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Senate fails to override veto of school reopening bill

The state Senate failed Monday night in an attempt to override Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of legislation forcing public schools to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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By
Laura Leslie
, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief, & Matthew Burns, WRAL.com senior producer/politics editor
RALEIGH, N.C. — The state Senate failed Monday night in an attempt to override Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of legislation forcing public schools to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Republican majority needed at least two Democrats to vote with them on the override to achieve the required three-fifths majority, but only one did in the 29-20 vote.

Senate Bill 37 would have required schools to offer in-person classes to all students who want them.

Cooper vetoed it on Friday, saying that it failed to observe public safety guidelines on distancing to limit the spread of the virus and that it would limit the ability to shutter schools again if the state saw another surge in infections.

"The question on SB 37 that I vetoed is not whether our children should be in the classroom in person. They absolutely should. The question is whether we do it safely," Cooper said in a statement Monday afternoon.

The governor, who has urged districts to get students back into classrooms, said he would have signed the bill if his concerns were addressed, noting that he is still willing to work with lawmakers on a compromise.

Bill sponsor Sen. Deanna Ballard, R-Watauga, said guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only promote 6 feet of distancing in school and don't mandate them. The CDC guidelines also make reopening schools a higher priority than reopening other businesses, she said, noting that Cooper allowed bars to reopen for indoor service last week.

Ballard, co-chair of the Senate Education committee, and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger argued that forcing students into months of online classes has taken a toll on both their educational success and their mental health. Ballard mentioned a Statesville-area student who recently died by suicide and left a note that simply said "COVID."

"We know the current situation is damaging children," Berger said, adding that, for some, it "may be irreparable."

Override supporters noted that teachers are already being vaccinated and that the requirement for in-person classes wouldn't kick in for another two weeks, meaning most school staff would have some protection against the virus when they head back to school.

But Tamika Walker Kelly, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, said more time is needed to ensure that all teachers are vaccinated before heading back, especially if 6 feet of distancing isn't required.

"Lawmakers who are voting for Senate Bill 37 are telling educators across the state that students, educators and all of our other school staff do not need 6 feet of social distancing like the rest of the state," Walker Kelly, a Cumberland County music teacher, said at a Monday afternoon news conference. "That is absolutely unacceptable."

Three Democrats voted for the bill last month when it came before the Senate: Sens. Ben Clark, D-Hoke, Kirk deViere, D-Cumberland, and Paul Lowe, D-Forsyth.

Lowe voted Monday to uphold the veto, while deViere voted for the override. Clark didn't attend the session after saying in an email to WRAL News earlier in the day that it would be "prudent for the General Assembly to make the adjustments to SB37 as requested by the governor."

Berger criticized any senators who didn't stick to their earlier votes on the bill, saying they "should not allow politics rather than science control what they're doing."

In a news release issued after the vote, Ballard said the NCAE "controls education policy" for Cooper and legislative Democrats and that she and Republican lawmakers will work to make more money available to expand school choice in North Carolina.

"Hundreds of thousands of struggling students and desperate parents are paying the price for Gov. Cooper's political victory," she said in the release. "It's time to fund students instead of systems. ... For too many families, the public education bureaucracy is failing them."

Because the Senate vote failed, no override vote will be held in the House.

"The General Assembly leadership is committed to delivering on our state's constitutional duty to provide education access for families, and will pursue all available avenues to help North Carolina families overcome the massive learning loss forced on them by remote instruction," House Speaker Tim Moore said in a statement.

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