School Resumes in Towns Ravaged by N.C. Flooding

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 Monday.

Porter’s eyes grew moist when she thought about what she planned to say to her 25 fourth-graders. 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 because of the high waters. 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 completely destroyed.

School officials are moving temporary trailers near two other schools to take in the 550 students from the two closed schools, but it will be at least a week before they are ready.

In Carver’s gymnasium, where some ceiling tiles were hanging down, fourth-grader Reid Beamon was helping his mother count 650 stuffed animals that will be handed out when the students arrive.

“I’ve been doing my math and practicing my spelling words,” he said. “I want to go back.”

Said the principal, Rubin Thompson IV: “We need to get the kids back in school to return some sense of normalcy to their lives. This helps the entire community, not just the kids.”