Parents group pushes Orange County Schools to let students back into the classroom

A group of Orange County Schools parents has joined a growing push across the state to let students return to the classroom.

The parents have formed a Facebook group, Re-Open Orange County Schools, with 268 members as of Tuesday morning.

Member Kim Pettineo said she would like the district to adopt a two-track solution, with those who want to send their children to a classroom being able to do it, and those who would rather continue with remote learning at home being able to do that.

The school board heard from parents Monday night, getting a staff presentation on where the district of nearly 7,500 students stands in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic several weeks into the school year.

“Rest assured, we want to return to our classrooms just as soon as we can,” Superintendent Monique Felder said.

Parents across North Carolina are frustrated by online-only education that forces their children to sit in front of a computer for hours at a time.

A group of parents has filed a lawsuit to try to force the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system to reopen schools, the Charlotte Ledger first reported last week. Wake County school leaders heard 42 public comments at a recent school board meeting asking for schools to reopen, The News & Observer reported.

Parents say ‘feelings, not fact’ driving policy

Several parents from the Orange County Facebook group spoke at Monday’s meeting.

Cheryl Alderman said the district was basing its COVID-19 policies on “feelings not fact.”

Joe Alderman said Orange County is not seeing a huge rise in cases and should return students to the classroom.

As of Tuesday morning, Orange County had 2,535 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 54 deaths, according to the state health department.

People ages 18-24 accounted for 47% of the county’s cases. Children and teens under 18 accounted for 8%, according to the county health department.

Sara Pitts, director of environmental health and safety for the district, said when students do return to the classroom, all staff and students will have their temperature taken as they enter buildings, and those with a fever will be sent home.

Everyone will also be required to wash or sanitize their hands as they enter school.

Classroom capacity will be reduced by 50%, Pitts said, and masks will be worn most of the time. Students will eat in their classrooms, or outside as weather permits.

Pettineo, who moved to Hillsborough from New Jersey in 2006, has an eighth-grader in Orange County Schools.

“I just have an issues with unfairness,” she said in a phone interview before Monday’s meeting. “It’s my way or the highway.”

Daughter has hardly left the house

Pettineo said her daughter has hardly left the house since March 16, when students were sent home from Orange County Schools to combat the pandemic.

Her daughter has also become more introverted, Pettineo said.

Being at school forces her to interact with other students, Pettineo said, as well as to exercise at least a little. She’s not doing either now.

She said her daughter used to play the trumpet all the time but has hardly touched it since March.

Pettineo said she worries about all the screen time her daughter is racking up doing remote learning.

Pettineo said she avoids wearing a mask when she can. If she has to wear one to enter a building she wears it on her chin. There are always germs everywhere, so she’s not particularly worried about COVID-19.

She also questions the 6-foot rule for social distancing, questioning why it’s necessary along with masks.

Free COVID-19 testing

Orange County offers free COVID-19 testing from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Wednesday in the R-7 Parking Lot at 725 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Chapel Hill.

This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 2:38 PM.