On Wednesday January 13, at a Special Called meeting, the Wayne County Board of Education in a 4-3 vote approved postponing the district’s K-5 Plan A transition from January 25 to the fourth grading period which begins on March 15. As a part of the motion, the Board will reconvene prior to the end of the third grading period to reassess local Wayne County metrics.

Those voting in favor of remaining in Plan B did so following a second semester update from school district leadership and a recommendation made by Interim Superintendent, Dr. David Lewis, requesting that the Board keep K-5 students in Plan B for the “foreseeable future” based on local Wayne County COVID-19 metrics.

“Everything that we are seeing is heading in the wrong direction as a community,” stated Dr. Lewis to the Board. “My recommendation is based on the fact that we have proven we can operate in Plan B without contributing to community spread. We have had very few if any cases reported to us that we believe may have been spread in the school. We’ve been able to do this because social distancing is possible under Plan B. My feeling is that if we go to Plan A in K-5 and we cannot guarantee social distancing, we will be in fact contributing to a greater problem in the community.”

Families of K-5 students will be notified of the change so they can plan accordingly. Families wishing to have their child participate in the district’s 100% Virtual Learning Program are still able to register.

The motion to postpone the Plan A transition was made by Patricia Burden and seconded by Tommy Sanders. [Voting in Favor: Burden, Henderson, Sanders, & Chair West / Voting against: Vice-Chair Democko, Leatham & Strickland].