‘Irresponsible and dangerous.’ SC teachers push back on governor’s plan to reopen schools
After S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster and legislative leaders pushed for schools to reopen for in-person classes following Labor Day, teachers groups pushed back, citing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as a threat to them and children.
Both SC for Ed, a grassroots teacher organization, and the Palmetto State Teachers Association called the move “dangerous.” The S.C. School Boards Association, the S.C. Education Association and the S.C. Association of School Administrators emphasized that student and staff health should be at the forefront of decisions on whether to reopen schools.
In a press conference Wednesday morning, McMaster, House Speaker Jay Lucas, Senate President Harvey Peeler and other Republican legislative leaders called for schools to reopen five days a week for face-to-face learning, but asked that districts give parents the choice of whether to send their kids to school.
Announcing his recommendation, which he emphasized is not a mandate, McMaster said some children have lost months of learning, some schools have failed to touch base with children since March, and for many students, attending class online is an impossibility because of a lack of access to high-speed internet. They urged school districts to reopen, so that children can come back to school, the safest place for many children to be.
Asked to respond to teachers who were afraid to return to school because of the danger of catching the coronavirus, McMaster said, “Well, I think everyone is scared about their health. We’re all in the same boat. There is no special group.”
Educators responded differently.
S.C. Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman was not present at the press conference, but later said the state can’t “turn a blind eye to the health and safety of our students and staff when the spread of the virus in some of our communities is among the highest in the world.”
McMaster’s announcement comes as the state is being recognized for having one of the world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, worse than countries like Oman and Bahrain.
In two of the last five days, the state saw daily increases of more than 2,000 COVID-19 cases, a milestone the Palmetto State had not crossed before. The state has also seen an uptick in coronavirus related deaths, including its first child who died after contracting the virus.
The Palmetto State Teachers Association said if the coronavirus’ spread does not begin to slow in South Carolina by the time school is scheduled to start, “it would be irresponsible and dangerous” for teachers and students to return.
“We believe this action would needlessly jeopardize the health and safety of our state’s 800,000 students and more than 50,000 teachers,” the group said in a statement.
The teachers association pointed out that daily case counts reported by the state Department of Health and Environmental Control are considerably higher now than they were when the governor closed schools in March. Then, the state was seeing about a dozen new cases per day, and now, it’s common to see more than 1,500 cases a day.
“While we know more now than we did in March about how COVID-19 is spread and contained, the current rate of spread of COVID-19 in our state makes a return to full in-person instruction far more dangerous than it was when the Governor ordered schools to close in March,” the group wrote in a statement.
SC for Ed, a prominent teachers advocacy group that lead a massive protest at the State House in favor of education reform in 2018, called the governor’s push to reopen schools “careless and dangerous.”
“Governor McMaster’s pressuring of the State Superintendent of Education to require all district plans, regardless of the spread of the virus in each district, to include face-to-face instruction, flies in the face of recommendations from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the American Academy of Pediatrics, Accelerate ED, the state Superintendent of Education, and all three major state education organizations,” SC for Ed wrote in a statement. “All of these groups and individuals have recommended that reopening schools be contingent on lowering disease activity in the county where the school is located.”
In an open letter, the S.C. chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that students return to school, but the group stressed that it should only be done if it can be accomplished safely.
Almost all counties in South Carolina have a high level of disease activity, according to DHEC.
Lisa Ellis, the founder of the group, said she cried throughout McMaster’s press conference.
“He has put us in the position of being the sacrificial lambs in order to get the economy going.” Ellis said.
SC for Ed called on teachers to contact their state representatives to call for districts to have the ability to cancel face-to-face instruction until the risk of spreading COVID-19 lowers.
“With the increasing number of COVID-19 infections, especially in persons who are within school age, we will not sit back knowing we are putting the lives of South Carolina faculty, staff and students at risk,” the group wrote.
Their statement comes days after SC for Ed released a survey of teachers showing that two in five South Carolina school staff members say they have an underlying health condition that puts them at a serious increased risk when it comes to COVID-19. Those conditions include things like obesity, heart conditions, Type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, which are all considered risk factors if someone contracts the coronavirus.
Another 22% had other health conditions that could also cause complications if the staff were to contract COVID-19, like asthma, hypertension or a weakened immune system.
The S.C. Education Association also conducted a survey of its members, and found that more than 80% said they felt “unsafe and confused about the process of returning to school,” according to a statement released Wednesday.
“The governor’s announcement today requiring every district to include a 5-day, face-to-face cirriculum has only heightened the anxiety,” Education Association president Sherry East said in a statement. “Teachers are calling from across the state with so many different questions: ‘What happens if I or my students get sick and or die?’ They’re hardly feeling reassured.”
East also criticized McMaster for muddying already dirty waters, saying the governor left “basic” questions unanswered like how much personal protective equipment is stockpiled for schools and whether students would be required to wear masks.
“These are basic questions that haven’t been answered,” East said. “Is the governor going to answer them, or is he offering up our children as canaries in the coal mine?”
The S.C. School Boards Association took a softer tone Wednesday in response to the governor’s recommendations to reopen schools after Labor Day, but agreed that safety must be a main focus if teachers and students are to return to schools. They applauded McMaster for allowing local districts to make their own decisions, and not mandating that they take a certain approach.
“School board members have been consistent in advocating that recommendations from the state level should include a range of options, not universal mandates,” recognizing that each district will have different needs for students, teachers and staff as well as different resources, the School Boards Association wrote in a statement. “The decision of when and how to open schools is best made at the local level.”
The S.C. Association of School Administrators said they were anxious to have students return to class, but they believe that the health of students and staff will be “our first and foremost priority.”
“Our children are South Carolina’s most precious resource, and our members will continue to follow the recommendations of local, state, and federal health agencies as we work to safely and successfully open schools.”
Joseph Bustos contributed to his report.
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 2:33 PM with the headline "‘Irresponsible and dangerous.’ SC teachers push back on governor’s plan to reopen schools."
