First day of school in the Triangle is ‘more normal,’ with fewer masks and COVID rules

Masks and COVID-19 were less of a concern for many Triangle students, parents and teachers when they headed back to school on Monday.

Relatively few people were wearing masks on campus — a departure from the past two years when face coverings were mostly required in public schools because of COVID-19 concerns.

Monday marked the first day of traditional-calendar schools across North Carolina, including in Wake, Durham, Johnston and Orange counties.

“For the first year in a long time, it will be a little more normal,” Jeremy Aycock, a parent of four students, said after dropping off his daughter Monday at Apex Friendship Elementary School. “That’s good for them.”

Michelle Aycock, Jeremy’s wife, said their children got used to wearing face masks when they were required. But she said they quickly discarded them after masks were made optional.

In addition to no longer requiring masks, schools are following more relaxed federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on who should quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19.

Bus issues in Wake

More than 1.4 million North Carolina public school students are returning to the classroom at a time when schools are dealing with challenges such as finding enough staff.

As of Aug. 15, the state’s superintendents were reporting 11,297 vacancies, including 4,469 teacher vacancies. Wake County was reporting 958 vacancies, including 401 teachers and 266 bus drivers.

Wake’s 30% driver vacancy rate is leading to fewer buses on the road. The remaining buses are more crowded and students have longer ride times.

Several bus routes were listed in Wake as not being covered on Monday. This meant families are responsible for providing their own transportation.

New Durham dress code

Students in Durham Public Schools returned Monday to an environment with a more relaxed dress code.

The school district’s new dress code largely reduces prior restrictions on student outfits. It allows fitted pants, exposed midriffs, bra straps, underwear waistbands, halter tops and more at school, The News & Observer previously reported.

Durham school board members have said the new code aims to match what students already wear on their own, and to impose neutral language so that specific rules are not disproportionately enforced based on students’ racial and/or gender identity.

‘COVID being behind us’

Monday marked the first day as well for several new schools, including Apex Friendship Elementary in Apex. It forms what’s now part of a campus of three schools stretching from pre-kindergarten to high school.

Apex Friendship Elementary was unexpectedly in the news last month when a subcontractor dropped off a concrete sign that misspelled the school’s name. It was replaced with a correctly spelled sign.

“Certainly we needed to get that fixed quickly and we did,” Tanner Gamble, principal of Apex Friendship Elementary, said in an interview Monday. “We’re excited to have it in place and ready to start the year.”

Apex Friendship is opening with more than 800 students and is fully staffed, unlike a number of Wake schools.

Angie Howe gave her daughter, Abby, a kiss, before the 8-year-old started third grade at Apex Friendship. Howe said things feel differently this year than compared to the last two pandemic-impacted school years.

“With COVID being behind us, there’s a little bit of relief and there’s even more of an excitement level,” Howe said.