Parents outraged after Instagram shows teachers sleeping in classrooms at NC high school

"My daughter was a student in that class and I asked her — was she really asleep? She was like, 'Dad, she was snoring,'" said parent Wayne Melvin.

Melvin has five children in Cumberland County Schools' district. He said he was shocked when his children showed him a picture of a sleeping teacher on the Instagram page.

"They pulled it up and sure enough, there were four or five teachers on there that had students in their rooms that were there just to sleep — substitutes and permanent teachers," said Melvin.

Cumberland County Schools spokesman Lindsey Whitley said school leaders take "this situation very seriously,"

The school district has 87 schools and more than 3,500 teachers.

School leaders said COVID-19 is making it tough to get teachers in the front of all classrooms.

"We have administrators, cabinet members, even our superintendent who is volunteering and supporting and filling in as needed because of some of the challenges that have been presented due to COVID," said Whitley.

Melvin said while he understands the issues school leaders are facing, he wants to make sure his five children are going into classrooms where teachers are alert and his children are safe.

"I just want Dr. [Marvin] Connelly Jr. to reach out to me and assure me as a parent that he, himself, is going to see that he is going to make this better," said Melvin.

Connelly told WRAL News he expects both teachers and students to be awake and engage in learning during instruction hours at all schools. Connelly added that he does plan to reach out to Melvin to address his concerns.