Senator Jay Chaudhuri and 20 other North Carolina state senators wrote a letter to the Chair of the North Carolina State Board of Education urging the board to ensure in-person learning options are available in all school districts. While nearly 90% of districts offer or plan to offer in-person classes soon, the senators want all districts to have an in-person option. They believe in-person learning can be done safely by following CDC and state health guidelines on issues like social distancing and allowing local officials to change plans if needed. The senators voted against a recent bill that failed to provide necessary safeguards for in-person classes and want the board to craft guidance with pandemic precautions in mind.

1. North Carolina General Assembly
Senate
SENATOR JAY J. CHAUDHURI
DISTRICT 15
1120 LEGISLATIVE BUILDING
16 WEST JONES STREET
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA 27601-2808
PHONE: (919) 715-6400
FAX: (919) 754-3156
EMAIL: jay.chaudhuri@ncleg.net
COMMITTEES
APPROPRIATIONS / BASE BUDGET
EDUCATION / HIGHER EDUCATION
PENSIONS & RETIREMENT & AGING
RULES & OPERATIONS OF THE SENATE
March 3, 2021
VIA EMAIL
Eric Davis
Chair, North Carolina State Board of Education
301 North Wilmington Street
Raleigh, North Carolina 27601
Dear Chair Davis:
We write to urge the North Carolina State Board of Education (“Board of Education”) to
offer all our children, including exceptional children, in-person instruction. We recognize that
almost 90 percent of school districts offer or plan to offer in-person learning in the next few
weeks. However, we urge the Board of Education to ensure an option is available in all school
districts. We believe we can do so given the significant progress we have made against the
COVID-19 virus by following the Center for Disease Control guidelines and the
StrongSchoolsNC Public Health Toolkit (K-12).
We also recognize there are still potential challenges. There are reports of new strains of
the virus that could set back even the best preparations. Recently, the University of
Washington’s Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluations issued a report showing that new
variants could cause COVID-19 infections to increase after mid-March.
Even considering such possible challenges and others, we believe offering in-person
learning can still work, if done properly. First, we urge you to adhere to the state and federal
health guidelines, including following social distancing requirements. These health guidelines
have helped us progress to the point where we are now able to offer more in-person learning
options. These guidelines are now more important than ever. Second, we urge the Board of
Education to allow local and state health officials to change reopening plans if warranted.
Throughout the pandemic, we have seen how quickly things can change, and how important

2. Letter to Chair Davis, March 3, 2021
Page 2
it is to recalibrate and adapt.
Just this week, we voted against Senate Bill 37 because it violated both state and federal
health guidelines and failed to provide the basic and necessary safeguards for all in-person
instruction. As you know, Governor Roy Cooper has asked the General Assembly leadership to
fix the bill, but the General Assembly’s legislative leadership refused to do so. We urge the
Board of Education to craft guidance with the foresight and precautions this COVID-19
pandemic demands.
We believe the State Board of Education stands in a prime position to urge our local
school boards to offer in-person learning to all students. We stand ready to help in any way. If
you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Senator Jay Chaudhuri at (919) 715-
6400 or jay.chaudhuri@ncleg.gov.
Sincerely yours,
/s/ /s/
Sen. Sydney Batch Sen. Ernestine Bazemore
Senate District 17 Senate District 3
/s/ /s/
Sen. Jay Chaudhuri Sen. Ben Clark
Senate District 15 Senate District 21
/s/ /s/
Sen. Sarah Crawford Sen. Don Davis
Senate District 18 Senate District 5
/s/ /s/
Sen. Kirk deViere Sen. Milton F. “Toby’ Fitch, Jr.
Senate District 19 Senate District 4

3. Letter to Chair Eric Davis, March 3, 2021
Page 3
/s/ /s/
Sen. Valerie Foushee Sen. Michael Garrett
Senate District 23 Senate District 27
/s/ /s/
Sen. Jeff Jackson Sen. Paul A. Lowe, Jr.
Senate District 32 Senate District 41
/s/ /s/
Sen. Julie Mayfield Sen. Wiley Nickel
Senate District 49 Senate District 16
/s/ /s/
Sen. Gladys Robinson Sen. DeAndrea Salvador
Senate District 28 Senate District 39
/s/ /s/
Sen. Joyce Waddell Sen. Mike Woodard
Senate District 40 Senate District 22
/s/ /s/
Sen. Natasha Marcus Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed
Senate District 41 Senate District 38