MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Following the announcement of school reopening plans, local teachers and the Montgomery County Education Association have voiced health and safety concerns with returning to the classroom.
Over the weekend, organizers announced the school year would start on August 31, but classes would likely be conducted fully online.
Students would then return to classrooms in phases every few weeks.
Schools will face strict sanitizing and social distancing guidelines but some teachers believe the rules don't go far enough to protect staff and students.
"Going into this school year, I am nervous personally," Esha Dhora, a library media specialist at Cloverly Elementary School said. "I see around 500 kids a week. Going back to that old environment right now is definitely something that makes me nervous.”
Dhora was one of a number of teachers who shared a post on social media this week detailing concerns with the reopening plan.
The issues range from students and staff allegedly being limited to two cloth masks for the whole school year to social distancing concerns inside classrooms and a lack of touch-less hand sanitizer.
The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA), a union that represents thousands of staff members, released a statement echoing the concerns and called the county's reopening plan "inadequate."
"Many questions about how to safely implement the plan remain unanswered and there are discrepancies between what MCPS leaders told the public during a July 15 virtual town hall, and what they are telling the teachers from the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) who are trying to work with MCPS to come up with a way to ensure student and staff safety," the statement reads. "Masking, social distancing, and enhanced cleaning are the three pillars on which the MCPS plan rests, and it fails in all three areas."
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When contacted by WUSA9 on Friday, a spokesman for Montgomery County Public Schools answered the following claims:
- Lack of personal protective masks: The district is buying as many masks as it can.
- Classroom cleaning: Teachers and students may need to clean classrooms between periods.
- The spokesman added that the budget did not allow for custodians to be stationed outside all classrooms. However, he mentioned that classrooms would be regularly cleaned.
- Consequences for children not wearing masks: Students cannot be expected to keep their masks on all day.
- However, if a student fights about needing to wear one, they will be sent to speak with a school official.
- Not buying new filters or ventilation: Spokesman said the district is buying new filters.
- No choice for teachers: Teachers in vulnerable health categories can stay home with proper medical documentation. Fear of returning to school is not a threshold for being able to stay home.
- Mandatory virtual backgrounds for students: Spokesman said this claim is not true.
- 15 students to a classroom: Spokesman said the number of students allowed inside will depend on the size of the classroom.
- Six feet of social distancing will be enforced.
- No touch-less hand sanitizer: District is buying as much hand sanitizer as possible. However, the overwhelming demand for touch-less hand sanitizer has led to a back-log for orders.
Despite the answers to the claims, Dhora said she still had plenty of concerns.
"I definitely think it’s a safer decision to have the first semester online," she said. "We don’t have the answers that we need right now which basically proves this is not the course we should be taking.”
In its statement, the MCEA added that the consequences of returning too soon to school put students and staff in harm's way.
"A plan replete with shortcomings cannot ensure the health and safety of students or staff," it reads. "If MCPS leaders persist with this terribly flawed reopening, they will do so, leaving educators with an untenable choice: our jobs or our health and the health of the people we love."
Moving forward, Dhora hoped more teachers and staff would reach out to the Board of Education with their concerns.
"Please take our concerns seriously," she said. "I don’t feel safe going back because I don’t think it’s time yet.”