At a Special Called Meeting on Tuesday, March 16, 2021, the Haywood County Board of Education voted to offer in-person learning five days per week for students in grades six through twelve. This option begins on Tuesday, March 23, 2021. The school system will continue to provide an in-person learning option five days per week in Kindergarten through fifth grade as well as a remote only option for students at any grade level.

The North Carolina General Assembly recently passed Senate Bill 220: The Reopen Our Schools Act of 2021. The Bill was signed by Governor Cooper. The legislation allows local school systems to offer daily in-person learning for students in grades six through twelve.  There are no calendar changes associated with the Board’s action. The Remote Learning Optional Workdays on Monday, March 22 and Friday, April 2 will remain as scheduled. These two Remote Learning Optional Workdays bookend the first two weeks of daily in-person learning for grades six through twelve and provide a two-week phase-in period with four in-person learning days each week.

Following Spring Break, there will be five in-person learning days per week. Haywood County Schools is able to offer daily in-person learning for all students during a very important time of the year. This timing represents one-half (50%) of the second semester for high school courses and the final twenty-five percent (25%) of the school year for Kindergarten through eighth grade.

“I am thankful for, and proud of, our teachers, support staff, administrators, students, parents, and our Board of Education,” said Superintendent, Dr, Bill Nolte. “Together they have done a good job of preventing the spread of COVID-19 at school. We could not have done this without the hard work and support of our public health partners Dr. Mark Jaben, Garron Bradish, Patrick Johnson, and our wonderful school nurses.”

“As we move forward I offer a word of caution,” said Nolte. “I ask that we finish strong while continuing the use of face coverings and other reasonable practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at school. We need to be especially cautious during Spring Break. We don’t need a post Spring Break surge to put the brakes on all of the progress that has been made.”

Contact: Dr. Bill Nolte, Superintendent