Workbooks late to arrive in Cary schools

It’s the second week of school in Cary Elementary District 26 and some materials have not arrived in a number of classrooms at the elementary level.

Parents, like Brett Haller, whose 7-year-old son attends Deer Path Elementary School, are concerned that teachers must now make copies for students who do not have the correct math and spelling workbooks.

Haller posted comments and email exchanges with school board members and administrators on the Facebook page for District 26 Parents With A Voice, a vocal group that disapproves of district leadership.

“The teachers now have a longer day, less prep time and added stress,” Haller said on Tuesday. “Now they have to spend their 15 minutes of prep time and extra money to make copies for students who don’t have their workbooks. It is frustrating.”

While all the textbooks are in, the shortage of workbooks affects all three of the district’s elementary schools: Briargate, Deer Path and Three Oaks.

But Superintendent Brian Coleman said it is not uncommon for some materials to arrive after the school year starts.

“Some supplies were on back order, which means there were not enough produced to fill demand,” Coleman said. “It is something we deal with every year.”

Coleman said all of the district’s textbooks and workbooks were ordered during the summer with the understanding that they would arrive before school started. Some materials were ordered later in the summer, Coleman said, to prevent potential confusion as the district closed a school and moved teachers.

“Part of it was with moving and closing Maplewood there was a lot of shuffling,” Coleman said. “We didn’t want supplies and boxes to get mixed up.”

Coleman said the books are expected to arrive in the next week.