When kids return to York County schools, will teachers feel safe? Responses are mixed.
There’s a pretty good chance parents who take their children to schools in York County this fall will leave them with teachers who are uneasy.
Recent school district surveys found many teachers — more than half, in some surveys — aren’t comfortable returning to classrooms this fall — as COVID-19 cases continue. That information comes as Gov. Henry McMaster on Wednesday called for all public school districts to provide full five-day-a-week options for in-classroom education, along with virtual alternatives.
“We must give parents the choice,” McMaster said at a press event in Columbia. “This is the only thing that we are asking these districts to do today, is to give the parents the choice. The parents are looking to our schools. The parents pay taxes for the schools. The constitution provides for schools. We must see that children have these schools available.”
McMaster said parents should have confidence sending their children to South Carolina schools, which could be an issue as many teachers themselves aren’t confident.
According to information the Fort Mill School District sent to parents, less than half of district teachers are comfortable returning to classrooms. The online return-to-school guide indicates just 42% percent of teachers responding to a recent district survey are comfortable returning to work.
That same guide includes a message from Chuck Epps, district superintendent, noting work has been ongoing all summer to evaluate concerns and set the best path heading into the fall.
“We have surveyed staff, teachers and parents to receive data that would help us understand the needs and concerns of everyone involved in education,” Epps wrote. “Through this process, we learned there is no one answer that will solve the challenges we face for the coming school year.”
In recent weeks Epps repeated that COVID-19 presents a challenge unlike any in his long career in education. He acknowledged most survey questions, ranging a variety of topics, were largely split down the middle in their responses. A video message from Epps on the district’s return-to-school page shows him talking about the local, state and federal situation.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced all of us to reevaluate our daily schedules,” Epps said. “Change plans, rethink education and redefine our work environments. There are no aspects of our lives that have not been impacted by this pandemic.”
In Rock Hill
The Rock Hill school district surveyed its 2,400 employees on their feelings related to returning to work in August. The district’s chief personnel officer Tanya Campbell presented the results during a Board of Trustees meeting Monday night.
About 1,900 employees responded to the survey, Campbell said.
About 40% of the district’s staff said they are in favor of returning to work in the fall if recommendations from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control are followed.
Thirty percent are in favor of returning if transmission rates have decreased, and 16% are in favor of returning only if a vaccine is found. Fourteen percent said they would return with no social distancing or other safety measures in place.
The district asked staff if a cure or treatment for the virus is not available by August, would staff intend to return to work for in-person instruction. About 53% of staff who responded said they would return for in-person instruction only if protective measures were in place. About 27% said they would return with or without protective measures.
However, if the district established a virtual academy, about 21% of staff said they would be interested in working in the program. While, 45% said maybe and 35% said they would not be interested.
In order to ensure a safe return to school, staff who responded to the survey said it is important that there’s increased frequency in deep cleaning of schools and district facilities, protocols are established for addressing COVID-19 cases for students and employees, and that social distancing is established in classrooms and common areas.
Clover
In another district, survey results showed growing comfort in longer-term virtual education.
The Clover School District was an eLearning pilot district in 2019-20. The plan was to develop a platform, protocols and professional development for one to three days of virtual instruction. Or, the kind that may come due to inclement weather.
Then coronavirus hit.
Clover, like other districts, went into extended virtual instruction for the final quarter of the school year.
A teacher survey in May and June found about 65% of teachers were initially comfortable or extremely comfortable with the transition to virtual learning. About 96% of teachers responded the district had a good or excellent implementation of extended distance learning. Almost 89% of teachers indicated they are comfortable or extremely comfortable if they have to take up extended virtual learning again.
Statewide
SC for Ed is an education advocacy group that formed in 2018 to promote advocacy and an improved education system in South Carolina.
Late Tuesday, the group posted initial results of an ongoing, online survey that asks teachers if they feel comfortable returning to school buildings.
Of more than 5,200 responses, 21% of the teachers responded that they are comfortable returning this fall. Almost 68% responded they aren’t comfortable, with almost 9% unsure.
In a separate survey, SC for Ed had almost 7,700 educators respond over three days to questions on health risk. More than 64% of educators responded that they have one or more conditions defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an increased or possible increased health risk.
More than 29% of respondents were 50 or older. The average age was 43.
Obesity was the leading risk listed by survey participants. Others include diabetes, organ transplant, asthma, weakened immune system and pregnancy.
“This data shows some of the fears that we are seeing from a variety of educators, the idea of returning to face-to-face learning and risking our health or our lives,” said SC for Ed board member Saani Perry.
“Other fears that have been brought to our attention is the idea of teachers getting sick from fellow colleagues or students and spreading the virus around the building. There are also fears that teachers or substitutes may be sick, thus, passing the virus to our students, who may then take it home to their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, guardians.”
Perry called the number of cases now and the risk of spreading the virus alarming.
“A large concern is a potential for one substitute to spread the virus to a variety of schools,” Perry said. “Substitutes typically sub in a variety of schools.”
McMaster and a handful of state legislators at a Columbia briefing on Wednesday said there are myriad reasons to offer in-person school. More than 10,000 students were “lost to us,” he said, when coronavirus and social distancing shut down schools in March. Districts didn’t hear back from those families when school no longer met in person, McMaster said.
“We know that virtual education is not as good for most children as face-to-face. in-class education, “ he said.
The South Carolina Association of School Administrators released a statement after McMaster’s event on Wednesday. It read in part:
“School administrators, teachers, and school staff members are anxious to have students return to school on a regular schedule. As professionals, we know firsthand the important role our public schools play in the educational, emotional, and physical wellbeing of our children. However, our concern for the health and safety of our students and staff is — and will always be — our first and foremost priority.”
McMaster agrees safety with school opening is a priority.
“We must do it safely,” he said. “We must do it carefully, but we must do it.”
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 2:08 PM.
