Teachers need time to get vaccinated
Please accept this note — rooted in genuine concern — as an appeal to the leadership of Baltimore County Public Schools with respect to the safety and well-being of our teachers. Our K-12 educators need adequate time to get the COVID-19 vaccination. According to the Centers for Disease Control, getting vaccinated is one of the major defenses protecting ourselves and others from COVID-19. It is for this very reason that teachers are among those identified as “front line essential workers” and designated as a “Phase 1b” group in the CDC-recommended nationwide COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
While I believe that all educators (including colleges, universities and their personnel) should be included in receiving vaccinations before returning to campus, I am focused on primary and secondary educators because of the national and statewide dialogue around K-12 schools. Teachers need to be protected, and once appropriately vaccinated along with classroom protections and personal protective equipment, we can have a greater assurance of the well-being of our entire education community.
COVID-19 is having an enormously negative impact on the lives of far too many Americans, African Americans in particular, with devastating effect. Our nation reached a very grim milestone this month, exceeding 500,000 deaths nationwide. Teachers are put in grave danger when asked to prematurely return to the classroom without the added safeguard of being properly immunized. As current data trends indicate vaccine distribution is painfully slow in Maryland and across the nation — and distribution within African American communities at even a slower rate.
I am certain that we can all agree a return to the classroom for everyone is our North Star, however it is unreasonable to demand that our teachers expose themselves, and their families, to COVID-19 by requiring them to return to school before April 1,
2021. Additional time for vaccinations is needed; allow teachers this critical time, as many are actively trying to get vaccine appointments scheduled.
Help teachers protect their lives, the lives of their families and our greater community.
Take a look back at Baltimore Catholic League standout teams and stars from the past 10 years.
Coming off a performance that included two golds and three medals overall at the skiing world championships, Lara Gut-Behrami now has another title — overall World Cup leader. The Swiss skier won a downhill Friday when the regular circuit resumed, moving her ahead of Slovakian rival Petra Vlhova in the standings. Gut-Behrami finished a slim 0.02 seconds ahead of Ramona Siebenhofer on the sun-drenched Val di Fassa course. Recently crowned world champion Corinne Suter finished third, 0.26 behind, to gain precious points in her pursuit of downhill standings leader Sofia Goggia, who is out injured. Vlhova finished ninth and now trails Gut-Behrami by 29 points in the overall standings. Conditions on the San Pellegrino Pass, which was making its debut on the World Cup circuit, were spring-like as the temperature soared to nearly 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit). It was Gut-Behrami’s 31st career World Cup victory and fourth straight speed win on the circuit. It was also her first downhill win this season, to go with her four World Cup victories in super-G.