On March 1, the N.C. Senate failed to override NC Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 37, which would have mandated in-person learning options at North Carolina public schools. The bill, which would have allowed middle and high school students to be in school without following social distancing guidelines, was just the latest example of the battles for direction of local school systems over the last year, one that has also played out in Craven County.
As in school systems throughout the country, the lives of Craven County students and educators were upended almost immediately by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools were closed, students homes were turned into classrooms, and laptop computers were transformed from merely a learning tool into an indispensable means of communication.
Craven County Schools names new director of Secondary Education
By Jennifer Wagner
Craven County Schools
At the Board of Education Meeting on Nov. 12, 2020, NeShawn Dawson was approved as the new director of Secondary Education effective Dec. 23, 2020.
Dawson received a doctorate and Education Specialist degree in Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She earned a master’s in School Administration from East Carolina University (ECU), as well as a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.
During her 23 years in education, Dawson has worked in several capacities in Craven County Schools. She served as a special education teacher, coach, assistant principal at West Craven Middle School, and assistant exceptional children director. Recently, she served as the principal at Windsor Elementary School in Windsor.