Pender County Schools respond to alleged teacher concerns

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — After a letter filled with concerns from teachers was allegedly sent to the Pender County School Board, the school district is responding.

Pender County Schools issued the following news release Sunday night:

In an effort to maintain transparency and provide additional clarity for staff and the
public, Pender County Schools would like to address some questions about reopening schools.

For background, Pender County Schools put forth a community survey from July 13-16 to our families and guardians, soliciting feedback on their intent for education in the fall of 2020. A total of 4,349 responses were submitted, accounting for 5,862 total students. 55 percent of those responding said they would send their student(s) back to school in August if in-person education was approved, while 18 percent said they would not. 27 percent at the time were undecided, as Governor Cooper had not announced school opening plans at the time the survey was first presented.

As of August 16, 2,618 students (26.9% percent of all PCS students) have requested to enroll in online-only learning for the first semester.

Following the Pender County Board of Education’s July 21 vote to open the 2020-21 school
year under a hybrid Plan B, a survey was made available to all PCS staff members from July 29-August 2 to attain staff intentions for the year. 669 staff members responded, with 87 percent stating they planned to work with no requested accommodations. 5.4 percent said they would return to work but would be requesting some accommodations, while 7 percent said they would need to work via teleworking away from the school building.

All of this data was utilized in designing the learning plans for both in-person education and
online learning that Pender County Schools intends to implement when the school year begins on August 17 and students return to campus on August 18.

Below, PCS will address the “Specific Benefits of Delaying In-Person Instruction” and “Areas of Concern/Unanswered Questions” submitted to the Board of Education. The statements and questions are in italics, with the corresponding response from Pender County Schools
underneath.

Click here to read the concerns and responses.