Gov. Cooper expected to extend NC school closures. How to watch his press conference.
Updated April 24, 2:15 p.m.
North Carolina’s public schools will remain closed for the rest of the school year as part of an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced Friday that he’s extending his order that had previously kept schools closed through May 15. Cooper said he made the decision after consulting with public health and education officials.
Earlier story
Gov. Roy Cooper will address the state at 2 p.m. Friday, where he’s expected to update the status of the state’s public schools.
Schools have been closed in North Carolina since March 14, in an effort to slow the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Cooper is expected to announce Friday that he is extending that order, which had previously kept schools closed through May 15.
The news conference can be streamed online at ncdps.gov/storm-update, with English and Spanish feeds offered.
Some TV stations in markets across the state, such as ABC11 / WTVD in the Triangle, normally televise Cooper’s press conferences live as well.
The press conference also offers sign language interpretation for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers.
If Cooper does extend school closures, it would mean that North Carolina’s 1.5 million public school students will finish the school year taking classes virtually. Schools set up remote learning programs after Cooper first ordered school buildings be closed on March 14.
The State Board of Education adopted Thursday a statewide grading policy in which only high school students will have the option of getting traditional grades this semester. Elementary school students won’t get grades and middle school students will only get grades saying whether they passed or withdrew from a class.
This school year for most students is scheduled to end around June 11.
It’s unclear when public schools will reopen. Most schools are scheduled to reopen in late August, although a number of year-round schools are supposed to begin the next school year in early July.
A draft bill backed by a state House committee calls for temporarily waiving the school calendar law to allow traditional-calendar schools to begin as early as Aug. 17. The legislation also calls for creating a statewide program in early August to help catch up at-risk students who may have fallen behind academically during the school closures.
This story was originally published April 24, 2020, 11:32 AM.
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