Schools districts in most parts of the country have been allowed to use their discretion in their decision to open schools come fall.
As teachers in select cities across the country prepare to return to in-person schooling amid the coronavirus pandemic, some teachers are also preparing their wills.
Teachers in Florida, who are set to return to school in just four weeks, are questioning what the guidelines will be to keep everyone safe, and some feel as though they don’t have enough information yet.
“What happens if a teacher gets sick? What happens if a student gets sick? Who has to quarantine? When do we close schools again?" Brian Coleman, a teacher in Pinellas County Schools, told Tampa Bay 10.
Coleman said he is hoping to get more answers from his district supervisor about a detailed plan that will follow CDC guidelines.
"Teachers love their jobs; teachers have to go back. You know what they're doing right now? With their lesson plans, they're preparing living wills. They're preparing wills to make sure that if anything happens to them, their families are taken care of. That's what's happening right now in the state of Florida with teachers and educational support professionals and cafeteria workers and bus drivers who don't do this for money,” Fedrick Ingram, the president of the Florida Education Association, told the station.
Schools districts in most parts of the country have been allowed to use their discretion in their decision to open schools come fall. In Washington D.C., reports say students will spend two days in school and three days online learning.
In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that students could return to in-person learning come September, but the guidelines for how that will happen have not been specified yet.
Cuomo said regular classroom cleanings and social distancing will be a part of the plan.
Los Angeles schools have already announced they will not be returning in the fall as numbers spike in the state. Since July 7, the state has reported 9,000 new cases per day, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The varying decisions around reopening schools has mirrored the differing opinions state officials and medical professionals have held on reopening businesses and returning to a “new normal.”
Texas teacher Jessica Schwinn tweeted, calling the return to schools this fall “atrocious.” Texas had 10,000 new coronavirus cases on July 14, and their numbers are trending upward.
“Teachers are writing wills, getting medical power of attorney established, and taking out extra life insurance," Schwinn wrote. “This country has chosen it's priorities. It's money over people.”
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