Durham Elementary Students to Return to In-person Learning 4 Days/Week (!)
My last post concerned the debate over whether Durham Public Schools should resume in-person learning in order to accommodate state legislation mandating a return to in-person instruction within 15 days (of the legislation's passing). Discussion on the topic has become heated and personal, which I find sad and incredibly frustrating.
The simple question is this: After doing remote learning for nearly 12 months, why are we forcing teachers and staff back into classrooms mere weeks ahead of ensuring they are administered the vaccination we've all been waiting for? If we truly cared about them, we would not force our teachers and school staff to return to in-person school until they receive full vaccine dosages; we would not force them to choose between their family's health and their job security.
Rather than accommodating the state's 15-day mandate by voting (5-2) to return to in-person learning starting mid March (4 days a week for elementary students and 4 days/3 weeks for middle- and high-school students), I would rather have seen Durham's Board of Education (BOE) table that vote and, alongside the Durham Association of Educators (DAE), lobby against any return to in-person learning until all teachers and staff are fully vaccinated. If the state's mandate, as written, becomes law (which appears likely), I'd like to see the BOE and the DAE take the matter to the courts.
In the interim, rather than relying on unpaid community volunteers to administer and enforce Covid precautions (and provide other long underfunded needs), the Durham Board of Education should determine the cost of these services in human and financial terms and, in partnership with the Durham Association of Educators, demand these additional salaries from the state and/or federal governments accordingly. This would use Covid dollars directly toward Covid prevention *as well as* local job creation.
Side Note 1 (particularly if we don't wait until school staff are fully vaccinated): Replacing an HVAC does not replace an old, ill maintained, quite possibly inadequate ventilation system. Will every teacher have a room with easily opened windows? I would not return to an indoor work space (or hotel room) without this.
Side Note 2: I was particularly struck by this statement in the Indyweek article regarding DPS's return to in-person school: "Students wear masks, undergo daily health screenings, eat lunches in silence, and aren't allowed to make physical contact with one another." When I read this, the voice in my head immediately said, "Sounds like an engaging learning environment to me (frown)."
In another (related) direction, here's the link to a great article published in The Atlantic on 17 Feb 2021, entitled "Why did we ever send sick kids to school?". The flood gates have opened, folks, and our elected officials are leading their constituents right into the water.
We should be advocating for *paid* sick leave for *all* people, including for parents to take care of their sick children - $15/hour flat, paid by their employer and subsidized by the state or federal governments (or a combination of the two) based on company profits.
Of course, before we can do this and in order to ensure funding is used exactly as intended, we need to enforce true codes of ethics *and conduct* among those elected to oversee our government.
But most of all: If it is to continue to be the center of social and educational services for our children, we *must* address the underfunding of public education - transparently, with accountability, and preferably before the *next* pandemic.
In the meantime, DPS needs to fill a lot of positions that have been allowed to stay vacant since remote learning was imposed, in particular nurses, custodians and bus drivers. Here's a link to DPS jobs available: https://www.applitrack.com/dpsnc/onlineapp/.
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Here are some of the news articles (linked above) related to the Durham Public Schools Board of Education's 5-2 vote to resume in-person school starting mid-March:
Durham Public Schools Volunteer Medical Corps: https://www.dpsvmc.org
https://abc11.com/durham-public-schools-dps-reopening-sb-37/10351697/
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article249346380.html
https://indyweek.com/news/durham/durham-school-board-votes-to-send-students-back-to-school/
https://abc11.com/durham-public-schools-parents-react-back-to-school-senate-bill-37/10353930/
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