STANLY COUNTY, N.C. — A third grade teacher at a North Carolina elementary school died of complications from COVID-19 on Sunday, less than two months after in-person classes resumed.
Julie Davis, 49, was loved by all at Norwood Elementary School.
“She implemented creative ways of teaching, and her high standards and expectations [motivated] others to achieve their best,” Stanly County Schools said in a statement. “Students absolutely loved being taught by Mrs. Davis. Her personality was infectious and she brought joy into the lives of the students, staff and community.”
The school district said Davis likely didn’t become infected while on school premises.
But Davis' brother, Stan Andrews, told Charlotte-based WSOC-TV he’s upset that the district said his sister did not contract the virus at school.
“She told me when I talked to her that she had definitely gotten it from the school,” Andrews said.
Family members said Davis was extra careful because she took care of her 74-year-old grandmother and her 2-year-old grandson, Eli.
“She did everything she could never to endanger them,” Leanna Richardson, Davis' daughter, told WSOC. “She did Walmart pickup since the beginning of the pandemic until the end of her life. She wore her mask everywhere she went. And it’s not that they (the school district) are necessarily to blame, but they cannot confirm without a doubt that she did not get it from being in the classroom.”
According to WSOC, one student at the school tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 18. The district said that Davis did not have direct contact with that student.
Davis' brother said that once the infected student became symptomatic, school leaders sent the student home, but the student had siblings at the school that were not sent home.
As soon as Davis tested positive, she began quarantining and anyone who came in close contact with her at the school was told about her positive results.
But parents at the school said they found out about her death via Facebook.
“They should have contacted us the day of, instead of us having to find out over Facebook,” parent Marie Johnson told WSOC.
“My daughter was in her class, and I told her. She was kind of shocked. I don’t think she understands,” said Deborah Kirby, another parent.
The district said it’s protecting students and staff.
According to Davis' daughter, her mother “loved everybody."
“She cared about everybody. She didn’t know a stranger," Richardson said. “You couldn’t be in a room with my mom and not laugh."
Richardson told WSOC that her mother became a teacher after the Columbine tragedy.
“She knew if she could change a child’s life through teaching, maybe that wouldn’t happen again. And years later, she touched, she touched everybody,” Richardson said.
Davis' sister, Laura Britt, said the educator of 18 years could “reach every child in the classroom.”
“It just came from her heart,” said Britt. “She just loved every child.”
The health department told WSOC they could not connect Davis' case to any other events at the school.
Davis' husband and son have both tested negative for the virus. Despite the negative results, they are still quarantining, which has affected the family even more since they can’t grieve together, WSOC reported.
“I do not want anybody to feel this empty hole that we have,” Richardson said. “This virus does not care, and we all have to do our part so no one else has to feel this pain. I just want everyone to remember who she was. How hard she worked. How hard she loved.”
Read more at WSOCTV.com.