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Everything coming out talks about kids. Low transmission in kids. Inability for kids to wear masks. Easy cohorting of kids. Ability of kids to tidy up during the day. Staggered entry and lunch times for kids. I teach teenagers though.
Teenagers are big. Adult sized. A classroom designed for 25 students is already tight, add an extra 10 in our crowded urban schools and it is impossible to space out. Teenagers are also, though, far more capable of wearing masks all day.
Teenagers take many different classes. There will be few students in a grade level with identical schedules. Cohorting is not achievable. We cannot stream, offer options, and also cohort.
Teenagers move to multiple rooms throughout a day. If we factor in hand washing and work space sanitation for each new class we will lose out on (no exaggeration) AT LEAST 20 minutes of class time. That is a substantial loss and it doesn’t include 1-way halls and stairs.
Teenagers transmit the virus the same as adults. This means that without putting appropriate safety measures in place (distancing, masks, sanitation) we are putting all members of a high school community at risk. Under the current plan I don’t see any of these measures in HS.
I love the teenagers I get to work with. They are smart and funny and kind and blow me away with what they are capable of. I am worried for them and the environment that we will be entering together in the fall.
I will do everything I can to protect them and to protect myself but @AdrianaLaGrange @jkenney and everyone else making decisions needs to consider that not all kids are kids... some of them are teenagers, almost adults, and need to be treated as such.
So that’s it. I feel like I’m yelling this into a void but I see them, I see my colleagues, we need to be included in this plan in a way that works. We need smaller classes, we need funding. #FundABPublicSchools
