Wake school board caught in the middle as parents push reopening, teachers urge caution
Wake County school leaders hope to make a decision next week on school reopening, as they deal with conflicting messages from parents and teachers about whether it’s safe to return yet.
The Wake County school board will meet Wednesday to review reopening options against the backdrop of parents lobbying for restarting in-person classes and teachers saying it’s still unsafe. School board chairman Keith Sutton said the goal is to review the information Wednesday and vote next week on a plan for resuming in-person instruction.
No matter what decision is made, it will anger some in the county.
“We have to make what we feel is the best decision for students, faculty, staff and the community because you have so many varying opinions from one side to the other,” Sutton said in an interview Tuesday. “Everybody has valid concerns, valid fears. Everyone is challenged and struggling in some way.
“I don’t think one group is more important than the other or is being weighed more than the other.”
Wake County’s 162,000 students haven’t had in-person instruction since Gov. Roy Cooper ordered all North Carolina public schools closed in March to try to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Cooper initially allowed school districts to reopen in August under “Plan B,” an option that allows schools to have in-person classes if they limit the number of students on campus and on school buses. Most districts opted to start the school year only using remote classes on “Plan C.”
More districts are bringing their students back for in-person classes as the school year enters its second month. Due to the capacity limits, they’re using a hybrid model in which students alternate between taking classes in-person and online.
Districts consider Plan A
Last week, Cooper announced he’ll allow school districts to open elementary schools on “Plan A,” starting Oct. 5. This option has no capacity restrictions, so elementary students could get full-time, daily in-person instruction.
Elementary schools that switch to Plan A will still have to follow new safety protocols such as requiring students and employees to pass daily temperature checks and health screenings before they’re allowed on campus. Students and staff will also have to wear face coverings on school buses and at school.
But Sutton, the Wake school board chairman, said Plan A is unlikely to be adopted right now in Wake.
“Plan B is probably more likely for everybody because going to Plan A is like going from 0 to 100, and I don’t know if anybody is ready to do that at this point,” Sutton said.
The Wake school board will have to decide whether to stick with its previously approved plan to split students into three groups that rotate between a week of in-person classes and two weeks of remote learning. Wake could begin bringing students back under that plan starting Oct. 26, if not sooner.
Last week, administrators presented an option that would split students into two groups so they’d alternate between a week of in-person classes and a week of online courses. It’s under consideration because the majority of students signed up for the Virtual Academy program, where students agreed to take only online courses for at least half the school year.
Heading into Wednesday’s meeting, the district surveyed both parents and teachers about school reopening. Among the questions is whether people would feel comfortable with returning all the Plan B students at once or phasing in which groups return first.
Parents ask for school reopening
The prospect of resuming face-to-face classes has become more appealing to families who’ve grown frustrated with the challenges remote learning is placing on their children’s education and on childcare.
Catherine Kibbe, a Wake parent, emailed the school board asking them “to take immediate and emergency action to return Plan B students to school campuses.” Kibbe said Wake needs to approve a plan “that safely returns as many students as possible as quickly as possible to school buildings.”
“It is time for the Board to show confidence in staff to implement an immediate return to school on a rotating basis,” Kibbe wrote. “Even if a phased approach is necessary, please set dates for ALL grade levels to return to campus before the end of OCTOBER.”
Kibbe and Wake County parent Kelly Mann point to how two local pediatricians told the school board last week that they’re seeing a rise in suicide attempts, obesity, stress and depression among young people since remote learning began.
“After listening to their testimony, it is clear that the best place for our community’s students is IN the classroom,” Kibbe wrote.
NCAE says it’s not safe to reopen schools
But the North Carolina Association of Educators is urging school employees to lobby school districts not to go to Plan A. School districts have made work accommodations for high-risk school employees but not necessarily for staff who live with family members who are at high risk from COVID-19.
“We want to be back in our buildings with our kids as soon as we possibly can, but that can’t happen until it happens safely,” Bryan Proffitt, NCAE vice president, said at an emergency town hall meeting last week
Reopening schools right now means “worrying about whether or not the people that we’re around are going to be put in danger by our presence and our proximity to them,” according to Kristin Beller, president of Wake NCAE.
“Some teachers may need to reevaluate to determine if this is the right career for them in our new normal,” according to Mann, who founded Wake County Families to Safely Reopen Schools. The Facebook group has drawn 5,000 members since being created last month.
“One thing is certain, the new normal should not mean we forsake our children, and they do not get to go back to school,” Mann wrote in an email to the school board. “A plan is overdue, and I am urging the Wake County School board to make a swift one this week.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Wake school board caught in the middle as parents push reopening, teachers urge caution."
