Advertisement

CMS considering canceling class Monday after Halloween

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools district leaders are recommending giving students an extra day off Nov. 1.

The school board will consider the calendar change at its meeting Tuesday. If approved, students will have a four-day break, including Halloween weekend and a teacher work day already scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 2.

With no classes held next Monday, employees would have time to complete professional development requirements and focus on planning, the district announced last week.

“I will be supporting this, although I understand the disruption to families,” board member Rhonda Cheek wrote on her Facebook page after posting the proposal. “Our staff needs this. In addition there is some mandated training (by the state) that our teachers cannot complete during their normal school day.”

CMS is one of multiple districts in North Carolina that is considering or has already made changes to school calendars to give students and employees a break from the spiraling stress of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The News & Observer reported last week that the Wake County school system is canceling classes on Nov. 12. The Wake County school board unanimously approved extending the Nov. 11 Veterans Day holiday break by a day. Nov. 12 will be a remote work day for employees.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools will give students the entire week of Thanksgiving off to support students and staff members’ mental health and wellness, the district announced last week. The Cumberland County school system also canceled classes on Nov. 12 , calling it a “Wellness Friday,” The Fayetteville Observer reported.

Along with giving its students Nov. 1 off, CMS may also adjust the 2021-22 calendar to include four mandatory early release days on Nov. 17, Jan. 12, Feb. 9 and March 30.

Child, teen mental health

Last Tuesday, the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Children’s Hospital Association, representing more than 77,000 physician members and more than 200 children’s hospitals, declared a national state of emergency in child and adolescent mental health.

Experts say the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a serious toll on children’s mental health as young people continue to face physical isolation, ongoing uncertainty, fear and grief.

“Children’s mental health is suffering. Young people have endured so much throughout this pandemic and while much of the attention is often placed on its physical health consequences, we cannot overlook the escalating mental health crisis facing our patients,” AAP President Lee Savio Beers said. “(The) declaration is an urgent call to policymakers at all levels of government.”

Between March and October 2020, the percentage of hospital emergency department visits for children with mental health emergencies rose by 24% for children ages 5-11 and 31% for children ages 12-17, according to an AAP news release. There was also a more than 50% increase in suspected suicide attempt emergency department visits among girls ages 12-17 in early 2021 as compared to the same period in 2019.

Additionally, recent data shows that more than 140,000 children in the U.S. have experienced the death of a primary or secondary caregiver during the COVID-19 pandemic, with children of color disproportionately impacted.

Organizations are urging policymakers to take several actions, such as increasing federal funding to ensure all families can access mental health services; improving access to telemedicine; supporting effective models of school-based mental health care; and addressing workforce challenges and shortages so that children can access mental health services no matter where they live.