Here are the NC school districts closing May 1 due to teachers rally in Raleigh

By T. Keung Hui

Updated May 1, 2019 12:01 AM

The majority of North Carolina public school students will not have classes on May 1 because so many teachers and other school employees have requested the day off to protest in Raleigh.

Alamance-Burlington Schools announced Tuesday that schools will be closed on May 1 because of difficulties transporting students to class and supervising them once they’re there due to all the employee absences. This means that at least 34 school districts are canceling classes on May 1, including the state’s five largest school systems — Wake County, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Guilford County, Winston-Salem/Forsyth and Cumberland,

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system announced April 11 it was closing May 1. The announcement came a day after Wake County, the only North Carolina district larger than CMS, also decided to cancel May 1 classes.

It’s mostly traditional public schools that have announced they’re closing, but at least 10 charter schools are also closing for the rally.

Thousands of teachers from across the state are expected to come to the capital city to lobby state lawmakers on issues such as expanding Medicaid and giving all school employees a raise. The march, organized by the N.C. Association of Educators, is a repeat of last year’s protest on May 16 that brought at least 19,000 people to the capital.

Because of expected teacher absences, several North Carolina school districts have announced they will close on May 1, saying it will now be an optional teacher workday. The 34 announced districts and 10 charter schools, as of April 30, represent 856,145 of the state’s 1.53 million public school students, or 56 percent.

Last year, at least 42 districts closed, representing around 1,043,000 students, or 68 percent of the state’s public school students.

State Schools Superintendent Mark Johnson has asked teachers to hold the protest on a non-school day, such as spring break or when the school year is over. He says students already have missed school because of Hurricane Florence and snow days.

Some districts have heeded Johnson’s call and are planning to stay open May 1, rejecting requests from some teachers to take the day off. They’re asking teachers to send small groups from individual schools while keeping the district open May 1.

The new state budget introduced Friday by the House would clamp down on future protests by saying personal leave requests can’t be approved unless a school can guarantee that it has a substitute teacher available.

While announcing that schools would be closed May 1, New Hanover Superintendent Tim Markley said he was disappointed that students would miss another day of classes after having lost three weeks of time due to Hurricane Florence. But Markley said that so many teachers had requested the day off that schools couldn’t safely be held.

Some districts such as Davie County and Weldon City haven’t posted online about schools being closed May 1 but have notified staff and families that classes will not be held that day.

Teachers in South Carolina also plan to leave the classroom on May 1 to protest their state’s lawmakers.

Here are the districts and charter schools that have announced that May 1 will be a teacher work day. Click on the names and links to learn more about how each district and charter school is handling AP exams, makeup days and other questions related to the closing.

This list will be updated.

▪ Alamance-Burlington Schools: 22,734 students

▪ Asheville City Schools: 4,317 students

▪ Bertie County: 2,104 students

▪ Brunswick County: 12,471 students

▪ Cabarrus County: 33,008 students

▪ Carter Community (charter school): 251 students

▪ Central Park School For Children (charter school): 629 students

▪ Chapel Hill-Carrboro: 12,307 students

▪ Charlotte-Mecklenburg: 147,406 students

▪ Chatham County: 8,833 students

▪ Cumberland County: 50,073 students