As NC plans to reopen schools, some teachers don’t want to ‘put our lives on the line’
Updated July 16
Some North Carolina teachers say it’s not safe to reopen schools next month unless the state provides more money for services such as a nurse at every campus and enhanced custodial support.
Gov. Roy Cooper announced Tuesday he’s reopening K-12 public schools in August under a “moderate social distancing” plan that will result in many of the state’s 1.5 million students getting a mix of in-person classes and remote instruction. But some educators say it’s safer to continue using remote learning instead of in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic.
Their lobbying efforts have caused some districts to decide it’s not safe to return students to campus.
“Whether a child is 5 or 15, when they leave them in school they trust that the adults are keeping them safe and are protecting them,” Kristin Beller, president of the Wake County chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators, said in an interview. “If we go back to school now when we know the number are not right, educators can’t say to parents in good faith that we’ve got them, they’re safe.”
NCAE is urging people to sign a “NC Public School Workers Bill of Rights” that says school employees must have a say in school reopening and state lawmakers should provide enough money to fully cover all the state’s school health reopening requirements.
For instance, most schools don’t have a full-time nurse to handle the new health screenings required before students and staff are allowed on campus.
“As a teacher, we’re being asked to put our lives on the line to cover up for the mistakes and malfeasance of some of our state and national political leaders,” said Lee Quinn, a teacher at Broughton High School in Raleigh.
GOP lawmakers defend school spending
Republican legislative leaders have criticized Cooper, a Democrat, for not allowing schools to reopen for full-time, in-person instruction. GOP leaders were also critical of NCAE, which has been a frequent opponent of the Republican-led state legislature.
“Less than 5% of North Carolina teachers pay dues to the NCAE because the partisan organization advocates for Democrats, not educators,” Joseph Kyzer, a spokesman for House Speaker Tim Moore, said in a statement Wednesday. “But lawmakers agree with their statement that ‘Caregivers can’t go to work, businesses can’t run, our economy can’t function if our schools aren’t in operation,’ which is why the General Assembly appropriated over $100 million of additional funding to public schools this summer to support K-12 students returning to the classroom safely.”
Pat Ryan, a spokesman for Senate leader Phil Berger, said Wednesday that the “far-left NCAE” has “zero” credibility. He said NCAE was “nowhere to be seen” when the General Assembly appropriated money for schools to deal with pandemic-related issues.
“Other states around the country have been forced to cut education or roll back planned teacher raises because of the pandemic,” Ryan said in an email Wednesday. “But not here, because of wise budget decisions over the last decade that make our state one of the best-positioned in the country to outlast the recession.”
All North Carolina public schools have been closed since mid-March to try to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Students closed out the last three months of the school year with remote instruction.
Reducing the risk of school reopening
In June, Cooper ordered school districts and charter schools to develop three reopening plans: Plan A with minimal social distancing, Plan B with moderate social distancing and Plan C with remote instruction.
Cooper told districts Tuesday to use Plan B, which limits the capacity in school buildings and buses. The reopening plan requires daily temperature and health screening checks, increased cleanings, maintaining 6 feet of social distancing and face coverings to be worn by all school employees and students.
“We know there will always be some risk with in-person learning, and we’re doing a lot to reduce that risk,” Cooper said Tuesday. “But as pediatricians and other health experts tell us, there’s much risk in not going back to in-person schooling.
“We know that schools provide so much more than just academic lessons. They support our children’s social, emotional and physical development.”
Cooper will allow districts to use remote-only Plan C if they want. But districts cannot use the less-restrictive Plan A.
Some school districts like Wake County will rotate students on a schedule of one week of in-person classes followed by two weeks of remote learning. Other districts like Durham are having K-8 students come to school each day while requiring high school students to have only online classes.
Urging schools to switch to remote only instruction
Cooper is allowing school districts to reopen on Plan C even though the General Assembly passed legislation preventing schools from using remote learning in the first week of school. The governor also says he could order the whole state to use Plan C if conditions worsen.
Some teachers hope to get their school districts to also adopt Plan C.
“Mecklenburg is in really rough shape right now,” said Justin Parmenter, a language arts teacher at Waddell Language Academy in Charlotte. “We’re hopeful our local leaders will decide to go with Plan C because that’s the most prudent decision for keeping our students and staff safe.”
The lobbying resulted Wednesday in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board switching to Plan C instead of having students rotate between going in-person and learning from home. CMS is the state’s second-largest district.
Sharon Contreras, the superintendent of Guilford County schools in the center of the state, is recommending using remote instruction for all students for the first five weeks of school. Guilford is the state’s third largest district.
Superintendents in Orange County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro are also recommending switching to Plan C.
Wake County should “do the right thing” and use virtual learning for all students for at least the first half of the fall semester, according to Quinn, the Broughton teacher.
“Many of us are WCPSS parents too, so we understand the challenges of monitoring virtual learning and child care while also working a full-time job,” Quinn said. “But my inconvenience doesn’t get to outweigh the life of another person.”
Time is short, though, for teachers to persuade school leaders to switch to Plan C. The first day of class for most students is Aug. 17.
But the first day of classes is Aug. 5 at Knightdale High School, which has flexibility with its calendar, and social studies teacher Dane West says he doesn’t feel comfortable going on campus.
“As an educator, on a professional level of course I want to be in the building,” West said. “We know that the best education happens in a physical building. But our cases are rising more than when we shut down.”
The state Department of Health and Human Services is recommending that schools help reduce the safety risks for high-risk school employees. But it’s unclear how much schools can assist teachers, who are worried about not having enough sick days if they test positive for COVID-19.
DHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said Tuesday that the available scientific evidence indicates that children are less likely to be infected with COVID-19 and are less likely to spread it to others. But some teachers question the strength of the research.
“I don’t think you’ll find any teacher who disagrees that students need to be in school,” said Parmenter, the CMS teacher. “It’s just a matter of when is the right time to make that move, and we don’t think it’s right now.”
Parents weigh school options
How parents respond to the reopening plan remains to be seen.
Jodi Bulmer, who will have children at Millbrook High School and West Millbrook Middle School in Raleigh, says she’s OK with using Plan B. Since her kids are older, she expects they’ll follow the rules about keeping their face masks on and maintaining social distancing.
“We really value the face to face connection with our teachers,” Bulmer said in an online message. “We will do our part to keep risks lower/etc. for teachers because we want to be back with them! (wearing masks all the time when outside, no crowds, very small bubble of contact, etc)“
But thousands of other parents have decided they’re not going to send their children for in-person classes this fall. The state is requiring school districts to offer remote learning options for students.
Since Friday, 31,535 students have signed up for the new Wake Virtual Academy, accounting for more than 19% of the district’s total enrollment. The application period closes Monday.
Families choose online school option
Molly Perrou of Raleigh said her family decided to go with the Wake Virtual Academy even before Gov. Cooper’s announcement. Perrou said the current plan for Wake kids to attend one week on and two weeks off just didn’t feel safe, and it lacked the consistency she wanted.
“Some people feel that some school is better than no school, but for us, we feel there are a lot of restrictions, so it won’t be normal for them. They may not even have their friends in their groups,” Perrou said. “For my kids, we need more consistency and need to know what to expect.”
The lack of social interaction is a concern with the online program, according to Doza Hawes, an Apex parent. But Hawes questions how much interaction students would get on campus when they’re required to wear a face mask and keep 6 feet apart.
After his son Evan, a rising junior at Apex High School, expressed concerns about returning for in-person learning, Hawes enrolled him at the Virtual Academy for the entire school year.
“Evan was concerned, nervous and did not think it was a good idea,” Hawes said in a message to The News & Observer. “He said he thought this was not enough to stop an outbreak in the school. I agreed and told him I would figure out what our options are. I told him not to worry, I would home-school him if it came to that.”
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 4:48 PM.
