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Back to class? Not so fast, say local educators

"I don't see that there's a way to fix this," was the candid response from a local educator regarding heading back into the classroom amid the pandemic.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — It's Memorial Day and teachers are logged off from school for the holiday, but their minds are still set on what's to come for the upcoming school year when or if they return to the classroom. 

A few local teachers from Duval, Clay and St John's counties opened up about their thoughts following President Donald Trump’s call to reopen schools with a tweet that read in part “Schools in our country should be opened ASAP.”

The educators also weighed in on new guidelines for schools released from the Centers for Disease Control.

"I think it's being really ambitious and really dangerous," Jonathan Barlow, DCPS educator said. "I think as both a teacher and a parent, I don't see it as something I'm comfortable with yet. And from a teacher's standpoint, I don't see walking around in a building if we're supposed to be social distancing even feasible."

"I think it's a great goal and I would love to see our schools open up and I've seen so many different plans of how to open schools up," Rachel Farris, St Johns County teacher said. "I just don't know. It's so up in the air right now."

"The first thing I thought when I saw those CDC guidelines was 'wow,' very much wishful thinking," said Jordan Ruckersfeldt, who teaches third-graders in Clay County. "I don't think they thought about being in a physical classroom when they put those guidelines out. I think their only train of thought was how would we keep everybody the most safe."

"I never thought we would ever be in this situation," Sharyse Simonson-Tutler, an elementary school teacher in Clay County, said. "When I left my classroom on March 13, this was the furthest thing from my mind and to hear that we are at the end of May and we're discussing what happens in August if we go back to school. There's so much uncertainty, I just don't know how this will be rectified. How are we going to fix it, how are we going to cope?"

All of the teachers applauded their districts for the decisions they've made thus far and are hopeful they'll continue to make good decisions moving forward.

For a look at the CDC guidelines for schools click here.

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