Pitt County Schools BOE,
It is with great disgust that I am reaching out to you today. I am not only disgusted by your actions, but your inactions. The duty of the board of education is to speak on behalf of its constituents regarding educational policy and procedure. It is to determine the best course of action for Pitt County Schools students, staff, and teachers. Today, you failed at that job.
I am embarrassed to be an employee of the Pitt County School District today. The behavior I observed in the Zoom meeting reminded me of nothing more than children who were not getting their way. The sarcasm, condescending comments, and lack of support for each other was embarrassing. The accusation by Worth that virtual teaching is “not teaching” is a slap in the face to every teacher in Pitt County Schools. The lack of respect for both teachers and parents was obvious when you did not make a decision until 1:00pm the day before we go back to school.
You did not consider the safety and security of the students, as you stated in the conversation. If you considered the safety of the students or teachers you would have voted for virtual learning. Starting tomorrow, class sizes are getting higher and more students will be in our building since 3/13/20. Elementary schools are busting at the seams with the abolishment of A/B weeks with many classes sitting at over 20 students. THAT is not safe.
As Benjie rudely put it today, I am “disappointed” in the actions that transpired today. While other school districts surrounding us have made the right choice in virtual learning, we will continue to not follow the recommendation of professionals and we will resume school “as normal.” These are not normal times and sometimes the right thing to do is not the popular thing.
Teachers were asked yesterday how they felt about returning to school and there was a resounding, “NO.” We do not feel safe. In listening to the discussion that transpired today, it is obvious the BOE does not care about teacher’s safety or well-being. None-the-less, we will march in there tomorrow and we will do what we need to in order to make this situation the best we can.
Please know, that you could have prevented potential spread of COVID-19. You had the opportunity to do what the professionals on the topic say is “right”, but you made the choice not to. You made the choice to spread COVID-19 even more and put your staff, students, and community members at a greater risk.
Sincerely,
Very disappointed PCS teacher
