NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A statewide teachers strike planned for May 1 could disrupt the school day across the state, though NHCS superintendent’s proactive suggestion to lessen the impact with a teacher workday switch fell flat Tuesday.
At the specially called meeting, Superintendent Chris Barnes brought up the idea of substituting the district’s teacher workday on May 4 for May 1 to avoid a potential loss of instructional time on both days instead of one.
The North Carolina Association of Educators, a professional association and advocacy group for public school teachers, is encouraging teachers to call out of work on May 1 to march in Raleigh, protesting the current funding level of public schools.
“The idea that we would even consider adjusting our calendar to accommodate politically motivated protests is deeply troubling,” board member Josie Barnhart said. “It sends the message that political pressure is more important than educating students.”
Barnes told Port City Daily after Tuesday’s meeting that HR has received 96 notices of teachers taking personal leave on May 1, though not all requests are confirmed as part of the walkout.
The absences are currently below what the district sees on average, Barnes said, though he anticipated more requests to come in. He also said two schools’ central offices would need to offer more support, though he wouldn’t name them to Port City Daily.
The board ultimately voted against the teacher workday transfer 5-2, with Judy Justice dissenting (Tim Merrick was not in attendance).
The choice to reject the switch was made by Republicans Melissa Mason, Pete Wildeboer, Pat Bradford and Josie Barnhart, along with David Perry — the latter of whom recently switched his party affiliation from Republican to Libertarian. The expressed opinions indicated the calendar that’s been in place for more than a year should not be altered based on “political activism.”
The May 1 protest comes on the heels of the North Carolina Supreme Court’s dismissal of the Leandro lawsuit. The move overturned the court’s 2022 decision — under a different political makeup of the court — ordering the state legislature to dispense millions of dollars to public schools. As frequently brought up by education activists, the state also consistently ranks among the lowest funders of public education compared with its financial ability to do so.
Both Barnhart and board member Pat Bradford pointed out the calendar has been set for over a year and, thus, families might have planned vacations or appointments around their students being out of school on May 4.
“What do we do the next time there’s a walkout called nationally? Are we going to change that day?” Bradford asked.
Bradford claimed the North Carolina Association of Educators’ website stated the May 1 walkout is a “warm-up” for a bigger June protest, though this is not part of the association’s messaging on the May 1 event page.
Board members Melissa Mason and Perry were less severe in their comments, the latter initially saying he was “torn” between disrupting students and families versus being supportive of teacher’s right to advocate as citizens. Faced with that divide, Justice said she thought the district should support teachers, noting families had two weeks to rearrange their schedule.
Mason reminded the board members they have done the same in their service capacity, with several leaders travelling to Raleigh to push for the district’s legislative priorities.
“I think we shouldn’t be saying we’re not doing anything because we are,” Mason said, also resisting narratives the district has not been vocal about issues the May 1 walkout is organized around.
Chair Pete Wildeboer asked the superintendent if the walkout would pose any safety issues at schools. Barnes centered concerns around instructional time, indicating if there were hundreds of teachers requesting off it would be a different story.
When asked what he would do if he foresaw a safety issue occurring, Barnes said he would start denying personal leave.
The district policy is that a teacher provide five days of notice before the requested personal day. Barnes said his directive is to approve the requests 100% of the time unless a replacement could not be found.
The superintendent said he plans to put all of the district’s substitutes on notice about May 1. He also will talk with school principals about the walkout and the district’s policy on personal leave.
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