Teachers rally against return to classrooms ahead of meeting
An estimated 300 teachers and their supporters spread across the sidewalk in front of the Lodi Unified School District offices on Tuesday afternoon to voice their displeasure with the possibility of returning to in-person instruction.
Their signs held slogans such as “I can’t teach if I’m dead” and “Students are not guinea pigs” to protest the planned return to inperson classes as the number of COVID-19 cases in San Joaquin County and across the state climb higher.
With social distancing in full effect, the demonstrators stretched halfway down the block on Vine Street, and wrapped around the corner onto Guild Avenue for almost an entire block to Industrial Way.
The protest came on the heels of Monday’s joint recommendation from San Joaquin County’s Superintendent of Schools, Richard Mousalimas, and Public Health Officer, Dr. Maggie Park, that all schools in the county start the year with 100% distance learning, but the demonstration was planned last week.
“We need to make sure that we protect our students, and we protect our teachers — our fellow employees too, our cafeteria workers, our secretaries, our administration, we want them protected as well,” said Michelle Orgon, president of the Lodi Education Association, the union that covers Lodi Unified’s teachers. “... Flatten the curve? We want that curve squashed. Unfortunately, our numbers have skyrocketed, so it does not make sense to start full bore like normal.”
The main issue was that the district’s teachers did not see a plan in place for a safe restart to in-person instruction. Orgon said that originally the plan was to have at-risk teachers teach students who chose distance learning, with the rest taking care of in-person classes. But she said the latest bargaining meeting between the union and the district included a plan that would have all teachers in the classroom, with extra distance-learning duties after hours.
“When the board members specifically said they wanted to care for our teachers and give them this opportunity, their actions at the bargaining table did not show that,” Orgon said. “Hence, us coming out, talking about what this really looks like.”
Tokay special education teacher Terri Stokes took a break from the heat in a lawn chair next to a 30foot-by-18-foot taped off area showing a maximum of 15 students able to social distance in a standard portable-size classroom.
Stokes had mixed feelings when the district announced its planned return, she said.
“We want to be back in the classroom. I know that we’ve been accused otherwise, but we all want to be back in the classroom,” she said. “At the same time, we’re looking at the safety of kids, and the safety of adults, and you can’t remove one or the other because we’re like this cohesive unit.”
Stokes said the average high school teacher sees 100 to 150 students per day in the classroom. She herself sees about 40 to 50 each day, and estimates roughly 30 % of them have asthma or other issues that would make COVID-19 a risk.
Teachers hear the concerns that have been raised about depression and suicide rising among students under stay-athome orders, Stokes said.
“Yeah, I’m worried about myself too, don’t get me wrong. But I want the kids to be OK, both mentally and physically,” she said. “But if you can’t get them physically OK, then you lose the mental health piece anyway.”