Flood-Weary N.C. Teachers Go Back to Work
Wearing borrowed jeans, teacher Delores Porter was back at work Friday, cleaning up damage from Hurricane Floyd so her elementary school will be ready when its 650 students return next week.
Porter’s eyes grew moist when she thought about what she planned to say to her 25 fourth-graders Monday. Like her, several of them were forced out of their homes by the storm’s catastrophic flooding.
“It’s going to be emotional,” she said. “This is not one of those times when you tell someone, ‘I know how you feel,’ but you really don’t. I’m experiencing it. I know how it feels to leave your home in the middle of the night with only the clothes on your back.”
The students at Carver Elementary School have missed nearly three weeks of school.
Canceled classes could shorten holiday vacations and extend the school year to ensure children get the 180 days of instruction required by law.
In Edgecombe County, which includes Pinetops, 8,000 students were affected. Classes will resume in 12 of the county’s 14 schools Monday. The other two were destroyed.
School officials are moving temporary trailers near two other schools to take in the 550 students from the destroyed schools.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
