School systems around us have been starting to open this week. Many are having to close and switch to all remote learning within days, due to transmission of Covid-19. A six year old child in our state died today from Covid-19. Kids are showing up to school with it. Schools in my county open in 5 days!
All of the teachers in the middle school where I work, took a tour of our school to check out each other’s rooms. I stopped to chat with a few teachers. One teacher has a class roster with 33 kids on it! The rooms in our school are barely big enough to hold that many desks…there is no way to distance them even 3 feet, much less 6 feet. Did I mention that masks are optional? I feel like our school board has lied to the community, telling people that they would make their BEST EFFORT to provide a safe environment.
The “no mask” people won. Masks are not required. The “open the schools” people won. Schools are opening for in person learning. Now I wish the bickering would stop. The experts have put forth data. The families have been given a choice. Teachers haven’t been given a voice in any of this. We are public servants, and right now that is exactly what it feels like to be a teacher. We will rise to the occasion as we always do, because we love what we do. We care about the education and general well being of our students.
~AoA
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