The San Mateo-Foster City School District Board has voted to move ahead with some in-person learning for middle school students this spring, but teachers are not sure they’re ready to go back amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Julie MacArthur, president of the San Mateo Elementary Teachers Association, said that, of course, they want to be back as soon as possible.
“I don’t know a teacher who doesn’t want to go back, who doesn’t want to be back in-person with kids, but we have teachers who are vulnerable, who go home to vulnerable people,” she told KCBS Radio. “You can’t put that aside.”
MacArthur said they were not happy with the board of trustees vote late last week to return middle schoolers to in-person classes - at least on a hybrid basis - after spring break, which is in March.
“We need to bring the kids back this year,” said Board President Kenneth Chin.
Chin noted that while there are more COVID-19 cases now, they also know more than they did when the plan was last discussed in July.
But MacArthur said it hasn’t been enough.
“We still have the same concerns around ventilation, class size and number of overall contact,” she added. “Nothing has shifted in order to mitigate those concerns.”
The district and union are in ongoing meetings to try to come to an agreement on what safety measures need to be in place before educators will agree to teach in-person again.
