Private schools see more and bigger COVID-19 clusters compared to public schools
Private schools from kindergarten to 12th grade across North Carolina have more COVID-19 clusters than public schools and have generally had more confirmed cases in those clusters.
As of Friday, there were 14 active coronavirus clusters reported at private K-12 schools across the state with 138 confirmed cases, according to data from the state Department of Health and Human Services.
At K-12 public schools, 11 active coronavirus clusters had been reported with a total of 79 cases.
No deaths have been reported from these active COVID-19 clusters.
According to the state, there are over 2,500 public schools and 751 private schools in N.C., as of the 2019-20 academic year. A majority of public schools started the semester online. Many private schools opted for full-time, in-person classes, but an exact number could not be determined.
The largest reported cluster at a private school is at Wayne Christian School in Goldsboro, which has 35 reported cases.
The largest at a public school is North Wilkes High School in Wilkes County with 20 reported cases.
The state Department of Administration has recommended that private schools follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DHHS and Gov. Roy Cooper. They have also recommended that gatherings of 10 people or more be discontinued, but it is up to the discretion of school to decide how to proceed with instruction.
All of the public school systems on the cluster list, except Robeson County, started having a mix of in-person and online classes near the end of September or earlier, according state School Board Association. This is “plan B” of Cooper’s reopening options for public schools.
In mid-September though, Cooper announced that school districts would be allowed to send elementary schools back to daily, in-person classes starting on Oct. 6.
Later in September, Wake County announced that elementary and middle school students would start returning to the classroom in phases throughout the end of the semester. High school students will stay online into January.
Why stay in-person?
Three private schools with reported active clusters — High Point Christian Academy, Wesleyan Christian Academy in High Point, and Coastal Christian High School in Wilmington — are members of the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools.
NCAIS executive director Linda Nelson said many private schools chose to return to in-person classes due to key differences between private and public schools.
“We’re smaller, we don’t have the same level of busing,” Nelson said. “In many cases, we have campuses where we can spread out better than a large public school.”
Nelson also said the virus hasn’t spread internally at the three NCAIS schools with clusters.
“To the best of their knowledge, there wasn’t community transmission. It came from outside,” Nelson said.
Nelson said their private schools have demonstrated the ability to return safely. She said NCAIS includes about 40% of private schools in the state but currently only has three clusters.
“Trying to balance the value of getting somewhat back to normal,” Nelson said. “If you can mitigate risk to a high degree, it just makes sense.”
Nelson said their schools also provide virtual options for parents who don’t want their children going to class in-person.
“Their families are paying customers,” Nelson said. “They expect a high degree of safety. They expect a lot of options. They expect a lot when they’re paying for that product.”
The North Carolina Christian School Association has four reported clusters with its schools — Bethel Christian Academy in Kinston with 16 reported cases; New Bern Christian Academy with 10; Millersville Christian Academy in Alexander County with six cases; and Cornerstone Christian Academy in Fayetteville with eight.
Executive director Joe Haas said NCCSA is not a regulatory body and only gives suggestions to schools based on guidance from DHHS and the federal government. He said specific protocols are up to the schools themselves.
Haas said that schools, as far as he knows, have been following federal and state guidelines.
“If that’s what you’re doing,” Haas said, “then you’ve done all you can.”
Haas said parents of students in NCCSA schools across the state have contacted them with approval of how they’ve handled the pandemic.
Haas said parents at public schools are dissatisfied with their school districts for not returning to in-person class.
“Seems like parents are just fed up with not being able to get a quality education,” Haas said. “Their kids are falling behind.”
More than 100 parents and students in Wake County protested at the beginning of October the school board’s decision to keep high school students in online-only classes until January.
Haas also said it isn’t fair to compare clusters at private and public schools.
“Many of them are open face-to-face as compared to the thousands and thousands that are not opening in the public sector? I mean, that that’s not apples and apples,” Haas said.
This story was originally published October 26, 2020 at 6:40 AM with the headline "Private schools see more and bigger COVID-19 clusters compared to public schools."