I'm not an attorney but I would gamble some money that the above wont happen to teachers pension or job. The case can be made on safety and that kids can learn virtually. The burden of being a nanny or babysitter is not on the school systems hands.
Re-opening Schools in the era of COVID
- Thread starter gwb-trading
- Start date
I'm not an attorney but I would gamble some money that the above wont happen to teachers pension or job. The case can be made on safety and that kids can learn virtually. The burden of being a nanny or babysitter is not on the school systems hands.
Yes... many school teachers are having these types of discussion. Firing teachers in states where they have unions will be more difficult. Here in North Carolina they can fire teachers at will -- however our state is taking a more practical approach where school will start either 100% virtual or with only a sub-set of students in each week with the rest virtual.
As expected many parents are up in arms - many want their kids in school 100% because they view the schools as nothing more than free babysitting. Other parents only want their children remote (virtual) due to COVID health concerns. A lot of debate is going on. We will see how things start in August. Most counties have already cancelled all middle and high school sports.
Most schools are opening with a hybrid virtual and in person option. At least in the Northeast.
I understand teacher concerns but in class they can be separate from the kids in the front of the class, kids wear masks, wipe down desks before class starts, use hand sani when entering. Hand in papers/assignments digitially, only virtual office hours, stay out of the halls and minimize crowds in hall ways...
It can be done and teachers unions can raise the issues but must be realistic to the procedures that can be done to make it safe.
I understand teacher concerns but in class they can be separate from the kids in the front of the class, kids wear masks, wipe down desks before class starts, use hand sani when entering. Hand in papers/assignments digitially, only virtual office hours, stay out of the halls and minimize crowds in hall ways...
It can be done and teachers unions can raise the issues but must be realistic to the procedures that can be done to make it safe.
I think there are studies showing it would be a disaster as the sq footage just doesn't allow for 6 ft of separation and all the students (normal school year is 18" of separation, when no covid) Hybrid=virtual and split days per group sound like one of the better options.
The real issue is with the younger grades - Kindergarten and first grade. Most schools also have pre-Ks as well (required by federal law) for children of low income households or with disabilities. It is nearly impossible to socially distance these children -- much less keep a face mask on them. Most the activities in the these classrooms involve sharing resources (painting, coloring, laptops, tablets, etc. etc.). There are not enough resources to go around and all must be wiped down between groups of children using them. Many group activities or play can not longer be done (the playground is out).
Similarly it is nearly impossible to teach these young children remotely via virtual sessions.
Most of the discussion is around the students.... few people are thinking about the impact on teachers & staff.
Many schools -- even this spring & summer-- required teachers to come into school to teach their students who were remote. There are many states including North Carolina where counties have year-round schools (in N.C. it is nine weeks on and three weeks off).
3 educators battled COVID-19 after teaching in the same room. 1 died. Now, they have a warning
https://www.azcentral.com/story/new...ions-raised-over-school-reopening/5405651002/
Kids begged to go Mrs. Byrd's classroom to do art projects.
Every year, Mrs. Byrd taught folklórico dance to her first-grade students.
And though she had once retired, Mrs. Byrd loved teaching so much, she couldn't help but return to the classroom, her husband, Jesse Byrd, said.
Kimberley Chavez Lopez Byrd died on June 26 after testing positive for COVID-19.
She taught first grade in the Hayden-Winkelman Unified School District, a small eastern Arizona community. Before she tested positive, Byrd and two other teachers taught a summer school class virtually from the same classroom. All three teachers came down with the virus.
Byrd, 61, was admitted to a hospital and was put on a ventilator for more than a dozen days, her condition slowly deteriorating, before she died. Now, the small community is grieving for a teacher her colleagues say was ingrained in the fabric of their school system and a matriarch her family says was the center of their world.
"It just feels like a bad dream that I can't wake up from," Jesse Byrd said. "We've just felt so lost without her."
The teachers who survived also say Byrd's death is a stark reminder of the risks teachers will face if school reopens too soon.
"Everything is safety, safety, safety," said Jena Martinez-Inzunza, a Hayden-Winkelman teacher. "What a contradiction to be threatened by the president. What a contradiction to be bullied: 'Do this, or I'm going to pull funding.' What a contradiction to say our kids lives matter … Why would you push to open schools?"
The news of Byrd's death comes as President Donald Trump wages a campaign to reopen schools on time, even suggesting federal funding from schools that don't open could be ''cut off.''
Arizona's schools are usually some of the earliest in the nation to open. But many teachers and school officials have said they're not ready to go back and do not believe schools are ready for students to crowd hallways and struggle with masks.
Three teachers in one classroom
Byrd's district conducts summer school every year. Usually, teachers put together fun science-based lessons for students, said Angela Skillings, one of the three teachers who tested positive for COVID-19. This year proved to be different: As a pandemic raged, summer school was moved online.
Skillings, Martinez-Inzunza and Byrd taught their summer class together, the students a mix of kindergartners, first- and second-graders.
The educators decided to teach virtually while together in the same classroom, but took what they thought were extensive measures: They wore masks, they disinfected equipment and kept distance between each other.
"We were very careful," Skillings said.
They still wanted to bring hands-on activities to the kids. They delivered small care packages to students containing beans, so the children could sprout beans in a small plastic bag in the windows of their home.
They simulated pollination by touching hot Cheetos to paper bees. The lessons were a way to bring some of the usual fun of summer school home to kids. The teachers would take turns at the front of the classroom, and spend a few hours together every day planning lessons.
Byrd was the first to become sick, shortly after a camping trip, her husband said — it was just the two of them in a camper. They had been diligent in staying home and isolating during the pandemic, he said.
The four ZIP codes in and around the small communities of Hayden and Winkelman — two small towns very close to each other, about 95 miles southeast of Phoenix — have had about 50 cases, according to Arizona Department of Health Services data.
Byrd had asthma and several other health issues. Her doctor told her that she likely had a sinus infection, but her breathing continued to go downhill, Jesse Byrd said. Her kids eventually convinced her to go to the hospital. He couldn't go in with his wife, who called and said she was being admitted for COVID-19.
"She called me, she could barely talk," he said. "And she told me that they wanted to intubate her and put her on a ventilator."
Later, Jesse Byrd and other family members tested positive.
Skillings tested positive the same week.
Martinez-Inzunza tested positive.
Skillings said she had a high fever and cough. Though weeks have passed, her tests are still coming back positive. Thursday was the first day she woke up without a cough, she said.
Martinez-Inzunza still has a cough, but is testing negative. In the thick of the virus, she said she was constantly fatigued so that even showers were a challenge.
"It was a very dark, scary and very painful time because coronavirus hurts," she said. "It hurts your chest, it hurts your breathing. It's terrible."
Byrd first improved on a ventilator, but then her condition started to slide downhill, her husband said. When doctors tried to take her off the ventilator, she appeared to have an anxiety attack and struggled. Her conditioned worsened. Then, she was gone.
"Her body just couldn't fight anymore," Jesse Byrd said.
Skillings cried for hours when she heard about Byrd. A parent called her and told her that her young daughter was crying after learning about Byrd's death and Skilling's illness.
"She didn't want me to die," she said. "I let her know I was doing OK … It's in my mind, like: How are kids, are children, are students going to handle this?"
(More at above url)
Many schools -- even this spring & summer-- required teachers to come into school to teach their students who were remote. There are many states including North Carolina where counties have year-round schools (in N.C. it is nine weeks on and three weeks off).
3 educators battled COVID-19 after teaching in the same room. 1 died. Now, they have a warning
https://www.azcentral.com/story/new...ions-raised-over-school-reopening/5405651002/
Kids begged to go Mrs. Byrd's classroom to do art projects.
Every year, Mrs. Byrd taught folklórico dance to her first-grade students.
And though she had once retired, Mrs. Byrd loved teaching so much, she couldn't help but return to the classroom, her husband, Jesse Byrd, said.
Kimberley Chavez Lopez Byrd died on June 26 after testing positive for COVID-19.
She taught first grade in the Hayden-Winkelman Unified School District, a small eastern Arizona community. Before she tested positive, Byrd and two other teachers taught a summer school class virtually from the same classroom. All three teachers came down with the virus.
Byrd, 61, was admitted to a hospital and was put on a ventilator for more than a dozen days, her condition slowly deteriorating, before she died. Now, the small community is grieving for a teacher her colleagues say was ingrained in the fabric of their school system and a matriarch her family says was the center of their world.
"It just feels like a bad dream that I can't wake up from," Jesse Byrd said. "We've just felt so lost without her."
The teachers who survived also say Byrd's death is a stark reminder of the risks teachers will face if school reopens too soon.
"Everything is safety, safety, safety," said Jena Martinez-Inzunza, a Hayden-Winkelman teacher. "What a contradiction to be threatened by the president. What a contradiction to be bullied: 'Do this, or I'm going to pull funding.' What a contradiction to say our kids lives matter … Why would you push to open schools?"
The news of Byrd's death comes as President Donald Trump wages a campaign to reopen schools on time, even suggesting federal funding from schools that don't open could be ''cut off.''
Arizona's schools are usually some of the earliest in the nation to open. But many teachers and school officials have said they're not ready to go back and do not believe schools are ready for students to crowd hallways and struggle with masks.
Three teachers in one classroom
Byrd's district conducts summer school every year. Usually, teachers put together fun science-based lessons for students, said Angela Skillings, one of the three teachers who tested positive for COVID-19. This year proved to be different: As a pandemic raged, summer school was moved online.
Skillings, Martinez-Inzunza and Byrd taught their summer class together, the students a mix of kindergartners, first- and second-graders.
The educators decided to teach virtually while together in the same classroom, but took what they thought were extensive measures: They wore masks, they disinfected equipment and kept distance between each other.
"We were very careful," Skillings said.
They still wanted to bring hands-on activities to the kids. They delivered small care packages to students containing beans, so the children could sprout beans in a small plastic bag in the windows of their home.
They simulated pollination by touching hot Cheetos to paper bees. The lessons were a way to bring some of the usual fun of summer school home to kids. The teachers would take turns at the front of the classroom, and spend a few hours together every day planning lessons.
Byrd was the first to become sick, shortly after a camping trip, her husband said — it was just the two of them in a camper. They had been diligent in staying home and isolating during the pandemic, he said.
The four ZIP codes in and around the small communities of Hayden and Winkelman — two small towns very close to each other, about 95 miles southeast of Phoenix — have had about 50 cases, according to Arizona Department of Health Services data.
Byrd had asthma and several other health issues. Her doctor told her that she likely had a sinus infection, but her breathing continued to go downhill, Jesse Byrd said. Her kids eventually convinced her to go to the hospital. He couldn't go in with his wife, who called and said she was being admitted for COVID-19.
"She called me, she could barely talk," he said. "And she told me that they wanted to intubate her and put her on a ventilator."
Later, Jesse Byrd and other family members tested positive.
Skillings tested positive the same week.
Martinez-Inzunza tested positive.
Skillings said she had a high fever and cough. Though weeks have passed, her tests are still coming back positive. Thursday was the first day she woke up without a cough, she said.
Martinez-Inzunza still has a cough, but is testing negative. In the thick of the virus, she said she was constantly fatigued so that even showers were a challenge.
"It was a very dark, scary and very painful time because coronavirus hurts," she said. "It hurts your chest, it hurts your breathing. It's terrible."
Byrd first improved on a ventilator, but then her condition started to slide downhill, her husband said. When doctors tried to take her off the ventilator, she appeared to have an anxiety attack and struggled. Her conditioned worsened. Then, she was gone.
"Her body just couldn't fight anymore," Jesse Byrd said.
Skillings cried for hours when she heard about Byrd. A parent called her and told her that her young daughter was crying after learning about Byrd's death and Skilling's illness.
"She didn't want me to die," she said. "I let her know I was doing OK … It's in my mind, like: How are kids, are children, are students going to handle this?"
(More at above url)
This is a really difficult situation. I heard an educator say recently that many children didn't retain much of what they learned from home last year. He said another year of this type of learning could really set them back in life.
Statistics show that a child is much more likely to die travelling to or from school than from the virus, but that doesn't tell the whole story. There are a lot of older educators that would be put at risk if schools were reopened at full capacity. Plus the students could spread the virus to their family members if they caught it at school.
There is no clear answer here. We're just going to have to choose the lesser of the two evils. IMO, we have to get children back to school. The government should provide them with the funding they need to do this as safely as possible.
Statistics show that a child is much more likely to die travelling to or from school than from the virus, but that doesn't tell the whole story. There are a lot of older educators that would be put at risk if schools were reopened at full capacity. Plus the students could spread the virus to their family members if they caught it at school.
There is no clear answer here. We're just going to have to choose the lesser of the two evils. IMO, we have to get children back to school. The government should provide them with the funding they need to do this as safely as possible.
American Pediatrics Association came out with guidleines for kids with 3 feet of separation. Local school is going to split the class into two and alternate days so you have 50% capacity, smaller class room sizes, less hallway crowding and easier to spread out 12-14 desks in a classroom v. 25 to 30. So kids will be in school 2 days, 2 days doing work and virtual assignments and 1 day is office hours for teachers to work with students if needed. This model in our county seems like one of the more common ones being followed by other districts.
Teachers have just signed on as their conditions for safety measures were met and provision of cleaning items.
Fall sports is the only thing up in the air for the moment.....
I think most schools were not adequately prepared to be honest having to go from in person to virtual almost overnight. IN our county the website for the schools crashed from the sudden surge of students and there were a lot of days of nothing and many finished without full curriculum. Now the schools have had months to plan and it is going to be different. Will not be perfect...but more organized and the IT and infrastructure has been dealt with for now.
We are going to give as much support to the teachers as possible since they are crucial for making this work. As long as they are engaged the students will not miss out. The Superintendent said they will have to cut out many extra curricular projects and other items covered in the honors classes but the kids will still get the core lessons and material. The hope is next school year is 100% normal so one school year might take another school year to adjust and catch up those that fall behind but can be done hopefully.
For teachers that are not in favor of coming back to teach in person, the district already said they are working with other schools to do class sharing to serve those needs (i.e. if someone wants to take German and the German teacher is 61 and does not want to do in person, they will have someone else in the district teach the class virtually to ensure the students do not miss out).
I was not impressed with how it was handled from March to June but very impressed locally with how they are approaching it to prepare for September. Of course I have not seen the delivered product yet so we will see by October but we are all new to this.