Governor Roy Cooper on Friday announced that all North Carolina schools will remain closed until the end of the school year, ending any hope of a return to in-person learning despite the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
Remote learning, whether through digital environments online or on-air via UNC-TV, will continue until the summer.
"School classrooms may be closed, but the learning is not over," Cooper said.
The decision affects some 1.5 million students across North Carolina and more than 100,000 educators.
"The opening of schools in the summer and fall and the availability of summer camps are going to depend on meeting health guidelines that will be established later," Cooper said. "I have every confidence that we will find a way to get schools open safely in the new school year."
The Tar Heel State now becomes the 42nd state to order or recommend school building closures for the rest of the year, in addition to three U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. In total, some 43 million public school students are learning at home because of the pandemic.
Follow this story and others on ABC11.com.