by Kevin Austin

Governor Cooper should leave school reopening plans to each of our 115 individual School Districts, and here is why. In North Carolina, Local Education Agencies (LEAs) are uniquely positioned to understand all of the factors involved in how to best provide the Constitutionally required education for each child in their separate and unique districts.

Each LEA is governed by a locally elected Board of Education. These are made up of parents, educators and other community leaders. They are the ones you talk to in church, at the grocery stores and restaurants, on the phone, and at their public meetings. They are the ones granted by law with the responsibility to make policy and spending decisions for each school district.

One of the biggest issues facing some schools considering the need to social distance students is transportation, specifically buses. Each school and district is unique in both in terms of the extent of the problem and the solutions available to them. Some schools have buses that are barely utilized, while others have buses that are already overcrowded. Some schools have parents who are willing to help by carpooling kids who are already around each other all the time anyway. Principals and Transportation Directors in each LEA know their schools and know how to solve this problem.

Of course, proper distancing in the classrooms and hallways is another concern. While fast-growing school systems are always needing more classrooms, there are many LEA’s across North Carolina where stagnant growth or even falling enrollment allows more flexibility to keep our kids safe. Students within a single district can be moved to other schools in the district and possibly to other structures temporarily.

Staffing is also a major consideration this year. LEA’s have knowledge of how their teachers and staff can best be deployed to meet classroom needs. They are aware of many people throughout their community who can be called on to help. This could include retired teachers, those credentialed and not currently teaching, and even Cooperative Extension Agents. Trusted volunteers could also be used with success.

Distance learning has tremendous challenges. Besides the difficulties of providing rigor and individualized instruction, there is also the fact that it is just not possible for some students. Broadband in our state is spotty in many places and just not there at all in others. On top of that, some families have difficulties with technology or language. Local school boards are best suited to evaluate their district and search out partners and solutions.

Again, the mix of conditions in each district is different. COVID-19 spread rates and results vary greatly in different areas. Individual and community response varies statewide, but can be more consistent within a single school district. Local elected boards of education see these factors and understand why they exist.

While the Governor has made a good point in the past about why blurred County lines have made it necessary for COVID-related Executive Orders to be applied statewide, I would suggest that those reasons don’t apply to School Districts. With the exception of intramural activities that sometime cross County lines, each of North Carolina’s 115 LEAs are self-contained.  Perhaps intramural activities should be limited to intra-county. And yes, teachers and staff sometimes live in other Counties, but as responsible professionals, they can manage and limit exposures for their own safety as well as others.

It is time to let those who know best in their LEA make the decisions.

Kevin Austin is a parent, businessman, and member of the Yadkin County Board of Commissioners