In early August, I received a tip that Gov. Brian Kemp was about to designate teachers essential workers, which means they could keep teaching even if exposed to COVID-19, as long as they displayed no symptoms.
Educators would become critical infrastructure employees, thus able to teach if asymptomatic after potential exposure. They would have to follow infection safety protocols, including masks and distancing. Britain deemed teachers, teaching assistants and social workers as essential so schools could stay open for some kids.
I was told local superintendents, fearing teacher shortages, had approached the governor. But Kemp and the state Department of Education were being warned that pressuring educators to report in these circumstances would erode educator and public trust and make it harder to open schools and keep them open.
It seemed the idea was put on hold. Apparently, that has changed as hundreds of teachers and entire classrooms throughout Georgia are being quarantined due to COVID exposures. In some cases, entire schools have had to close because so many staff members are home-bound.
While districts contend they have substitute teachers in the wings, teachers are saying there aren’t nearly enough. (This is yet another example of the growing disparities in what teachers report from the front lines and what district leadership says is happening.)
The National Council of State Legislatures says 22 states have issued essential worker orders with their own lists of who needs to be continuing to work under stay-at-home orders. Georgia is among the states that defers to federal guidance, according to the council.
The federal guidance had listed child care workers as essential, but not teachers. But now, the White House is labeling teachers as critical infrastructure workers. Today, the Associated Press reports:
New guidance from President Donald Trump's administration that declares teachers to be “critical infrastructure workers" could give the green light to exempting teachers from quarantine requirements after being exposed to COVID-19 and instead send them back into the classroom.
A spokesperson for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said his administration is evaluating whether it wants to incorporate the federal guidance into Georgia's legal framework, which could spur more districts to act.
“We have had some superintendents reach out to ask where the administration is on this topic," said Candice Broce, a spokesperson for the Republican Kemp. “We're in the soliciting-input mode."
Earlier this week, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee decreed that local board of educations in that state could determine if teachers and principals would be considered essential workers.
Some Georgia districts already use that language, including Forsyth, which states in its Restart Forsyth document that teachers exposed to COVID-19 but who do not have symptoms and have not tested positive are allowed to return to work under the Essential Worker Guidelines.
The document says:
- School district employees are considered critical infrastructure workers or essential workers. If an essential worker has been exposed but is not ill and remains asymptomatic, he/she can return to work and adhere to the following guidelines: Check temperature twice a day; Self monitor for COVID-19 symptoms; Wear a mask; Social distance as work duties permit.
A few days ago, Florida Ron DeSantis compared educators to Navy Seals on their mission to capture Osama bin Laden, saying at a local district, “Just as the SEALs surmounted obstacles to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, so, too, would the Martin County school system find a way to provide parents with a meaningful choice of in-person instruction or continued distance learning — all in, all the time.”
Your thoughts?
About the Author
