as necessary to continue to provide all of our Hyde County School students with learning opportunities in a virtual environment,” Basnight said.

As for athletics, the NC High School Athletic Association has suspended all interscholastic athletics as of March 13, effective through April 6. All games, practices, workouts and skill sessions have been cancelled.

Morales said in terms of meals for students, Hyde has set up a program with bus drivers, teaching assistants and other staff to run daily routes and deliver lunches and (possibly) breakfast to all students. “We will work [out] other details for those students who are car riders,” he added.

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