Many NC schools will have a 4-day Veterans Day weekend for mental health and wellness
Many public school students in the Triangle and across North Carolina will get a four-day weekend over the Veterans Day holiday to give school employees a breather.
North Carolina public schools are required by state law to be closed on Veterans Day, which will be Thursday this week. But multiple school districts, including Wake, Durham and Johnston counties, have recently modified their calendars to also cancel classes this Friday, Nov. 12, to turn it into a teacher workday.
Some school districts are calling Friday a wellness day or a mental health day. A common factor raised among districts is that not having classes Friday will lessen pressure on employees working during a time of severe staff shortages.
“We acknowledge the tremendous efforts of our students and staff over the past few months and know that while school may be back in session, many things have changed for our school communities due to the pandemic,” Bettina Umstead, chair of the Durham school board, said in a press release. “The mental health and well-being of our students and staff is a priority, and this day represents our district’s commitment to supporting wellness for all.”
Districts that will not have classes on both Thursday and Friday include Wake County, Durham Public Schools, Johnston County, Orange County, Chatham County, Franklin County and Granville County.
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system will be closed Thursday but open for classes on Friday. But Chapel Hill-Carrboro has canceled classes the week of Thanksgiving.
Johnston County canceled classes on both Friday and on Thanksgiving week.
Employees must work to get paid
School districts say they won’t have to schedule makeup days to replace these wellness days because they’ve already built into the calendar more than the minimum number of annual instructional hours required for students.
So many school districts and charter schools are adding mental health days in November that the State Board of Education recently sent a memo to local school leaders about the legal restrictions on canceling school days.
In particular, the memo warns schools that school employees must be working, be on approved leave or on holiday paid leave to be eligible to be paid for a workday.
“Public monies cannot be used as gifts to individuals but must be payment for services rendered,” according to the memo. “The bottom line is that school districts are not free to ‘give’ extra paid leave days to employees other than those permitted by state statute or State Board of Education rules or policies.”
Schools are allowing employees to work from home on Friday. But the memo says that will be a problem for cafeteria workers, bus drivers and other school employee who must be physically present to do their duties.
“Accordingly, they must be assigned work tasks, allowed to take leave or be on leave without pay,” according to the memo.
Districts say they’re scheduling alternative things for hourly employees to do on Friday to get in their work hours.
This story was originally published November 10, 2021 at 10:42 AM.
