MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Parents are making a choice on whether to send their kids back to classrooms, but what about the teachers? WREG is taking a look at the options teacher have in order to do their job in the midst of COVID-19.
Danette Stokes is the newly elected president of the United Education Association of Shelby County. A 21-year teacher, she was also on the safety task force developing a re-opening plan for Shelby County Schools.
“We realize who we are. We are essential workers. We want to be in front of our kids. We want to be teaching our kids. But we also want to make sure that it is safe when we do that,” Stokes said.
She says from the outset, teachers were given the option to choose how they wanted to teach in the face of coronavirus.
“That was the first thing that I asked if we would have the flexibility to have a choice as to whether or not teachers would have to go back into the classroom or if we teach remotely,” Stokes said. “Basically all we want is to be able to enter back into the classroom that is safe. Enter into a classroom that is safe and healthy for us and our students.”
She says an email went out to SCS teachers Tuesday letting them know they had a choice.
“We did get an email from Dr. Ray stating that we do have a choice. Educators will have a choice to teach remotely. They are working on the criteria for us to be able to go back remotely,” Stokes said.
Stokes says from teachers she has spoken with, it’s 50 – 50 on going back to class or teaching virtually.
Until the final parent survey numbers are released, they don’t know how many students will be doing in-school learning, so it’s not clear how many teachers will be needed in the school buildings.
But for now, teachers are going through training for whatever they may face.
“We are using Microsoft Team as our virtual platform, so a lot of professional development with that, making sure we are familiar with the curriculum, that we are gonna be using,” Stokes said.
The Shelby County Schools’ parent survey is expected to be released soon to show how many parents chose in-school learning over virtual learning.
