Durham Public Schools switch gears and will reopen school with virtual learning

All Durham public school students will remain home this fall for online classes, at least for the first nine weeks of the school year.

The school board voted unanimously to move away from Plan B, the increased social distancing plan they had prepared, and instead adopt Durham Public Schools Superintendent Pascal Mubenga recommendation to adopt Plan C, which calls for online learning.

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in North Carolina, Durham school officials met Thursday evening to discuss whether to keep their previous reopening plan or pivot to virtual learning only.

Gov. Roy Cooper had asked all school districts to develop three reopening plans. Plan A would allow all students to return to school, Plan B would be have a mix of in-person and online instruction while Plan C would keep all students home for online learning.

Cooper announced Tuesday that schools must reopen under some form of Plan B, reducing building capacity to 50% and bus capacity to 33%, and requiring all staff, teachers and students to wear face coverings.

But school districts can implement stricter measures or opt for Plan C, he said.

In Durham County, as in other parts of North Carolina, coronavirus cases are on the rise. The county reported 4,880 coronavirus cases and 72 deaths, according to Thursday’s health department data.

Board members push for a change in plans

That rising trend in cases was just one reason why board members held a lengthy discussion to voice their support for Plan C.

“The numbers are not trending well,” said Bettina Umstead, board chair, in voicing her support for Plan C. “When I think about the population of students that we serve, it worries me to bring a lot of students back into buildings.”

While Mubenga said he was proud of the work that went into formulating details for Plan B, he said he made his choice to move in the direction of Plan C after talking to teachers.

“The only people that were going to make that Plan B successful was teachers, and if teachers are not feeling comfortable to come and implement Plan B, that gave me a pause,” he said.

Around 70 people submitted public comments to the school board. A mix of teachers and parents appealed for Plan B and C, with a majority pushing for Plan C.

During the board’s discussion Thursday, board members said insufficient staffing and a lack of resources, including masks and personal protective equipment, made it hard to imagine Plan B being successful.

Board member Jovonia Lewis asked Mubenga if the school district had enough resources for Plan B.

“I cannot guarantee for sure that we have 100% of all these resources to make sure everyone is going to be safe,” Mubenga said. “So, we don’t.”

Board member Natalie Beyer also said DPS needed more instructional staffing and nurses.

“Here we are with a Plan B that I think is actually the best Plan B in the state, from an equity lens. And I still don’t think, even if the metrics were right, that we have what we need to make that happen,” Beyer said.

While the board members had a consensus of support for online learning, some said they want to make sure that students still receive the personal attention they need.

“I do want to consider though, as we do virtual learning, how do we make sure we touch every single student?” Umstead said.

Vice chair Mike Lee said he supports Plan C, but with caveats. He wants the district to create in-person spaces for children who can’t be at home.

“That’s just a fact of our lives that we have children who don’t have safe spaces. They don’t have places to be,” Lee said, and added how some children have multiple siblings and can’t concentrate at home.

Board members also discussed the option of planning socially distanced meetings with teachers for students entering Durham’s schools for the first time, particularly young children.

Board member Alexandra Valladares suggested DPS set up “learning stations” to pinpoint which vulnerable students need extra help.

“What percent of our kids are dealing with trauma and have actually asked for mental health support, mental health services?” Valladares said.

DPS will move forward with virtual learning only for the school’s first quarter while officials fine-tune its Plan B. If COVID-19 cases decrease, the district will be ready to implement the plan, Mubenga said.

Teachers opposed Plan B

DPS’ choice for Plan B would have returned students in Pre-K through eighth grade to in-person classes, while high schoolers would stay home with online instruction.

The district would repurpose vacant high school buildings to spread out middle and elementary students for social distancing.

Some teachers said the plan would not have enough substitutes to work.

“If I have to miss school because I’ve been exposed to COVID, or I have the sniffles, or I have a fever for any reason, when I can’t go to school, I need to get a sub. There’s gonna be no one available in our school to do it,” said Lara O’Neil-Dunne, a first-grade teacher at Merrick-Moore Elementary.

O’Neil-Dunne said finding substitutes was hard enough before the pandemic.

Durham’s public school system also needs more money to make increased social distancing work, said Michelle Burton, president of the Durham Association of Educators.

“We’re not getting enough funding from the state or support from our legislators to make Plan B happen,” she said. “We don’t even have a nurse for every school. What if a child gets sick or if a staff person gets sick?”

Burton said teachers are worried.

“They’re very, very afraid of the safety issues that are involved with going back to school and, you know, catching this virus, getting sick, and potentially losing their lives,” Burton said.

School board receives budget update

Before discussing the reopening plan, the board received an update on the school budget.

DPS anticipates a nearly $4 million shortfall for fiscal year 2020-21, according to a presentation by Alex Modestou, director of budget development and data analytics.

DPS will receive some funds from the federal level, including a $11.88 million allocation from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, known as the CARES Act.

The state will also provide the district with around $850,000 as supplemental funding to support COVID-19 related costs and programs.

Some uncertainties in the upcoming budget include costs associated with school re-opening and school enrollment.

Beyer, the school board member, said she felt “grim” about the budget.

“I am heartbroken that our General Assembly has not gotten back over to Raleigh and approved a budget that would give raises to these teachers, that would bring every DPS and school district employee across the state into a $15-an-hour wage,” Beyer said. “It’s shameful that they’re not doing their jobs and they’re using this time of a pandemic to stay away from passing a full budget.”

This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 3:40 PM.