The Floor Is Lava: Teachers Ask How They Can Logistically Protect Kids, And Themselves, In Classrooms
Over the past several months I’ve spoken with educators about their experiences with virtual teaching; their heartbreak over kids they couldn’t reach across the “digital divide”; and their fears about how to keep dozens of students and families safe from a potentially deadly disease.
As the new academic year approaches, I’ve heard that fear turn into despair, even terror. Many recent conversations have been off the record; educators fear they will lose their jobs if they speak out against their administrators or districts. Others say they may abandon their vocation, if forced to return to classrooms and schools ill-equipped to maintain, much less guarantee, anyone’s safety in a worsening pandemic.
Many teachers have underlying health conditions that make them especially susceptible to the novel coronavirus. But mostly, they say, keeping children socially distanced and safe — in one room, where they will learn, eat and play — isn’t about restoring social or economic “normalcy.” It is about logistics.
One educator likened it to the game “The Floor is Lava,” only with potentially fatal consequences — for all the people they, the children and the entire school staff come into contact with daily.
Below are some of these educators’ practical questions, which I will update as more come in. Please feel free to share with teachers and contribute your own questions (send to natasha@bestofpossibleworlds.com).
Professional baseball players are getting tested every two days. How often will teachers and students be tested?
Daily temperature checks with a “no-touch thermometer” are recommended as students walk in the door. How many of those thermometers will each school get? One for each classroom? Right now our school has exactly one. Are hundreds of students supposed to line up for someone to take their temp? What about infected patients who are asymptomatic?
What about schools that don’t have a full-time nurse on staff? (We don’t at my school.) Shouldn’t there be a full-time nurse on every staff during a pandemic? Who is monitoring/dealing with Covid-suspected kids?
What does a teacher do when their classroom is not big enough to space desks six feet apart? I share a very small classroom with another teacher. We teach two different grade levels. Oftentimes our groups are meeting at the same time. There isn't extra space in the building for us to have our own classroom. What will be done to protect us and our students?
What about old buildings with poor air circulation?
Will staff be given PPE? Will they have to pay for it out of their own pockets?
Who will pay for masks for children who cannot afford them? Will they get a new, clean mask each day? If students use reusable masks, who will be cleaning them?
How will kids ride the bus and social distance? Will bus drivers get PPE? Will someone be monitoring that all of the kids at the bus stop are distancing and wearing proper PPE at the bus stop? [In some places in Nashville] I have counted over 20 students at just one stop.
What about classrooms that don’t have their own toilets or sinks?
Hundreds of students use the bathrooms. Who’s going to come in and clean after each use?
What happens when someone unknowingly gets Covid and comes to school, exposing the entire class? Or when a teacher or student test positive? Does the entire class then have to quarantine for 14 days? What about the principal, EE teacher, or any other adult who may come in contact with a person in that classroom? Can we in good conscience bring a substitute teacher into that situation?
Will self-quarantines count as sick days? What happens if you’re exposed more than once, and you’ve already used all your sick days to quarantine? Do you lose pay?
Since kids are supposed to remain in the classroom all day, how will teachers find time to go to the bathroom? Do they just leave their students unsupervised? (This was often an issue even pre-Covid.)
If students are eating in classrooms who is monitoring that? By law teachers are to get a 30-min duty-free lunch. If eating in classrooms, how are we serving students their food? What measures are in place to maintain sanitary practices for that?
Who’s going to clean the shared kindergarten and first-grade bathrooms after each use? Will the teacher be expected to clean bathrooms no less than 20 times per day?
Who’s paying for the additional custodial staff that deep cleaning will require? How can already bare bones janitorial staff properly disinfect schools properly? Or will classroom teachers be required to do the additional cleaning?
Our school system had a shortage of subs before Covid. Will we ever be able to get subs now? I anticipate there will be teacher absences, not just for getting sick, but also for those who are exposed to Covid and need to self-quarantine.
What happens when a class doesn’t have a sub? Pre-Covid, we would divide students from that classroom and combine them with other classes. How does this work with social distancing?
If we stagger our start and end times, how much instructional time will be lost?
The CDC recommends small class sizes. What funding would be used to pay for additional teachers? How do you have smaller class sizes when your building is at full capacity? We don’t even have a closet to spare.
The recommendation is for kids’ desks to be spaced apart and all facing the same direction. Students are encouraged to stay at their desks as much as possible. Shared classroom spaces like classroom libraries are now off-limits. It’s not natural for a young child to sit in a desk all day long. It’s definitely not a best practice. What kind of behavior problems will result from kids having to sit still and work in isolation?
How do we keep masks on kids for 7 hours every day? Heck, we can’t even keep them on many of the adults in this country.
I’ve never had a flu season without at least one kid coughing and sneezing directly on me. Usually it happens many times. Often right in my face. How do we keep children from spreading germs that could possibly give us this virus?
What do teacher evaluations look like in this current virtual, to possibly in-person, climate look like?
What, if any, is the transition plan from virtual learning to in person learning...especially if it happens mid semester or mid year?
How are we going to safely conduct fire drills, tornado drills, and lockdown drills? Students and faculty will share so much air!
Will there be interpreters at each school site for non-English language background students to make sure they understand what is going on and how to properly protect themselves? A lot of these students have come from traumatic situations and this is surely to add to the anxiety of being in a place with limited ability to communicate needs.