Embattled Cooper caves; here’s what it means for Bladen County Schools, and for Emereau

RALEIGH — Embattled Gov. Roy Cooper, a day after political opponents said they would increase pressure to get students in classrooms, caved in their direction Thursday.

The Nash County Democrat said school systems would on Oct. 5 have the option to bring all students kindergarten through fifth grade back into the classroom, which no mandatory capacity reduction.

Bladen County Schools Superintendent Dr. Robert Taylor wrote in a text message to the Bladen Journal, “At this point we will review the granular details and plan for an appropriate time to make this option available.”

The district on Monday returned students in pre-kindergarten through fourth grades to the classrooms, albeit in two groups at each school for two days each. Students have internet learning the other three days. Grades 5-8 are scheduled to use the same two-group model starting Oct. 5, and high school students will use it starting Oct. 23.

All students have the option for fully remote learning, and about half of the more than 1,400 in K-4 made that choice. The district’s first day in session was Aug. 17.

Elizabeth Cole, executive director at Emereau: Bladen Charter School, said her Board of Directors will have a called board meeting Tuesday.

“We will have a special called board meeting next Tuesday at 5,” she wrote in a text message to the Bladen Journal. “We will consider the metrics of Bladen County and make the best decision we can to continue to keep stuents and staff healthy and safe.”

Emereau began the year Aug. 10, and was the only public school in the county to start with in-person instruction. It did so for all of its grades, kindergarten through ninth.

In a Wednesday news conference, Senate leader Phil Berger, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and GOP state superintendent candidate Catherine Truitt said people througout the state would create the pressure on Cooper to give parents an option for in-person, full-time school. Cooper’s presser on Thursday steered away from that threat and went along the same mantra he has trotted out since March saying, “We have shown that listening to the science works.”

Forest, a Republican from Charlotte, is running to unseat Cooper as governor. Truitt, a Raleigh Republican, is running against Greensboro Democrat Jen Mangrum; incumbent state Superintendent Mark Johnson opted against reelection.

For grades K-5 and everyone in the school buildings, there will still be a requirement for face coverings, social distancing and symptom screening. School districts can choose five-day instruction, some type of hybrid or modified version, or use all remote learning.

On Wednesday, Berger said students from disadvantaged backgrounds and the exceptional children population were being failed by virtual learning.

“Virtual learning is a slow-motion train wreck,” he said. “It’s a slow-motion train wreck from which Harvard’s public health experts are telling us that some children will never recover.

“He needs to direct school districts to give parents the option of full-time, five-day-a-week, in-person instruction now.”

His comments contrasted legislation passed two weeks ago, part of $1.1 billion in relief, that granted the state’s two virtual public charter schools the ability to enroll 3,800 more students this year. Waiting lists were longer than that.

Nevertheless, on Thursday the governor did just what Berger said — though only for the youngest students. Not only did it come against the backdrop of the press conference a day earlier, it also came as North Carolinians are marking Election Day ballots. Absentee ballots have been sought in record numbers — more than 800,000 requests from the 7.1 million registered voters — and more than 23,000 came back in the first seven days after being mailed Sept. 4.

Cooper has faced heavy criticism all summer. He at first set up a three phase timeline to reopen the state following his leaky 30-day order for everyone to stay at home. The edict in April was exposed quickly when more than 3,400 businesses were granted “essential” status and approved by the state Department of Revenue to stay open, with only 500 denied.

In May, the three phase plan began to unfold. But as the second phase was to open on Friday of Memorial Day weekend, Cooper backtracked on thousands of businesses in the plan and denied them the ability to open for another five weeks. Unemployment continued to soar, some businesses were shuttered for good, and the governor then twice extended the wait.

He relented on some of the businesses earlier this month, calling it “Phase 2.5” even though the state has still not moved from Phase 1 to Phase 2. Several in the entertainment industry — notably bars and nightclubs — remain closed. His move allowed gyms, museums and some other businesses to reopen after many said they would defy his order and open anyway.

Some houses of faith reopened in May, though they had to go through litigation to do it. A number of businesses also tried that route but failed.

Throughout the six months since North Carolina’s first case, Cooper and Cohen have said “science and data” would determine decisions. There was real fear hospitals would be overwhelmed after New York City became the world’s epicenter in March, but that never materialized between Murphy and Manteo, and the state well before July the Fourth took care of flattening the curve that Cooper preached about in March and April.

Nationwide, surveys a month ago released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed a rise in suicides and substance abuse. It is believed unemployment, in particular for 18- to 24-year-olds, was a significant driver.

“Our trends show that we are on the right track,” said state cabinet-level Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen of the Department of Health and Human Services.

In explaining “the why” behind Thursday’s decision, she said in the governor’s release that current science shows that younger children are less likely to become infected, have symptoms, experience severe disease or spread the virus.

Johnson, in the governor’s release, said, “While the governor, the state Board of Education, and I have our differences, I join with them today to encourage local school board members to take advantage of this change and open all schools safely. I thank the many parents and teachers across North Carolina who have been vocal advocates on this important issue.”

Eric Davis, the chairman of the state Board of Education, said the board wants to get all students back into the classrooms and asked parents to be patient.

“We know that teachers, principals, and students need a gradual transition over the next three months,” he said in the governor’s release.

The science and data part of Thursday’s announcement from Cohen and Cooper said:

• Syndromic surveillance trend for COVID-like illness is declining.

• Trajectory of lab-confirmed cases is declining.

• Trajectory in percent of tests returning positive is declining.

• Trajectory of hospitalizations is declining.

Independent research released this week using information from DHHS shows 98.2 percent of the state’s population have never had a confirmed case of COVID-19. And 90 percent of the remaining 1.8 percent have recovered from it. That leaves 99.8 percent of the state’s 10.6 million people as no risk to anyone.

In Bladen County, the coronavirus is linked to 12 deaths and more than 800 cases since the pandemic began. There have been 730 recoveries.