Schools in Palm Beach County reopen to students who opt in for on-site instruction in under two weeks, but the teachers union leader says teachers have been given little information.
"Someone's gotta tell us how to fly that plane. They keep saying we're building a plane as we fly it. Well the teachers are the ones in the classrooms who literally have to fly that plane and they aren't even being given instructions on how to do it."
Classroom Teachers Association President Justin Katz says the school district needs to fix the issue of simultaneous teaching, meaning giving instruction to students in the classroom and online at the same time.
He's also concerned about teachers not getting a lunch break because they'll have to supervise students who may be eating lunch in class instead of the lunchroom for social distancing's sake.
During Wednesday's School Board meeting, Superintendent Donald Fennoy responded to claims that the district is unprepared.
"We have numerous layers of protection in place to make our campuses as safe as possible."
Katz is also complaining that the district waited until the last minute to work up a plan to allow teachers who are medically compromised to apply for remote work. That's something Fennoy addressed as well during the meeting.
"I wish I could accommodate the choice of every district employee, but we're in the business of educating children and we must prioritize requests or we will not have enough instructors to reopen our campuses."
As of Thursday, more than 900 school district employees have applied for remote work.
The board approved changes to its guidelines for employees who test positive for COVID-19.
There will be another board meeting on September 16th, before campuses reopen on September 21st.
Photo: Getty Images