While in May 2020 many students and teachers were still learning how to handle remote learning, the North Carolina General Assembly was moving forward with early measures designed to begin the process of getting North Carolina back on its feet after the initial shock and halt caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Education was a priority for state leaders then, as can be seen by the amount of money allocated to schools last May, and the future of schools continues to be a priority for legislators now.
Senator Deanna Ballard, who represents Watauga, Alleghany, Ashe, Surry and Wilkes counties in the NC General Assembly, is a part of the process to reopen schools for in-person instruction and makes it her focus to observe and communicate with school systems that have developed their own methods for limiting the spread of COVID-19 while providing for students’ educational needs.
Senator Ballard is deeply involved with education in the General Assembly, serving as a chairperson on the Education/Higher Education and the Appropriations on Education/Higher Education committees. From her leadership position in the area of education, Senator Ballard witnessed federal money being supplied to states last year for the purpose of assisting their recovery and reopening efforts. As early as May 4, 2020, the NC General Assembly passed a $1.6 billion bill for COVID-19 recovery, according to records released by the state legislature. Much of the budget included in the bill involved the operation of schools.
Senator Ballard said of the federal money allocated to North Carolina, “Well, you know, sometimes money that comes down from the Feds tends to have a lot of ties to it, and our hands can be a little tied with how to spend it. Sometimes there are guidelines that allow the local school districts to receive a portion of the funds, and they can decide how best to use that. In this case, that’s been part of what has happened.”
Describing specific areas that received money, Senator Ballard continued, “Some of the federal money was flexible, though, so the General Assembly decided to use it for things like school nutrition or PPE. I know for one bill last year with Covid there was nearly $75 million for PPE. There’s been money allocated specifically for internet, broadband—so for connectivity and increasing opportunities for accessibility as much as we can. There’s been money for childcare assistance. There’s been money for help support personnel… a lot of funding was going into safety protocols that would just help afford our teachers and our students the ability to feel safe and to feel responsible in the classroom, and to be able to deliver the instruction that they need to instruct so the kids can receive it in the manner in which best suits them.”
While millions of dollars poured into the improvement of technology and internet access for students in the bill passed last year, many legislators also attempted to move forward the reopening for school and are still doing so. Recently, Senator Ballard filed legislation concerning the return to classroom instruction in school systems in which learning has remained mostly remote.
During February and March, Senator Ballard observed fairly rapid changes in some school districts. She noted, “Over the last two weeks a lot of school districts have been shifting, which is excellent. It’s exciting progress. Clearly more and more communities and districts are feeling like they can open up and they have the resources they need in order to open up. I know at least two weeks ago, when I filed a reopening bill, there were at least 50—I think 51—school districts that were still operating close to a virtual only, remote or Plan C option. At this point, I’m happy to report, it sounds like even as of yesterday and today [Feb. 16 and 17], around 24 school systems [are still almost all-virtual].”
Senator Ballard additionally said, “So it [the number of schools not offering in-person instruction] has even cut in half in the last two and a half weeks, and I think folks really understood the sense of urgency and the gravity of what is happening and how we just really need to get kids back into the school community as much as possible, for many reasons.”
Schools have been given significant freedom in building their own plans for providing both virtual school and in-person instruction, including the hybrid schedule which Watauga runs.
Ballard emphasized the agency possessed by schools, saying, “We’ve laid out recommendations for schools to follow in order to reopen, but each school is so different, and I hope that’s what students can understand, too. Every county and every district is so different, and every school building is kind of different in how it can accommodate the certain protocols that need to be met. I really am trusting and allowing and empowering, I guess, principals and superintendents to be able to know how to maximize their space to the best possible use in order to afford more and more opportunities for kids to be back in. It’s a lot of thinking outside the box. It’s a lot of innovation and creativity, which should be applauded. It’s not easy, not an easy task by any means, but it’s super important.”
Despite the importance of education that is conducted in person, especially regarding its ability to grow students socially and academically, some students have found success in virtual programs such as the Watauga Virtual Academy.
Asked whether she saw the potential for virtual school options to continue once COVID-19 restrictions can be significantly lessened, Senator Ballard said, “I think it is something that will stick around. I don't think it will be necessarily as all-consuming as we’ve seen it during Covid, but I do believe there will be some elements of it that you’ll see in existence in the culture of education in North Carolina moving forward. That can be an exciting and great opportunity, but as long as we don’t use it necessarily as a crutch, because I don’t believe there is anything that will really replace that face-to-face and in-class instruction, and that’s where a lot of students are able to make a lot of gains and strides.”
Both students and educators have been exposed to an entirely new way of learning and teaching in the past year, and for some the expansion of educational opportunities may be a permanent interest.
“There are some students who I think have really excelled at the virtual and remote learning option. So it really has sort of opened up and expanded everyone’s perspective and ideas on how to deliver instruction. And I think you probably have a lot of teachers who realized they could do it well, better than they even thought they could do it, so maybe there are some teachers who are even like ‘I want to pursue this more,’” Senator Ballard commented.
Senator Ballard ultimately concluded that the ability for parents and guardians to choose educational methods for their children is becoming even more important. “I think parents have been more engaged in their children’s education maybe than they were at an earlier point, and that’s simply because they were home and they were listening in on Zooms or they were part of instructing their kids on a day-to-day basis. So I think they have even a greater awareness of what works well for their kid, how their kid learns the best, and what is something they are really just renewed in and enjoyed doing—capturing all the information they are given,” Ballard said.
In addition to her positions on committees dealing with education, Senator Ballard also serves as a member of the Senate committees on finance, budget and health care, among others. Outside of education policies, economics and citizens’ welfare dominate the General Assembly’s discussion and legislation. In evaluating the top legislative priorities of the General Assembly, Ballard points to the dominance of education, health care and tax policies. In the end, much of what is deemed most important to the state legislature is connected to the budget.
Senator Ballard concluded, “Like I said, you’ll see priorities kind of tethered and attached to where the dollars go, and you can kind of watch how money is spent to know what priorities are of importance to us here in the legislature and even across state government. It’s a heavy task—there are a lot of hard decisions sometimes, but it’s all very worthwhile, too.”
Written by: Bethany Hicks
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