NC school systems in storm’s wake struggle to adapt

Most public school systems across Western North Carolina have been closed for days, with some hoping to open as soon as Wednesday and some shuttered indefinitely.

School systems in the 25 counties under disaster declaration serve more than 205,700 students across 453 elementary, middle and high schools.

Systems are still assessing damage to school buildings and confronting the transportation, energy and supply difficulties that will likely plague them for weeks to come.

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In the meantime, some schools are being used as emergency shelters, distribution centers and internet providers.

In and around Asheville

Although there is miraculously no damage to any of the school buildings in Asheville, the city school system is closed indefinitely. The Asheville City Schools system serves more than 4,100 students across nine schools. Some students and staff in Asheville and in many communities in the area are without food, water and shelter.

“Our central office flooded because there’s a waterway behind it, and trees slid as a result,” Kimberly Dechant , chief of staff for Asheville City Schools, told Carolina Public Press. “That’s the most significant damage to any of our facilities.”

The New York State Incident Management Team, activated to the area by FEMA, is using Asheville Middle School as a water distribution site. T-Mobile is providing a Wi-Fi and charging station in the middle school parking lot.

Mission Health is using the Asheville High School football field as a landing pad for helicopters carrying patients who need to be transferred. Helicopters full of shipments to the hospital are also landing on the field. A local church used the high school to distribute food, water, diapers, cleaning supplies, and toiletries on Tuesday.

According to Dechant, they are also setting up a center at Isaac Dixon Elementary School that will be used as a point place for response personnel.

“The state that we’re in is just trying to get food and water out to our families because we have very limited cellular service,” Dechant said.

On Friday, Buncombe County asked Asheville City Schools for all the food in the school buildings to give to individuals staying at emergency shelters.” They were also asked to give up their fuel to nursing homes in the area.

“We have no timeline right now for when school will be back in place,” Dechant said. “The water infrastructure here in Asheville has been severely damaged, essentially wiped away by flood waters. The return to school is going to be very dependent on how quickly the city gets the water system repaired and replaced.”

Administrators with Asheville City Schools will provide teachers, parents and staff with a 72-hour notice of reopening when they deem it safe to do so.

The separate Buncombe County Schools system remains closed until Oct. 4, according to the system’s Facebook page. Buncombe is the second-largest school district in the disaster zone, with more than 22,000 students across 45 schools.

The largest school district in the disaster zone is Gaston County Schools, which held school during abridged hours on Tuesday, and plans to open fully on Wednesday. Gaston County is well to the east of the most severely affected areas of the state.

Other school systems in Western NC

County and city school systems across Western North Carolina are struggling with issues similar to those of Asheville City Schools. Henderson County Schools, which serve more than 12,800 students across 23 schools, are closed indefinitely.

In Rutherford County, southeast of Buncombe on the South Carolina state line, damage assessments are still underway. Rutherford straddles the eastern escarpment of the Blue Ridge mountains and elevations drop dramatically going from west to east. The counties small western communities were especially devastated by severe flooding along the Broad River.

Countywide, power remains a major issues, school officials said.

“The damage doesn’t seem so bad to our buildings, but our biggest issue is power, connectivity and communications,” Rutherford County Schools spokesperson Richard Garland told CPP.

The Rutherford County Schools system, which serve s more than 7,500 students across 18 schools, were officially closed through Tuesday, but will observe remote learning days for students and optional teacher workdays for employees on Wednesday and Thursday, the schools announced Tuesday.

Rutherford County schools will be closed for students on Friday, with an optional workday for school employees. Eligible school employees are also authorized for remote work for the rest of this week.

“We recognize that remote work remains impossible for most and that other critical priorities still exist,” a statement from the Rutherford schools said Tuesday. “No student or school employee will be penalized for not working remotely as we navigate unprecedented challenges together as a community.”

“Then there’s the issue of getting our food,” Garland said. “Every one of our school sites lost all their power and with that, all the food in the freezers. We’re in the process of trying to secure food to bring in so that we’re able to continue to have school meal services.”

Rutherford County Schools has designated these days off from school as “remote learning days.” The state affords each school district five remote learning days which they do not have to make up at the end of the school year or during breaks.

“We met as a group to discuss plans and look at all of the components that need to align for us to be able to hold school again,” Garland said.

“Obviously, first and foremost, we’ve got to make sure that our buildings are safe and secure so that we can operate. That whole idea, though, comes as a juxtaposition to realizing that our kids need to be in a place with power and food. We understand the urgency.”

School principals in Rutherford County have been focused on trying to get in touch with teachers and are experiencing different levels of success, Garland said.

Emergency shelter is available at R-S High School in Rutherford County. Public WiFi networks are running at Cliffside Elementary School, Chase High School, Chase MIddle School, Forrest Hunt Elementary School, Forest City-Dunbar Elementary School, and Mt. Vernon elementary school.

Catawba County, to the northeast of Rutherford County, is home to three school systems: Catawba County Schools, Hickory Public Schools, and Newton-Conover City Schools. CPP spoke with representatives from each of these districts.

“We’ve had lots of damage,” Crystal England , front desk receptionist at Hickory Public Schools, told CPP.

“All schools were out of power, but now they are restored. Still, though, there are kids and families that do not have power.”

Hickory Public Schools are operating on a two-hour delay for students and staff on Wednesday. “Our superintendent will make sure everyone will be able to get here safely,” England said.

John Robinson of Newton-Conover City Schools system in Catawba County reports that no major damage was inflicted on schools in his district. The same was true for the Catawba County Schools system.

Cleveland County has been working to restore power to schools in their school district. School in Cleveland County is canceled for Wednesday, Oct. 2, but it is an optional work day for teachers and staff. The school system will be serving lunch at Shelby Middle School from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“We are taking it day by day and monitoring the number of people without power,” Chad Terry , media relations specialist for the Cleveland County Schools system, told CPP. “There are still 16,000 customers without power in Cleveland County.”

Damage to school buildings in Ashe County is extensive, a spokesperson for the school district told CPP. Ashe County is in the northwest corner of the state, on the Tennessee and Virginia state lines.

The Transylvania County Schools system, which serves more than 3,300 students across nine schools, are hoping to reopen Friday. The county’s information technology department is working with Transylvania Schools to restore internet connectivity so that school can resume.