UPDATE: @lrsd says 150 teachers called in sick this morning. Unknown if they are members of the union.
50 teachers wrote letters to their principles saying they will onlynwork virtually as of today.
The district says that’s not an option and disciplinary measures could be taken. pic.twitter.com/HjAur1WOxS— Mandy Noell (@MandyNoell) September 28, 2020
With 150 sick and 50 saying they will only work at home (deemed unacceptable by the state, which controls the district) you’re talking 200 substitutes in a district that was already stretched. It will also add more duties to teachers who are reporting for work (and working extendedd days to keep up with dual responsibilities of in-person and at-home students).
Through the end of last week, according to state Health Department records, the district had 24 staff and 94 student COVID-19 cases. At the end of the last school week, the district reported 47 staff and 125 students in quarantine, with 32 new cases, 28 of them students.
This is a real problem, multiplied statewide, albeit with some places suffering less than others.
It is also true that all-virtual learning is not an attractive alternative for students because of equity issues created by different economic and family circumstances.
But still … the insistence by the governor and his handmaiden Key, with their usual union bashing, that teachers must work in-person at all costs rings a little hollow from a state government with buildings closed to the public.