Brian Gordon and Paul Woolverton
USA TODAY NETWORK
Bridget Hurley, a fourth-grade student in Asheville, knows what she wants.
“I would like to go back to school,” she said. Her district, Buncombe County Schools, hasn’t had any in-person classes since Christmas, and Bridget misses her classmates.
“She learns better at school,” her mother, Cherylin Hurley, added. “They need to be in school. Safety has to be the first thing, but if grocery stores can open and other things can open, why not schools?”
At a press conference Tuesday, Gov. Roy Cooper agreed.
“We’ve learned much more about this virus, and now it’s time to get our children back into the classroom,” he said.
PUBLISHED 2:45 PM ET Feb. 02, 2021 PUBLISHED 2:45 PM EST Feb. 02, 2021
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Noting stabilizing coronavirus case numbers, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called on the state s schools to reopen.
North Carolina s public schools shut down in March, and many children have been in remote learning for almost a year. School is important for reasons beyond academic instruction. School is where students learn social skills, get reliable meals, and find their voices. Teachers play an important role in keeping students safe by identifying cases of abuse, hunger, homelessness and other challenges, Cooper said Tuesday.
At least 90 of North Carolina s 115 school districts have at least some kind of in-person instruction for students, the governor said.