Wake will bring students back to school. But teachers and parents are still unhappy.
The Wake County school board’s compromise plan for reopening schools for in-person classes is leaving both teachers and parents angry at the decision.
Teachers are complaining that the school board went too far Tuesday in returning elementary and middle school students for in-person classes during the coronavirus pandemic.
Parents are complaining that Wake didn’t go far enough because high school students will only have online courses for the rest of the fall semester, which ends in January.
“This day will be remembered,” Chad Miller, an elementary school teacher, tweeted Tuesday after the board vote. “A mistake was made. You had a chance and you blew it.”
Kelly Mann, founder of Wake County Families to Safely Reopen Schools, said she’s “lost faith in this Wake County School Board” for not returning all students back for in-person instruction.
Wake’s PreK-3 students and K-12 special-education students in regional programs will return for in-person instruction on Oct. 26. They will be on a cycle of one week of in-person classes and two weeks of remote classes, before switching to daily in-person classes on Nov. 16.
Middle school students also will return to school Nov. 9 for a three-week rotation of in-person and online courses. Fourth- and fifth-grade students will begin on that rotation on Nov. 16.
Students who only want online classes can stay in Wake’s new Virtual Academy program. The majority of Wake’s 160,000 students are attending the Virtual Academy.
Teachers feel they were ignored
Multiple teachers have complained on social media that the board rejected Superintendent Cathy Moore’s recommendation to leave students in grades four through eight on online classes for the rest of the semester. Moore had cited how 61% of elementary school principals and 86% of middle school principals were in favor of delaying the return of those students.
“Welp. I’m so glad our voices were heard, peers,” Stephanie Pozoulakis, a middle school teacher, tweeted Tuesday. “I’m so glad our votes and recommendations and legitimate concerns were weighed accordingly. It’s nice to know #wcpss BOE cares.
“This is unreal. disappointing. disturbing. and all those other words that I’m sure we’re all feeling.”
Andi McGee, a middle school teacher, tweeted Tuesday that the vote “was totally a slap in the face,” since the board didn’t listen to the feedback from principals.
Wake teachers consider quitting
Kristin Beller, president of the Wake County chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators, said nearly 3,000 people had signed an open letter this week urging the school board to stay with only remote instruction for the rest of the semester.
Since Tuesday’s vote, Beller said multiple teachers have contacted Wake NCAE about how to submit resignations and retirements.
“There was a lot of shock,” Beller said in an interview Wednesday with The News & Observer. “Not just around the decision but the reasoning behind the decision that was made.”
Evelyn Bussell, an elementary school teacher, tweeted Tuesday that “this 15+yr veteran NBCT educator starts new career search after tonight’s BOE decision. They didn’t listen to teachers.”
Parents want high school students to return
The school board is also facing a backlash from parents who don’t think the district went far enough to bring students back.
Parents of high school students are particularly upset that their kids face not having in-person classes for 10 months. Wake’s high schools haven’t offered in-person classes since March.
Last week, Moore had recommended returning high school students for a mix of in-person and online classes starting Nov. 9. But she said Tuesday that they wouldn’t be able to maintain social distancing if they brought high school students back on campus, even on a rotating basis.
Moore also said returning students would increase the workload on high school teachers who’d have to teach Virtual Academy students and students rotating between the in-person and online classes. In the district survey, 81% of high school principals had supported keeping students on remote courses for the rest of the semester.
“@WCPSS ALL GRADES MATTER,” Julie Cooper, a high school parent, tweeted Tuesday. “You did a huge disservice to your high school students who need to be back in the classroom.”
Mann of Wake County Families To Safely Reopen Schools said they were “blindsided” by the decision to keep high schools on remote instruction. She said Wake allowed the survey results to take precedence over medical experts who say that schools can safely reopen.
“Our superintendent and the board have let down children, teachers and the community,” Mann said in an email Wednesday.
Some parents are also upset that older elementary students will not get daily, in-person classes.
A rally will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday outside the school district’s headquarters in Cary to call on Wake to bring more students back to school.
“Let’s show WCPSS that we are ready for all students and teachers that want to be back on campus to be back on campus!!” according to the event description. “Enough is enough!!”
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 2:09 PM.
