NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A local school district may soon change the way it responds to inclement weather events after it rushed to get students home Monday amid rising waters.
READ MORE: Stranded: Locals, tourists stuck as flooding overwhelms coastal regions
At 10 a.m. Monday, New Hanover County Schools announced the immediate closure of Carolina Beach Elementary and two-hour early release of students at all other schools.
By midday Monday, flash flood warnings had been issued across the county, due to rainfall from an unnamed storm moving up the coast. Carolina Beach would end up getting upwards of 20 inches of rain, along with Southport and Oak Island, resulting in numerous collapsed roads and water rescues.
NHCS parents criticized the district for not canceling school sooner, resulting in a change of plans for thousands, and for Carolina Beach Elementary parents a request to drive through flooded areas to reach their kids as the town and emergency officials urged them to stay off the roads.
For some, it wasn’t possible; NHCS district confirmed around a dozen students from Carolina Beach Elementary were transported home by the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office using high-water vehicles. The students and their supervisors had to remain at the school until 1:30 p.m. for the vehicles to arrive.
Schools remained closed Tuesday as the district evaluated road and campus conditions; Assistant Superintendent of Operations Eddie Anderson also provided an update to the board during its work session.
Anderson said bus drivers have been running routes all day to determine driving accessibility, noting all areas of concern were clear aside from Carolina and Kure beaches. U.S. Highway 17 in Brunswick County is also still experiencing flooding issues, which could prevent some NHCS employees from reaching their school.
He also said there have been no reports of major damage to any school buildings. Flood waters did not enter buildings, but some water did get inside some schools — Anderson mentioned Anderson Elementary by name — due to wind-driven rain and leaks.
“Our primary focus today is getting schools ready to open,” he said, “and then we’ll come back later in the week and start making the necessary repairs.”
NHCS announced Tuesday afternoon it would return to a normal schedule Wednesday.
The announcement stated NHCS bus drivers “spent all day going through their routes to ensure roads were safe, our maintenance and operations team inspected and cleaned all of our buildings and grounds, and our teachers and administrators have been planning for a smooth transition back.”
Interim Superintendent Christopher Barnes said staff were also working on an after-action report to review its emergency weather protocol.
In the aftermath of his first weathered storm as interim superintendent, Barnes issued an apology Monday night in response to the public outcry over his decision to keep schools open.
“Our priority is always to make the best decision based on the information available at the time,” he wrote after stating NHCS consults with county emergency management and the National Weather Service in Wilmington.
“Unfortunately, the rainfall and conditions far exceeded all forecasts when we made the call last night to keep school open,” Barnes wrote Monday. “The severity of today’s storm took our community by surprise.”
Barnes promised to reassess the district’s processes and said early release times will be excused for all employees and students that were kept home will not be penalized.
“We all want what’s best for students and staff,” Barnes wrote. “I know that’s something we can agree on. I regret that I fell short of that today and I hope the community can trust that I’m doing everything I can to prioritize their well-being.”
One board member also took to social media to profess her plans for addressing the district’s response.
Josie Barnhart wrote on Facebook she has asked for a safety protocol discussion and update to be placed on the school board’s agenda “specifically to include flooding as part of the decision making process as it pertains to weather delays/ cancelation.”
Barnhart elaborated on her plans in an email to Port City Daily Tuesday. She said she’s discussed helping the district understand “thresholds” in decisions for closures and delays as well as board or staff members being present during emergency response briefings “on a constant basis.”
She is also questioning flood-level considerations in the decision-making process.
“Uniquely we have cb and wrightsville beach and we need to consider rain fall, current water levels as well as tide levels when predicting. In addition we have schools close to watersheds,” Barnhart wrote.
PCD also asked other board members for thoughts on NHCS’s safety protocol.
Pat Bradford responded with “no comment.” Hugh McManus said he supports any discussion to improve decisions on school safety and transportation.
“The more we can proact rather than react is going to improve how well we handle weather issues,” McManus said.
Stephanie Kraybill said she also supported continued assessment and improvement but cautioned against board members encroaching on the superintendent’s territory.
“There’s a difference between policy and protocol,” she said, noting the board was directly charged with overseeing the former but not the latter.
Kraybill also remarked that nature is unpredictable, and even with the best tools and knowledge, there are situations where weather behaves in an unanticipated way.
It is still unclear what protocol was used by NHCS that led to the decision to open Monday. PCD asked the Pender, New Hanover and Brunswick school districts for their specific guidelines for emergency weather. PCS was the only one to respond.
“Our decision-making process is a joint effort, with our Transportation Director working closely with Pender County Emergency Management (EM), the Sheriff’s Office, and other relevant agencies including the National Weather Service in Wilmington and Surf City,” district spokesperson Bob Fankboner said.
Key factors considered include:
- Sustained winds in the Surf City area, where emergency vehicle traffic over the bridge is halted once sustained winds reach 45 mph for two consecutive minutes. Under these conditions, the Town of Surf City also restricts non-essential traffic.
- Communication with the NCDOT to identify road hazards and maintain updates on problem areas, especially roads prone to flooding. We have a prioritized list of these flood-prone roads, which we inspect to ensure safety.
When inclement weather is identified, a decision is made by the superintendent and cabinet members, shared with the board of education, and then sent to the public.
Brunswick County School did close schools Monday for kids; however, it was an optional teacher workday. Some educators who decided to work ended up being stuck at schools overnight, including more than a dozen at Town Creek Elementary.
A few teachers from various schools wrote into Port City Daily, one who said she wished she never went into work, as she lost her car to the flooding.
Another was second-grade educator Gia Vasquez, who also opted to work because she had to.
“My options were to go in the storm or not go and lose pay,” Vasquez said. “I went in and I got stuck at the school. I wasn’t able to get out — all the roads around the school closed. I had someone try to come get me and they got stuck in a gridlock.”
Vasquez eventually made it home safely.
“I’m glad Brunswick County cares about their kids, but I wish they would care a little more about the educators,” she wrote to PCD.
Reaching out to the BCS board, Steve Barger responded he wanted to do right by the people who work in the district. He said in a phone call Monday he went back and forth with the board over the optional workday and that he supports prioritizing people’s needs over state law.
On optional workdays, North Carolina requires teachers to use a paid vacation day or go unpaid if they choose not to work.
PCD also asked administrative staff how many teachers were affected by being stuck at schools overnight and where, what measures were taken to address the needs of teachers who were stranded overnight, what factors led to the decision to make yesterday an optional workday, and what is the established protocol for such decisions. An answer wasn’t received by press, but will be updated upon response.
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