North Little Rock High School, Center of Excellence to make virtual shift

FILE — Kids are shown sitting against the glass in the cafeteria between classes at North Little Rock High School in this 2020 file photo. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Stephen Swofford)
FILE — Kids are shown sitting against the glass in the cafeteria between classes at North Little Rock High School in this 2020 file photo. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Stephen Swofford)

North Little Rock High School and the Center of Excellence will begin remote learning on Thursday and will continue until Dec. 1, school officials said.

Remote learning will only apply to the high school and the Center of Excellence, district spokesman Dustin Barnes said. The district will make a determination about face-to-face instruction when they return from Thanksgiving break, according to Barnes.

Superintendent Gregory Pilewski announced the decision in a news release Wednesday afternoon, saying the remote learning measure for the two schools was an effort to protect the health and safety of their students and staff.

"While the number of positive cases across the district has remained low, the number of students and staff identified as being a close contact is continuing to trend upward, which is a cause for concern, particularly among students and staff at North Little Rock High School and the Center of Excellence," he said in the release. "Individuals deemed as a close contact must be quarantined for fourteen days, a recommendation by the Arkansas Department of Health and the Center for Disease Control. Therefore, the resources at both schools are being strained to effectively support high quality face-to-face instruction."

Pilewski said district administrators will continue to monitor covid-19 data across the system on a daily basis and will determine when high school students can safely return to campus after Dec. 1.

The high school and the Center of Excellence will be open during the remote learning period for families who may elect to send their students to campus in the event there is no childcare at home, a lack of internet access, or a need for specialized services, the release states.

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