Schools not yet ready for face-to-face instruction

Parents and teachers have watched the debate about how to educate children during the COVID-19 pandemic with high anxiety. As a veteran teacher, my parent friends have asked me whether they should buy alcohol or school clothes.

Yes, America, this is where we find ourselves in 2020. The answers are not easy. While many are horrified that President Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis want to send kids back to school for face-to-face instruction during a pandemic, others insist that, to restore the economy, working parents need childcare. There is concern that children in abusive situations, or who face food scarcity, will lose what resources they have if they are not physically in school.

My teacher friends and I have questions.

First, how did teachers and schools become solely responsible for children? Why are teachers now being asked to not only be educators, but also social workers, therapists, mentors, sometimes even substitute parents? If you doubt that teachers fill all those roles, look at mandatory reporting of abuse and the mental-health training teachers must take in Florida. Where is the line between parental and school responsibility? Logistically, how do we send kids back to school for face to face instruction safely?

Those who expect kids to be in brick and mortar schools first need to understand that schools are not businesses or hospitals. Schools are an entirely different animal. Classrooms are not large enough to socially distance students. It isn’t possible to put 6 feet of space between students in a full classroom.

Then we have the problem of personal protective equipment. Most school districts in Florida have not supplied teachers with much, maybe a bottle of cleaner and a couple of masks. There are no upgrades to heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems in schools. Most schools operate with a smaller custodial staff than people realize. I never had a custodian do more than take out the trash, sweep the floors, and occasionally mop. Any other cleaning, I did. There is no budget to hire more custodians to do deep cleaning.

There are other issues as well. If anyone thinks kids are going to wear masks and keep their distance all day, I have a bridge to sell. Teachers joked before school started that parents should be prepared for Johnny to go to school with a Hulk mask and come home with a Spider-Man mask. The teens I taught loved hot Cheetos and Takis and ate them all day. You really don’t think they’ll share food? Remember, I have that bridge to sell.

The harsh reality is that faceto-face instruction is happening as usual these first few days of school, except for people wearing masks and teachers trying to stay distant.

Despite what Florida politicians claim, many teachers were not allowed the choice of teaching either in person or online. Many are being required to teach face to face, according to several of my teacher friends and those on teacher Facebook pages.

Teachers are going to have fewer safety precautions in place and more exposure than grocery store workers, yet teachers are told to go back to face-to-face instruction despite the number of COVID-19 cases. We are noncompliant as a nation. We don’t want to follow CDC guidelines. We don’t want to wear masks. How can we, as a society, expect our children to do what too many adults will not?

The results of face-to-face school openings have not been encouraging so far. In Georgia, Cherokee County School District has been in the news because students posted photos of crowded hallways where few wore masks in North Paulding High School. When the photos went viral, the students were suspended, sparking a media debate. After days of media outrage, the suspensions were lifted. As of Aug. 11, USA Today reported that 250 staff and students were quarantined because of COVID-19 concerns.

We are educators. We got into this profession because we care about children and we want to share the disciplines or subjects we teach.

If we want our economy to flourish and schools to open, let’s work together. Listen to the experts. Your children and my teacher friends will all be safer if we get COVID-19 case numbers down and follow expert advice such as wearing masks and distance. Until then, I am an advocate of virtual instruction.

The FEA has won its lawsuit against the state and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran for now. We will see if that leads to change.