Parents sue CMS over virtual instruction
EXCLUSIVE: School board’s decision to eliminate in-person classes violates N.C. Constitution, lawsuit says
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Suit aims to return students to the classroom and ‘hold the school board accountable,’ lawyer says
A new lawsuit says the decision by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to shift all instruction online violates the N.C. Constitution, which has been held by courts to guarantee a “sound, basic education.” (Photo by Thomas Park/Unsplash)
by Tony Mecia
A group of Charlotte parents has filed a lawsuit against the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education that seeks to compel school leaders to return students to the classroom.
The suit, filed late last week in Mecklenburg County Superior Court, alleges that the board’s decision in July to move to fully online instruction was not supported by medical evidence and violates the North Carolina Constitution, which guarantees the right to education and says that students should have equal opportunity to learn.
“The school board has not done its job: It has denied the provision of full public school education rather casually and on evidence that is, at best, thin that schoolchildren are in danger,” said Dave Redding, the lawyer representing the parents, in an interview over the weekend with The Ledger.
Redding said he plans to seek a court order in the next few weeks that would force the board to reopen classrooms to students who want to return.
A CMS spokesman said Tuesday that the district has not seen the lawsuit. He added that the school board cited public health studies and statistics in its vote to move to remote instruction and said board members were aware of staffing challenges related to reopening schools to students. [updated 9/8/20, 2:40 p.m., to include CMS response]
The suit also names the North Carolina Association of Educators as a defendant and says that members of NCAE, which represents the interests of teachers, “organized a campaign to improperly influence and intimidate [school] Board members” and Superintendent Earnest Winston to abandon in-person instruction. It says the NCAE acted as the “functional equivalent” of a union. N.C. law forbids government agencies from negotiating with labor unions and outlaws coordinated strikes or work slowdowns.
An NCAE spokesman told The Ledger that he was unaware of the lawsuit.
The court filing lists five parents as plaintiffs with a total of seven children. At least three of the students attend Dilworth Elementary.
Legal twist: The suit is a variation on other legal actions that have been filed in North Carolina in the last few decades claiming that decisions by government officials have denied children the right to an adequate education. In the most famous such case, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971 upheld the ruling by a Charlotte federal judge that ordered the school board to integrate public schools by busing. More recently, the state has been working to figure out how to implement a ruling by the N.C. Supreme Court that every student has a right to a “sound, basic education” — part of a 1997 decision in the Leandro case brought by five rural N.C. school districts that alleged they were receiving insufficient school funding.
Redding declined to draw parallels between his case and those earlier ones. He said the board’s decision to close school buildings, while falling hardest on those in lower socioeconomic groups, violates the rights of all students. He said the goal is “to get the kids back in school, and to hold the school board accountable.”
Since the start of the pandemic, judges in North Carolina have been mostly reluctant to second-guess the decisions of government officials seeking to control the spread of Covid. Lawsuits by gyms, strip clubs and bars that claimed their rights were violated by being forced to remain closed went nowhere this summer. Still, there have been a couple examples of judges ruling that government decisions have gone too far. In July, bowling alleys persuaded a judge to allow them to reopen, though the ruling was quickly reversed by the state supreme court. And in May, churches succeeded in getting a federal judge to block the state’s rules against indoor worship services.
On public education, Gov. Roy Cooper said in July he would allow individual school districts to decide whether to blend in-person and remote learning or go 100% virtual. CMS seemed to be heading toward a mix of face-to-face and online learning, and district officials said they had been planning for that for weeks. In-person classes would have been at about 1/3 capacity, with rotating groups that would attend classes one week then be home for two weeks.
Health expert recommendations: Local medical experts from Atrium Health and Novant Health publicly told board members that children are at less risk than adults of developing serious complications from Covid and that there are health benefits of having students in class. County health director Gibbie Harris did not make a public recommendation one way or the other, though private emails uncovered by WCNC under public records laws show that she wrote to colleagues at the time: “I am supportive of some level of children in the school setting with all of the protective/preventive methods solidly in place. I think the kids need it.”
Nonetheless, board members said they worried about student and teacher safety and voted 7-1 on July 15 to go with almost all virtual learning. They voted unanimously two weeks later to shift all instruction online.
Last month, the district said that between 16,000 and 18,000 CMS students lacked wifi needed for online learning. The district is raising money to buy hotspots for those who need reliable connections to attend online classes.
The school board meets tonight and is expected to receive an update from a committee that is developing recommendations on how and when to reopen school buildings. The committee has met twice and has focused mostly on issues related to CMS preparedness, such as staffing and classroom air flow.
Back to school plans: WFAE reported Monday night that CMS has developed detailed preliminary plans to bring students back into classrooms, starting with the youngest students and returning all children to classes part-time within 9 to 15 weeks after the plan is activated. But the board’s chairwoman said she didn’t think those plans would be formally presented to the board tonight and would not be ready before the middle of the month.
Since the school board’s July votes, Covid numbers statewide and in Mecklenburg County have been improving. Citing encouraging progress against the virus, Cooper last week allowed gyms, museums and bowling alleys to reopen, and he raised the limits on mass gatherings to 25 indoors and 50 outdoors. Bars, movie theaters and nightclubs remain closed.
More info: Read the full lawsuit:
Related Ledger articles:
“Why CMS voted for all-online learning” (July 16)
“School shutdown sends parents scrambling — in different ways” (July 25)
“A voice for the teachers” (Aug. 8)
Government money coming: N.C. to send $335 to parents
If you’re a parent, look for an extra $335 headed your way from the state of North Carolina.
Gov. Roy Cooper said late last week that he plans to sign a bill that provides that money to people who claimed at least one child eligible for a child tax credit on their state taxes this year. That usually means you have to have a dependent child who was under 17 as of Dec. 31, 2019.
No cap: There’s no income restriction to receive the money, which is supposed to be paid by mid-December. The $335 is per household, not per parent. The idea is to help reimburse parents for money they spend on virtual schooling. The money will show up by check or direct deposit (if you received a state tax refund this year).
School money: The law signed by the governor also calls for public schools to receive the same amount of money they did last year, regardless of attendance this year. That’s important, because funding is usually tied to enrollment — but this year, enrollment is expected to be way down as parents switch to homeschooling and private schools. There’s talk that in CMS, enrollment might be down by 10% or more at a couple dozen schools. We will know for sure when enrollment numbers come out in the next couple weeks.
In addition, according to the Associated Press, the new law:
Includes money for coronavirus testing, tracing and personal protective equipment.
Includes money to raise weekly unemployment benefits by $50
Gives poll workers an additional $100
Allocates money to address recent national disasters
Includes additional funding for the Golden LEAF Foundation to help businesses that have retained employees during the pandemic.
—TM
In brief
Buffett bails on Wells: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway cut its ownership stake in Wells Fargo to 3.3%, or about $3.4B, the company said in regulatory filings Friday. It once owned $32B in Wells stock. “Buffett began investing in Wells Fargo in 1989 but has been reducing Berkshire’s stake as the bank struggles to recover from a series of scandals over its treatment of customers, including the opening of accounts without their knowledge,” Fox Business said. (Fox Business)
Homeschool requests skyrocket: The number of requests from N.C. parents to homeschool their children in July and August nearly tripled this year compared with 2019. The state agency that receives homeschooling requests says it received more than 11,000 between July 1 and Aug. 24. (Carolina Public Press)
Public funding for local music? An alliance of Charlotte music-venue owners says the city needs to start allocating money to music venues or risk those businesses disappearing. “We’re going to need life support,” the owner of The Evening Muse said. “… If Charlotte music venues don’t get the support they need soon, there won’t be any left by the time this pandemic is over.” The city says it has a program to help small businesses of all kinds. (WBTV/Observer, Charlotte magazine)
City sports consultant: The city of Charlotte has hired Inner Circle Sports, a New York investment banking firm, to help it negotiate with Tepper Sports & Entertainment, which runs the Panthers and Charlotte’s new pro soccer team, Charlotte FC. (Biz Journal)
Tepper layoffs: On a call with reporters last week, asked to explain why Tepper Sports & Entertainment has laid off 30 workers since May while other pro teams have not, owner David Tepper said: “I decide on these decisions based on what’s good for the organization and what’s good for the individual. It’s not good to have an individual sit there idle for a year or a year and a half or two years with nothing to do inside the organization.” (Bloomberg)
Ledger update: In case you missed it, The Ledger on Friday provided an update to readers on the e-newsletter you’re reading.
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire; Reporting intern: David Griffith