Convinced he got infected at work
Local teacher in hospital with breakthrough case
In Ted Hartley’s algebra classroom, the issue of mask wearing isn’t up for debate.
The Harding Fine Arts Academy teacher adopted the mantra “my classroom, my rules,” and for Hartley, masks aren’t optional.
“No negotiation, no discussion, put it on or leave the room,” Hartley said. “That was how we operated until I got sick.”
From his hospital bed at Integris Baptist Medical Center, Hartley, 62,
said he’s convinced he caught COVID-19 while working at Harding Fine Arts, an Oklahoma City charter school where masks are now required for all students.
Hartley’s immune system is compromised from having a kidney transplant 10 years ago. Like many transplant recipients, he takes immunosuppressants that weaken his immune system and prevent his body from rejecting the new organ.
His wife, daughter and granddaughter have been too careful to give it to him at their Warr Acres home, he said. No one else in the household has tested positive, and his exposure to others outside of work is extremely limited.
Although Hartley is expected to return home, not all educators have. Two Oklahoma teachers, in Yukon and Tulsa, died from COVID-19 in the past week and a half. At least 1,116 active or retired educators and school personnel have died from COVID-19 across the country, according to Education Week. Of those, 361 were active teachers.
Hartley’s wife, Regina, said she was blown away that he contracted the virus after “18 months of doing everything we could” to avoid it.
Hartley took his third dose of the Pfizer vaccine last month. Without it, he and Regina suspect the infection could have been much worse.
“We’re just so grateful that he was able to get the booster shot in August because I’m sure that’s what saved him,” Regina said. “And that’s why he’s coming home this week.”
COVID-19 poses a significant risk for people with organ transplants, like Hartley and his daughter, who also needed a new kidney.
Johns Hopkins Medicine research found little more than half of fully vaccinated transplant recipients had developed antibodies that fight off the coronavirus, according to a study published in May. Of the 658 studied transplant recipients, 46% had no antibodies at all, even after two vaccine doses.
“Based on our findings, we recommend that transplant recipients and other immunocompromised patients continue to practice strict COVID-19 safety precautions, even after vaccination,” the study’s lead author, Brian Boyarsky, said in a Johns Hopkins news release.
Hartley first suspected he had COVID-19 when he became winded while walking up a staircase at Harding Fine Arts. Normally, he’s fit and healthy, having biked 1,000 miles around Lake Hefner over the summer.
Then, he developed a fever. A doctor at a transplant clinic recommended he go to the emergency room, where a scan later showed pneumonia in his lungs. He then tested positive for COVID-19.
Despite medical staff taking his case seriously, he had to wait 28 hours in the emergency room before a hospital bed came open. He’s been treated with Remdesivir and uses an oxygen tube while he sleeps, Regina said.
He’s expected to come home on Thursday.
After three Pfizer doses and a year and a half of caution, Hartley said he was “furious” to have contracted the virus.
He had done his best to compartmentalize the COVID-19 risk he faced each day he taught in person.
“When you’re teaching math, you’re teaching math,” he said. “But in the back of your mind … it’s like background noise. You just can’t get rid of it.”
Hartley said he never experienced pushback from students or parents over his classroom mask rule.
Only three students have opted out of mask wearing of the 375 attending Harding Fine Arts, said Barry Schmelzenbach, the school superintendent.
“As schools, we are charged with protecting lives and learning, which is safeguarding our children and their opportunity to learn in person,” Schmelzenbach said. “We continue to keep in place safeguards to protect our community,
our faculty and our students, and we strongly encourage eligible adults and students to be vaccinated.”
Hartley urges vaccinations, too. About 54% of Oklahomans age 12 and older are fully vaccinated.
“Get as many as you need,” he said. “I needed three.”
Regina, a library media specialist in the Putnam City school district, said COVID-19 and quarantines have been a constant stressor for teachers and school staff. But, she and Hartley have supported the shift back to full-time inperson learning to give a sense of normalcy to students.
Those who are immunocompromised deserve a type of normalcy, too, Regina said.
“Some people will say, well, ‘You’re immunocompromised. You should just stay home, just don’t work,’” she said. “Well, we’ve still got to work. We’ve still got careers that we’re pursuing. We’re trying the best that we can to be as safe as possible.”
Reporter Nuria Martinez-Keel covers K-12 and higher education throughout the state of Oklahoma. Reach her at nmartinez-keel@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @NuriaMKeel. Support Oklahoman journalists’ work by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
“We’re just so grateful that he was able to get the booster shot in August because I’m sure that’s what saved him. And that’s why he’s coming home this week.” Hartley’s wife, Regina