Earlier this month, the state voted in favor of a bill requiring all N.C. school districts to offer in-person learning by the end of March. Originally CHCCS had planned to give students the option to return to campus April 19, but in response to the state vote, the district will now resume in-person classes March 22.
The new return date is causing contention among teachers because it means those returning to in-person classes will have a week of hybrid learning immediately followed by Spring Break.
“The amount of quick turnaround on decisions has been really hard to handle. I was prepared for it, but I wasn’t happy about it,” science teacher Erin Shindledecker said. “Why do it the week before spring break and why not just stick with the plan before? I feel like I have whiplash with a plan changing so frequently.”
The short notice of this schedule change leaves many teachers feeling unprepared. Latin teacher Jenni Hoffman voiced concern for those who may not be ready to return.
“I worry about my colleagues, I worry about some of them and their ability to process and deal with this move so quickly,” Hoffman said. “But I’m there to support them, and to support [students]. That’s my job.”
Hoffman isn’t the only teacher concerned with the consequences of returning to on-site learning. Science teacher Alan Freedman expressed doubts about the safety of the staff and students.
“I heard something about herd immunity the other day for the umpteenth time. Ten percent of the state’s been vaccinated, you need 75 percent on a good day for herd immunity. And virtually none of the students coming into school will have been vaccinated,” Freedman said. “So, I might get protected but the students that have not been vaccinated are still at risk.”
For the most part, teachers feel more comfortable returning to on-site education after vaccination, but there’s still a lot of logistics to figure out. Educators became eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines late last month as part of a staggered rollout of vaccinations, making the return to in-person classes more feasible for teachers.
“I feel a lot better knowing that I’ll have been vaccinated, though that’s not foolproof; so that does relieve a lot of stress and anxiety,” English teacher Keith Gerdes said. “I feel like going back, but it’s taken a lot of time to figure out how to do remote learning. So now it’s going to have to be how do we do hybrid learning so that’s going to be a whole different challenge.”
Beyond teaching an online and in-person class simultaneously, there’s concern of issues with the second vaccination dosage, considering not all teachers will have been able to have both doses by March 22. English teacher Kathryn Edelstein said she worries about not having enough subs for sick teachers.
“Since we now have the ‘crunch,’ many teachers will either not have their second shot in time for returning to the classroom, or they will have their second shot right when we return… We, as a district, do not have enough subs to cover in normal times, so in this first week of school there is a very real concern that the amount of folks out getting shots or feeling sick will create a situation where the teachers who are in the building are pulled to cover for each other.”
Beyond the logistical concerns, teachers feel frustrated with the way the district rushed back into learning without confirming the safety of its teachers and staff.
“Yes, I want to be back in school. I’m tired of sitting in front of a computer screen talking to people,” Freedman said. “But, from a safety of people perspective, they could have waited, or they should have waited.”
Many teachers recognize that returning to in-person school will be a positive change for some students and staff. One group that benefits from returning to in-person learning are students with learning disabilities. The district will offer them the option of returning to in-person classes for four days out of the week. However confusing the new schedule may be, teachers appreciate the need for some students to return.
“The good thing is that some kids really need to be in school, and some kids really need to have an adult,” Shindledecker said.
While teachers acknowledge the importance of offering in-person learning to students for the remainder of the year, they also emphasize the fact that safety should be a priority for everyone returning to the classroom.
Photo by Audrey Dezern/The ECHO
