Dear Governor Cooper, Mr. Jenks, Dr. Hamlett and CHCCS board members,
 
In the last two months, Chapel Hill and Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) has canceled school five times. In November, with only two and a half weeks advance notice, the Superintendent and the Board of Education have decided to add three “Wellness Days” with no school instruction, claiming kids and staff need more free days. This decision came after a year and a half with schools shut down, and although there is consensus that being out of school with no social interaction is the cause for mental health problems and stress, they went ahead with removing school days, exactly the opposite of the required solution.
 
Two weeks ago, schools were again closed for a day and a half due to a couple of hours of snow. The snow never accumulated on roads and sidewalks since temperatures never dropped below 38oF, conditions that were forecasted beforehand. Today (Tuesday, January 18th), the CHCCS will be closed again per the decision of the administration, due to a few spots of ice and snowfall that occurred two days ago. Even if a few neighborhoods are partially closed (which I am strongly doubtful about), it is irrational to close the entire school system for the entire district. Just as it is not reasonable to shut down district schools because of one sick child, it makes no sense to cancel school for thousands of pupils just because a few might not be able to make it. The decision to close school should be reserved for real extreme cases which is absolutely not the case. These school days are extremely precious for our kids.
 
This frequent school cancellation is tremendously destructive to the children’s learning routine and to us parents who must work.
 
In addition, I am wondering what kind of lesson we are teaching our kids. While the entire country (and the world) including medical staff, parents, employees and businesses are fighting tooth and nail to keep the situation as sane as possible in these insane days of a global pandemic, here school days are frequently canceled because of a few snowflakes. This attitude is also incredibly disrespectful to parents because each time a school day is canceled, a working day is lost too. This causes both an economic problem and mental distress to many households. Today, thousands of children and thousands of working people didn’t attend their classes and offices just because of a few ice patches around Chapel Hill.
 
The situation in which school days are canceled so often should stop. I urge you to establish specific rules under which county and state education officials can make such decisions. Currently, we feel that these decisions have hidden motives behind them.
 
Please note that the number of teaching hours for kindergarten students has now dropped to 1025.12 in CHCCS. The NC minimum requirement is 1025 hours per academic year.
 
Sincerely,
CHCCS parents