by Sahar Chmais
It’s damned if you do, damned if you do not.
The decision to return to school is episodic; every few days new state regulations and orders come out. Districts are scrambling to methodically reopen their campuses to please a myriad of watchers.
Then there are the people who need to make a decision between life and death. Should they send their child to school, ensuring their job safety in order to keep a roof over their head? But when their child goes, are they safe from COVID-19? Do teachers go to campus and risk their lives to keep their job, or do they begin searching for a new career? Some parents are wondering, how long will kids stay in fear and how long can they stunt their development?
Do we reopen schools, or not?
If that rush of questions felt overwhelming, this is the start of the thread. For educators and parents find themselves going down a rabbit hole as soon as they let their mind wander. The issue has many sides; its depth and complexity left some people thinking there is no viable solution.
Some people believe that schools should reopen campuses, some believe they should be closed and some think it should be open to those who need it.
Still, parents have to make a decision. On Tuesday, July 14, Gov. Greg Abbott told school districts they can postpone their campus reopening dates without pulling funds from the schools. Hays CISD used the delay and plans to start schools online Sept. 8, then four weeks later, parents can send their children to campus if they so choose. These decisions can be rehashed every nine-week grading period.
Delaying reopening campuses grants the schools more time to work on their safety plan and simultaneously gives more time to understand the trend in which COVID-19 cases are headed. Hays CISD kicked off their fall planning when they presented parents and teachers with a survey, but nothing is final as district decisions continue to evolve.
Based off of the survey, almost 74 percent of teachers said they disagree that working in a classroom is of no concern to them, while 20 percent said they agreed.
Many teachers feel threatened with the reopening of school campuses and held a demonstration at the State Capitol on Wednesday. Those who oppose the reopening believe lives are being jeopardized; from their loved ones, to themselves, to students and parents. They also believe it will cause a surge in COVID-19 infections.
Some of the teachers who spoke with the Hays Free Press had many questions. Among them is a teacher and member of Texas State Teachers Association, who asked to remain anonymous. He does not want to go back to school in fear of endangering himself and his family. The situation is so extreme, he and his wife, a couple so dedicated to education that they have multiple degrees in the field, have begun submitting applications for other jobs in case they are forced to go back to school.
This teacher also worries about COVID-19’s mortality rate among children. According to the Centers for Disease Control, children aged 0-4 have a 0.2 percent mortality rate and those aged 5-17 have a 0.1 percent rate.
“We want our kids not to get sick,” he stated as the bottom line, “I don’t care about the percent, even when one kid dies, we are making that choice for them.”
During the interview, he read a list of questions that he and other teachers presented to the TEA, but over three weeks have passed and still no answers.
“These questions should’ve been dealt with in April,” he said. Then, he continued to present the list.
This outspoken teacher wants to know the authority schools have to ask students to get COVID-19 tests, which then opens room for another question. What happens if, say Johnny, tests positive, he quarantines 14 days -- does he have to retest to come back to campus? And what about the students who were in his class, do they quarantine? What if he had contact with a student not in the same class, how would teachers know?
The organization member also wants to know the logistics around lunch. When students sit in their classroom, do they have lunch brought to them? Does the school have enough staff members to haul the lunch over or will lunch drag out for half the day? And when it is time to eat, do they remove masks and dilute the unventilated room with their potentially infected breath?
Another teacher weighed in regarding school HVAC systems. The San Marcos High School teacher, who also wants to remain anonymous, has taught in six states and has experienced HVAC system problems in every school.
Given the newly accepted research by the World Health Organization that suggests the virus is airborne, will the outdated HVAC systems be sufficient to keep the school’s air quality clean, wondered the high school teacher.
This is not his biggest worry.
“If [the federal government] can’t fully fund us to function well and smoothly and meet all the kid’s physical, academic and emotional needs at the best of times,” his frustration came through, “how do they expect us to believe they can meet our needs to keep us alive?”
Funding is not his only issue. He also worries that teen behavior is difficult to control. For example, students do not always take their hoods off or their earphones out when asked to; he wonders how they would stick to wearing a mask all day.
Gina and Donald Murphy, parents to a 17-year-old autistic son, vehemently expressed they will not send their son back. Although he will miss his friends, the Murphys believe this is the best option.
“I’m not worried about my kid repeating the year,” said Gina Murphy. “In the grand scheme of things, what would happen if they didn’t do that? There’s no way to know what our health will be like from having the coronavirus.”
This has been a shared worry among many parents and teachers because the virus is so new, they do not have research on long-term effects. Scientists are still developing new research and negating bits of information.
While some parents are worrying about future dangers and outcomes, others are anxious about the immediate effects of closures. Gabby Tetrick, a parent in Hays CISD, said she needs schools to welcome her child.
Tetrick and her husband are both full-time employees who cannot afford to lose a job. There are many parents who are living a similar situation.
Alternatives to staying home include hiring a nanny, which is not a financially viable option for the two, or they can send their child to camp, but that is costly and closes during the fall.
“We save a little bit each month to fund our child to be in a day camp throughout the summer while we are at work,” said Tetrick. “We cannot afford to do it year-round. If schools were to remain closed in the fall, this would cause significant hardship to many families who do not have an option of somewhere to send their child.”
This mother also worries that when her child is kept from interacting and playing with others, it will affect their long-term mental health. She also wants to make sure her child gets limited screen time because it makes her child act out; but virtual learning and staying home will force her child to have extensive screen time.
One parent of two teens shares a similar sentiment to Tetrick. But this mother chose to remain anonymous, especially now that she feels there is hate and shaming toward parents who want to send children to school.
Part of this mother’s belief is that the relationships and communication skills students gain in school cannot be matched in any other setting, and these are essential building blocks in life. She does not want the threat of the virus to pause her children’s development.
“I cannot stop my kids from getting illnesses of any kind,” she explained. “I honestly worry more about my kids getting cancer or sending my kids out in a car and them being killed that way than I worry about coronavirus.”
The hands-on approach to learning is welcomed by many parents and some teachers. Aimee Foster, a high school cosmetology teacher, said she does not feel hesitant to return to school. Foster is ecstatic to go back into the classroom environment where she can teach her skill in-person.
Although not everything can be taught online, there is some hope for those learning remotely.
After the tailspin schools went through with COVID-19 in March, the schools and teachers were completely unprepared. But now that teachers, students and parents have had more time to adjust, the online curriculum will be more organized.
Sandra McCarstle, a Pre-K teacher and member on the Campus Leadership Team, said that the schools are coming back with a program that better connects students to their teachers and assignments. She notes that students will be tested and given grades based on their academic performance, and attendance will count.
This time, there will be structure, explained McCarstle.
As someone who has 15-years of teaching experience and has studied developmental education, McCarstle said she is afraid that the students growing up in this time will lack certain problem-solving skills and have high anxiety.
“But I don’t think we can see into the future,” McCarstle told the Hays Free Press. “I hope this is a blimp in time we can make up for later. I do think in our community a lot of students have siblings or cousins who live close by and that helps. If they can’t be around other children, then you have to fill that void and teach those social skills they would have been getting in classrooms.”
Like many others, McCarstle said she does not have an answer. She does think that the best we can do is buy some more time, perhaps six more weeks, to know what the near future of coronavirus cases will look like.
“Social skills and academics are great,” McCarstle said, “but we have to prioritize health.”
