NHCS issues survey about upcoming school year plans, parents voice concerns

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — As everyone waits to learn more from the Governor about how the upcoming school year will look, parents are trying to plan ahead.

Parents’ concerns are all over the map right now, from their child’s quality of education to the health and safety of kids if they go back to in-person learning.

Anne McCombie has four kids in school right now, and says half her kids did great with remote learning, but the other half struggled.

“Fully online, I struggled with,” McCombie said. “I feel like it would be good to have somebody else besides me to hold my kids accountable. I need to be stronger and harder on them in that way, but because we’re struggling through a pandemic, you choose your battles.”

New Hanover County Schools put out several surveys – one for staff, one for families and students and a community input form. Some of the questions on the survey for families and students asked if parents would prefer exclusively in-person learning, exclusively remote learning or a hybrid option.

“It just seems like if we are going to send them back, something more like a hybrid would be more sensible,” McCombie said.

While McCombie says she worries about sending her kids back to in-person learning full-time, she says it would be great to gets the kids back in the classroom.

Ashley Wildrick has a rising 4th grader, and says the remote learning wasn’t a great fit for her daughter.

​”A lot of the remote learning really didn’t offer her some of the stuff that she needed, so we’re pretty concerned with that,” Wildrick said. “Even the stuff she was supposed to have learned in third grade, really she didn’t get to fully. I think that’s our main concern in the quality of education.”

Depending on the new circumstances this upcoming school year, Wildrick says they’re even considering homeschooling.

“Just because we wanted it to be streamlined for her, just so she can get the most out of her education,” Wildrick said. “Half and half sounds kind of choppy, and then of course not going at all, I think for her, really would not be beneficial.”

With no official plans in sight, parent say it’s hard to figure out how they can make plans of their own for their families.

“I really just hope to see flexibility so people can make the best choices for their families and children,” Wildrick said.

Governor Cooper hasn’t announced when he expects to make a decision on the plans for the upcoming year. Parents say they’re trying to take it day by day.

“It’s hard not to know anything,” McCombie said. “It’d be nice to know something, but I also understand there are so many unknowns and so many variables that we can’t be accountable to yet, that it’s just better to be safe.”

You can find the surveys sent out by NHCS here.