Nobody Asked Me: A Teacher’s Opinion on School Reopening
(copied with Permission) Everyone has an opinion about how and if schools should reopen for this coming school year. We’ve heard from the governors, the pediatricians, the parents, the education secretary, and the president. Everyone has a “study” and “research” to back up their claims, but unfortunately (as always with decisions made in education) they do not have one very important thing- experience in a classroom. In classrooms filled to max capacity with five year olds who don’t even know how to blow their own noses, where the teacher:student ratio is 1:28 or in some cases even higher. Classrooms where the teachers are already begging parents for tissues, hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes, even in a pre-Covid world. Classrooms and hallways and bathrooms filled with teenagers who think they are invincible. School buildings with no extra rooms, without central air, where there are 4 sinks for over 200 students to use. As a teacher, I do have this experience, so I have many questions about how it will be possible and safe for schools to reopen. Nobody asked me- but since many other professions are giving their opinions about reopening, I thought maybe, just maybe, (it’s a little crazy but hear me out) we should hear from a teacher. Let’s discuss hand washing. If an average class size of kindergartners is 25, then it would take 8.3 minutes for them each to wash their hands for 20 seconds- not too bad you might think. That’s doable- let’s reopen! Unfortunately that does not account for transition time between students at the sink, the student who plays in the bubbles, or splashes another student, or cuts in line, or has to be provided moral support to flush the toilet, because they are scared. It doesn’t account for the fact that only a few students will be allowed in the bathroom at a time and the teacher must monitor whose turn it is to enter and exit the bathroom, and control the hallway behavior, and send the student who just coughed to the “quarantine room” that doesn’t exist BECAUSE THERE ARE NO EXTRA ROOMS. Where are the students in hallway waiting? In line? All together? Six feet apart? No wait, three feet is okay now. Either way, 25 children standing three feet apart is a line over 75 feet long. Who is monitoring this line? Keeping them quiet, reminding them to keep their hands to themselves? Another thing about social distancing. Even people who are not teachers have already figured out that there is not enough room in classrooms for all students to be six feet apart. No problem, we’ll just change the guideline to three feet. But what about all of the classrooms around the country that don’t even have room to put all of their student desks three feet apart? What about the classrooms that do not have desks and have tables where students sit in groups instead? Who is providing these classrooms with new socially distant furniture? Is there a budget for this or are schools getting increased funding? LOL NO, they are getting LESS funding. Oh okay, well maybe teachers will just buy it themselves out of their own pockets, as they do so many other supplies. Well I have bought A LOT for my classroom and students over the years, but I can not personally afford to buy them all individual desks. Even if the kids do have individual desk spaces, do they have to stay there all day? Do the kindergartners ever get to come to the carpet area for a story (spoiler alert- it is not big enough for 25 kids to sit three feet apart). Do they ever get to do centers? Sit next to a friend and read together? Can they even share books? I think before anyone gets to answer these questions, or more likely brush them aside, they should have to try to teach 25 five year olds how to sit in a chair on the first day of school.. and then get them to stay there all day every day. So after we return to school without the equipment and ability to stay healthy and safe and a teacher or student gets symptoms, what then? The teacher or student should stay home to avoid infecting others, right? Well, a few things to consider: 1. Many times the kids are asymptomatic so they will be spreading germs unknowingly. 2. Many kids already come to school sick, sometimes dosed with medicine to mask fevers and symptoms, because parents have to get to work. How do we monitor this? 3. The symptoms of COVID are very similar to the symptoms that young children exhibit throughout the fall, winter, and spring due to common cold or allergies. And if teachers and students really stayed home every time they had a cough or symptom, they would probably be absent more than present. So do we have to ignore certain symptoms? Please clarify which symptoms are okay. 4. Staff are likely to have increased absences due to self-monitoring symptoms. Are they going to have substitutes for their classes? Substitutes can already be extremely hard to find. If we do find a sub- what germs are they bringing in? Where have they been? If they test positive do all schools they have been subbing at have to quarantine? 5. If a teacher or student tests positive for COVID, who quarantines? The entire class? The school building? Do we use sick days for this or is it unpaid? Do we switch to remote learning during the quarantine? Who is teaching the remote learning if the teacher is unable to work due to HAVING THE COVID THAT HE/SHE CAUGHT AT SCHOOL BECAUSE WE CHANGED ALL THE HEALTH AND SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS JUST TO ACCOMMODATE PUSHING SCHOOLS TO REOPEN WITHOUT THE EQUIPMENT, SPACE, OR ABILITY TO KEEP STAFF AND STUDENTS SAFE? Yeah, but students need to be in school for socialization! You are 100% correct there. Students need to interact and have human connection and learn social skills. Helping students learn to make friends, share, be kind, love learning, and become good citizens is one of the most important parts of my job. However it’s going to be hard to interact when students have to stay apart and impossible to learn to share if they can’t touch the same supplies. And guess what? That REALLY stinks. Everyone can agree this whole Covid situation bites the big one. Teachers WANT to get back to school- WHEN IT IS SAFE. We want to get back to seeing “our kids” in person everyday- WHEN THE CASES STOP RISING. Teaching remotely is not easy or fun. We want to get back in our classrooms- WHEN WE NO LONGER HAVE TO FEEL LIKE WE ARE RISKING OUR LIVES AND OUR FAMILIES LIVES TO DO SO. We hear you, parents: Kids like school. They miss school. They learn more at school. They are annoying you at home. Teachers miss school too. We miss the kids (even though, off the record, they annoy us sometimes too)! But our top concern right now is that everyone is healthy and safe. Remote learning isn’t most people’s first choice, but it is a safer solution in the meantime, while we figure out this global health crisis. It is also hard to imagine how much learning would be taking place in the classroom anyway after they wait in their 75 foot long lines to wash their hands for 20 seconds multiple times a day. School days are already crammed full and now we will be adding in disinfecting constantly, monitoring for symptoms, sending kids to “quarantine”, trying to get ahold of parents, dealing with masks, giving “mask breaks”, etc. We were flying by the seat of our pants to make remote learning work last spring and I think teachers across the country did a pretty darn good job! But if we would decide now to make the safe decision for teachers and students and open with remote learning in the fall, teachers could be training and preparing and planning for online education, (instead of trying to open schools and then flying by the seat of our pants AGAIN to go online when it doesn’t work!) We hear you pediatricians: Kids don’t usually get severe symptoms. They are usually asymptomatic. That is all well and good, but kids can still spread the virus to each other. They might not get sick, but they can take those germs home to their families. They can give those germs to their teachers, who can take it home to their families. Yes, we, as teachers, are used to being the sacrificial lambs. Yes, we protect our students and would take a bullet for them if necessary. We would give our lives to keep them safe when they are in our care. But I am not willing to expose myself to COVID and take COVID home to my family for the sake of having school in-person when that is completely preventable. We hear you, governors: wE aRe hAVinG a haRd tiMe mAkiNg dEcisiONs. Yes, this is an ever-changing situation and we have all been keeping our fingers crossed, but COVID is not going away, cases are on the rise, the school year is approaching, and we need answers. We hear you, Secretary of Education (“the first secretary of education with zero experience in public schools”): Blah, blah, blah. Please sit down. We hear you, President: These CDC guidelines are too safe. Make them less safe and easier and cheaper to follow. Open the schools or I will cut your funding. The health and safety of this country’s children and teachers is more important than the economy. That should be obvious and not a political issue to be debated. But what do I know? I’m just a teacher. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
0 Comments
As a high school teacher, I am deeply concerned about returning to in-person schools this Fall. Especially with the number of new COVID-19 cases continuing to climb, and the uncertainty about how many people aren't getting tested because of a lack of resources, or absence of symptoms, I'm still very worried about returning to work on-site. Most classes are possible to teach remotely. Of course it's not ideal for any subject, and certainly not my subject (theatre), but it's possible.
So many schools are looking to return to on-campus learning with additional "safety measures" in place, but there are so many variables, not to mention the additional costs of many safety measures, that make it virtually impossible to do anything safely. Teachers and students will still be in the same room as other people for long periods of time, and despite masks/face coverings/social distancing measures, this still increases the risk of spreading the virus. And of course there's the matter of common areas like hallways, bathrooms, teacher's lounges, the office, etc., where being in close proximity to others and using the same door handles, copy machines, sinks, and such will be impossible to avoid. There's also the concern over mental and social health from remaining so isolated - but people can't be mentally and socially healthy if they're dead. I want things to return to "normal" as much as the next person, but I also understand that it will take a long time for anything resembling normal to happen, especially since wearing masks and the existence of the virus has become so politicized and so many people are still treating it like it's nothing. Frankly, I'm scared for my own life and safety and for the lives and safety of my students and their families. I had a student email me saying she's worried about not being able to visit her grandparents if we return to in-person learning, and I'm sure there are many other students who feel the same. The fact that schools are even considering in-person learning as COVID-19 continues to ravage the country, and considering the large number of people who are doing nothing to slow the spread, is frightening. It means literally putting the lives of thousands of people, INCLUDING CHILDREN, needlessly at risk. If we're truly trying to do what's best for the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff, we cannot return to in-person or even hybrid learning until the virus' spread can be and has been controlled and contained. July 8, 2020 Hon. Governor Gavin Newsom Hon. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon Hon. Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins Hon. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond Honorable California Leaders, We write on behalf of the 310,000 members of the California Teachers Association and the more than nine million students we serve regarding the pending reopening of schools and colleges throughout the state. We appreciate your leadership and efforts in meeting this extraordinary challenge. We understand the dramatic impact of the pandemic on the state budget and appreciate all efforts to protect public education, while recognizing that the budget relies on $13 billion in deferrals and additional federal funding. It is why, looking forward, we believe the state must have additional revenues to address the growing needs. Since schools closed in March, CTA has said that the health and safety of our students and educators must always be our top priority and our guiding principle during this crisis. Much is still being learned about the COVID-19 virus. The recent surge in the infection rate and the closure of indoor activities in 26 counties gives us pause around the state’s preparedness for safe in-person school instruction in a short six- to eight-week time frame. In this current situation, we believe that the “Precautionary Principle” should guide us. This means taking the most preventative action in the face of uncertainty to protect students, educators, and our communities. Simply said, California cannot reopen schools unless they are safe. Unfortunately, many local districts and communities don’t have the necessary resources or capacity to maintain even the most basic prevention measures of six feet physical distancing and limiting contacts, much less the other important preventative actions such as personal protective equipment (PPE), testing and tracing, or adequate ventilation and cleaning supplies. While no one method of prevention by itself is 100 percent effective, layered strategies boost prevention with each measure knocking off some percentage of exposure and potential infection. This includes a clear and manageable plan to implement measures like physical distancing of six feet, reducing the number of contacts, face coverings, handwashing, daily health screening, support for sick and at-risk people to stay at home, robust testing, good ventilation (with absolutely no recirculated air), and cleaning and disinfecting. 2 We should be clear-eyed about this reality. How can we physically reopen schools with lower thresholds of safety than we currently have for restaurants or hair salons? Safe school reopening will require the state to coordinate consistent public health department operations that offer a uniform symptoms checklist and safety protocols; data transparency and accessibility; increased testing dedicated to schools for students and staff; rapid case notification and contact tracing; isolation support and medical care for our most vulnerable students and families; and health monitoring of students to serve as early understandings of transmissions in schools and warnings of any school-based outbreaks. We also ask the state to direct the California Department of Public Health to coordinate with CalOSHA to develop and implement training for all school districts on safety protocols and to direct that Illness and Injury Prevention plans be updated and adopted prior to the first day of in-person instruction. As educators, we too want to be back with our students doing the work that we love, but we cannot ignore science, facts, and safety. Absent a specific plan for each school that includes a clear line of responsibility and accountability we have two options: 1. A high-risk in-person opening, even under a hybrid model. 2. Start the new school year under robust distance learning protocols until the virus is contained in local communities and proper safety measures can be put into place. It is clear that communities and school districts have not come close to meeting the threshold for a safe return to in-person learning, even under a hybrid model. In fact, with recent health orders issued in 26 counties impacting nearly 85 percent of Californians, we are going backwards. How can we reasonably expect hundreds of students, and in some cases more than 1,000 students, to come together on one campus for an entire day without putting their health and the lives of every adult on that campus at risk? Federal and state guidance regarding a phased reopening have focused on a sustained downward trajectory of COVID-19 cases for 14 days or no more than 1 COVID-19 case per 10,000 in the past 14 days. From a public health perspective, the best course of action would be to focus on improving our ability to provide robust, quality distance learning until the virus is marginalized and safety measures are addressed. Just yesterday, on July 7, President Donald Trump implored the nation’s schools to physically open amid a new wave of COVID-19 diagnoses. In doing so, he pointed to other countries’ abilities to reopen their schools as evidence that America’s schools needed to do the same. President Trump ignores the fact that these other countries invested heavily in PPE, health and safety protocols for education and testing – the very resources that he is threatening to withdraw. We have joined you in lobbying the federal government for more money for California to aid in the COVID-related budget impacts. We are deeply concerned that politics are being played with the lives of children and the educators who serve them. 3 Safe school reopening and equity for our communities requires funding. While the recent budget agreement certainly buys a bit of time, it is not the investment needed to meet this critical crisis. California remains in the lower tier of school funding in this nation. At best, the billions of dollars in deferrals and structural deficit simply put off the day when our school budgets are slashed. We are a state of great innovation and wealth with the fifth largest economy in the world. We should not have to put our students and staff in harm's way. We should not compromise on funding or school safety in the home of the greatest number of billionaires in the country, who have increased their net worth by 25 percent during the first three months of the pandemic. We encourage you to adopt additional revenues, such as suspending corporate tax credits and exemptions or imposing a tax on the wealthiest billionaires to help our communities survive. We need safe, equitable, and well-funded public schools and colleges – this is what California’s students deserve. Sincerely, CTA President CTA Vice President CTA Secretary-Treasurer E. Toby Boyd David Goldberg Leslie Littman CC: CTA Executive Director Joe Boyd CTA Board of Directors CTA Chapter Presidents State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond Association of California School Administrators California County Superintendents Educational Services Association California School Boards Association California Association of School Business Officials California School Employees Association SEIU State Council California State PTA Health Officers Association of California
Dear Orange County Board of Education,
In a matter of days, those of us in the education profession rose to the challenge of changing our entire style of teaching, some with very little resources, in order to give students the best education we could while providing for our own families. Throughout this entire time educators flexed our resiliency muscles and summoned every resource we could to continue to provide our students with learning experiences while those with greater authority figured out how to respond to the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus. Much of what we learned as teachers, students, and families had nothing to do with math, science, language, history, or art. We learned a lot about what it takes to pull together as a community and deal with a worldwide crisis. We learned to deal with ambiguity. We learned what individuals can do to protect ourselves and each other. We are still learning about this deadly virus. We know a lot more now than we did in March when the world shut down. Some of what we know is hopeful - there are many doing research to find cures, treatments, and vaccines. And some of what we are learning is not so hopeful - sadly, many healthy young people have succumbed to Covid-19. As we begin to create plans to reopen our schools, it's important that we put health and safety first. It's important to mitigate the spread of the virus in our communities. Having healthy families and students will foster a healthy economy. We do that by doing the basics: Wearing a mask, having good sanitation methods and social distancing in places where we have tight quarters. As a profession we want our kids to have the healthiest and best conditions to work in, we want to help the mental health of those of our kids who have lost family members to covid, we want to spare them the grief related to such a virus, we want to spare them the anxiety of bringing something home, and we want to provide an environment that is free of that worry. In order to do that, we must listen to our medical professionals and scientists who are on the front lines. We do this by realizing that following the temporary guidelines so we can go back to normal. We do this knowing that our working conditions as a district will directly impact a students’ learning and health. We need to do this together because this is about health and not politics. We should not be opening school unless there is an objective standard that follows the infection rates of the area and the current science that is guiding the medical professionals in our hospitals. We stand in solidarity with those in Orange County who desire to prioritize the safety of our communities and the health of our neighbors. We prioritize life! Orange County Board of Education, we urge you to make that your priority! Our community deserves and needs that! Tamara Fairbanks and The Newport Mesa Federation of Teachers Executive Board HS teacher here- If y’all want your kids to go back to school in a month or so, do your part! I cannot believe the current state of COVID-19 in the US. Our lockdown was all for nothing. Wear your masks, stay away from others and get those numbers down! Don’t put the pressure on us to reopen schools. Pressure is on YOU! Behave safely and responsibly to make our environment safe to reopen. Trump admin is completely missing the mark as they insist on opening schools and threaten to remove funding from schools that don’t. The issue is a small but vocal portion of the public whose selfish and entitled behavior is a threat to ALL of us! You want your kids back in school, then do something about it... (Sorry, not sorry)
|
Safe School Reopening OCPublic Statements and useful information in support of safety measures at our schools. ArchivesCategories
All
|