‘A matter of life or death’: Pender teacher concerned about returning to class

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Schools seemed to have a smooth start to in-person learning, but one teacher is speaking out about concerns over returning to class too quickly.

The teacher, who chose to remain anonymous, says students cannot wash their hands properly because bathrooms in certain schools do not have warm water and water only runs for a couple of seconds.

They say in some schools teachers, not the students, switch classrooms. This causes a safety hazard because teachers do not have master keys, making it impossible to lock-down the class in case of an emergency.

The teacher says students could be arriving to school with high temperatures because they are not being checked before getting on the bus.

They also are concerned that some are not complying with wearing masks and social distancing.

“We have got to think about everything because it’s a matter of life or death,” they said.

The teacher says they believe the district has done the best planning possible with the information they have and they’ve been very transparent, but it’s just not the right time to return to the classroom.

“I think we’re at this critical point to where we have to make the right decisions,” they said. “I know that kids need to be in the classroom, I know they need to be educated but I truly feel like remotely they can be educated. And what we need to be educating them on right now is what the right thing to do is and how to save lives.”

They say they fear for the trauma a student may experience if the student were to transmit COVID-19 to a loved one and the loved one were to die.

“I do feel that we will lose somebody in the county because of the opening. So if any one person was to hear this piece and decide you know what maybe I should have my student at home and it saves one life, then I think it’s worth having this conversation,” they said.

Pender County Schools Communications Coordinator Alex Riley responded to the concerns, first saying that CDC guidelines do not specify that water must be hot or cold, only that hands must be washed vigorously for 20 seconds.

Riley says while teachers cannot be given master keys, all exterior doors are locked and cannot be accessed without a key card, which only certified staff own.

He says the reason children have their temperature taken at school is because bus drivers cannot back up traffic or send a child back to a home without an adult if they did have a temperature.

“That’s why social distancing on the bus is so important. We want one kid per seat, wearing a mask, facing the same direction,” Riley said. “We do value the safety, but we’ve got to think about the safety beyond just the coronavirus. We’ve got to think about getting kids to a safe, physical place because we can’t just leave them on the side of the road if they were to have a fever.”

Riley also says students and staff do have opportunities for “mask breaks,” but 99% of the time they must be worn.

There is a very small percentage of students who have special circumstances and are wearing alternate face coverings like face shields or none at all.

The teacher also expressed that not all questions had answers and that was okay, but schools should not be opened if not all situations had been thought through.

But Riley says it’s an ever-changing situation.

“You answer 10 questions and 15 more pop up almost immediately,” he said. “We’ve tried to be as thorough as possible. Not every situation you can think of until that situation occurs but we feel like we’ve done a good job at looking at all the angles that we can.”

Riley encourages all students, staff and parents to share any concerns they may have with administrators.

Questions and concerns can be directed to covid19@pender.k12.nc.us or you can view the district’s frequently asked questions here.