JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Virtual learning became the go-to for districts last school year and at least one First Coast teacher is making a personal plea to the governor to keep it that way when school is back in session.
“People are scared. There are people who want to open safely,” Mark Thompson said.
He’s a Duval County Public School teacher and he’s apprehensive about starting the next school year inside his classroom in front of students.
He wrote a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis outlining his concerns, including the health of his wife. He writes, "She is ill, and the chances of her death because of the virus are much higher."
“We were discussing me having to wear full PPE (personal protection equipment) almost like a doctor or nurse would and about her staying with someone like her mom,” Thompson explained.
Thompson doesn’t want that and thinks even a delay to the school year may be better, hoping COVID-19 cases level out or decrease over the next two months.
He acknowledges in-person instruction is best for children, but he also doesn’t want to see a rush to return to the classroom. He also wrote, “…opening schools when the state is in the shape it is will directly cause the deaths of an untold number of people."
“Filling educational gaps is what teachers do and it seems like an easier price to pay to try to fill those gaps after the pandemic has passed instead of risking the lives of people,” he told First Coast News.
Here is Thompson’s full letter to the governor:
"Governor DeSantis, I am a middle school English teacher who teaches in Jacksonville as an employee of Duval County Public Schools.
I don't know exactly what my hopes are in sending this letter other than you or one of your assistants reading it and it giving you the push you need to change the direction we are heading.
When the Covid-19 pandemic started in the spring, I felt so grateful that I had a job that I was able to keep and perform safely. DCPS transitioned safely to virtual learning and I taught 7th and 8th grade English for 2 full months. I read plays with my students, we had debates, we read literature... Virtual teaching wasn't the same as regular teaching, but I know for a fact that my students were still learning. Millions of people were filing for unemployment and thousands of people were dying from the virus, and I was reading plays with my eighth graders. I was truly privileged to be in that position as I worried about the millions of other people who were not as lucky as me.
It has recently been announced that Florida schools must be available for in-person learning five days a week. I am sending you this letter to voice a concern that I, and many other teachers, parents, students, and fellow Floridians share.
Please do not do this. I can share my circumstances as an example of the concerns that ought to be had, but more than anything I seek only to remind you of what you already know - this will kill children. It will kill teachers. It will kill family members. These are deaths that can be avoided.
Personally, I have a wife who is chronically ill and immunocompromised. The science and data show that if I were to contract the virus, that I have a good chance at making a healthy recovery. The science and data also show that I have a small chance of dying, even though I would be an otherwise healthy person. But I worry more for my wife. If I get it, she gets it. She is ill, and the chances of her death because of the virus are much higher. Most importantly, my situation is not unique. In fact, it seems reasonable to think that every person has someone they are connected to that is vulnerable.
As you are well aware, cases rise each day in Florida. Hospitals in parts of the state are reaching capacity. Children are already dying. You know the truth – re-opening schools will lead to more deaths.
I send this letter in hope that it may reach you and sway you towards the position of saving as many lives as possible. I understand first-hand the challenges of teaching remotely. I understand that students and their academic skills will fall. Math scores will not be as high, Lexile levels will drop, standardized test scores will go down… This is all true. But I’d rather my students reading level drop than have one of their classmates die. I’d rather their math scores fall than have one of their grandparents pass away. I’d rather their FSA score drop to a 2 than read a mass email about the death of one of my coworkers.
As I write this, I realize my request is two-fold, and I will be as clear as I can be here:
1. Do what saves the most lives. Delaying the start of school or allowing school districts to teach virtually will save lives. You know that opening schools when the state is in the shape it is will directly cause the deaths of an untold number of people. Please, I beg you, avoid that.
2. Have faith in the educators in this state to fill the gaps caused by a shortened or virtual school year. Teaching and learning from home will lead to shortcomings, and no reasonable educator will deny this. But shortcomings and gaps in education can be made up. We do it all the time. But we can’t increase the reading level of an 8th grader if they are dead. We can’t increase the math skills of a 5th grader if the remedial math teacher is dead. We can’t expect an 11th grader whose mother just died of the virus to focus solely on her studies when she now has to work a job to help support her family. If we wait, however, and do what we can to make this virus pass as safely as possible, then we will be able to combat all the educational problems caused by it on the other side.
Please do what will save the most lives and please have faith in the educators in your state to address the educational shortcomings that will be caused by a safe and restrained approach to the opening of schools. I, as a teacher, but more importantly as someone concerned for the lives of my students, my wife and family, and all others who will be impacted by this virus, beg you. You can still save people. We can still educate kids when this is all over. Better to have as many kids and teachers as possible around to make that happen, don’t you agree?
Sincerely, A concerned Florida teacher"
