:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/5U342U2GDRDXJD22OWVXH6CBSE.jpg)
Even before the arrival of omicron, those in public schools guessed the 2021-22 school year would be difficult.
School officials had long since decided classes would be in-person, but the ever-changing environment with COVID-19 has made this more problematic for staff and students.
Public school educators have said districts already had issues to address — student achievement gaps, staffing, teachers’ pay, among others — before March 2020. But over the past 21 months, some of those challenges have been magnified.
Since the onset of COVID-19, Alisha Clayton’s stress level has become more than she can handle some days. Her workload as a teacher in Hampton seemed busier than usual when she had to work remotely, and she said it “tripled” since she returned in-person this school year.
She recently had to isolate for a week because she contracted the virus, which forced her to face some of the feelings she’d been avoiding because of her busy schedule.
She became a special education teacher to help students who often “fall through the cracks.” But lately, she said, being an educator comes at a heavy price.
___
The breaking point
On top of being a mother of four, some days were harder than others when Clayton had to teach class while helping her youngest son, who was in pre-K at the time. However, she preferred that to being in-person.
She pressed her own children to wear a mask and always sanitize their hands, but it’s hard to keep a safe distance from her students as a special education teacher, Clayton said.
“(There’s) five of us in this house, so five people have the opportunity to bring COVID home. That was a scary thing to me,” she said.
Clayton felt anxious, as many teachers did, when she had to return in-person. Although Hampton students first returned to schools in March, the district allowed Clayton to teach remotely for the remainder of the school year because her eldest son has diabetes and is considered a high risk for COVID. But in September, she had to go back.
Her school division asked teachers to extend “grace” as they are all navigating unfamiliar territory, she said. But she didn’t feel valued in return.
She said she spends her most of her planning blocks with students in trouble for behavioral reasons because the in-school suspension room may be full or the teacher is out sick. And the administrative work she had to complete for individualized education programs increased because she had to enter each report manually by November.
Although winter break was supposed to be the breather she needed, it was Clayton’s breaking point.
When her 12-year-old came home two days before Christmas from visiting family out of state, he told his mother he had a headache. Clayton also had an itchy throat but she didn’t think she had been exposed.
The next day her son had a fever, and on Christmas he couldn’t get out of bed. He tested positive for COVID-19 using an at-home test, and the next day Clayton’s symptoms worsened.
After a “chaotic” day of trying to hunt down places that would test her children — denied by two urgent cares in Virginia Beach where she lives — three of her children were able to get tested. Her 13-year-old son he wasn’t showing any symptoms.
Only Clayton and her 12-year-old son tested positive. She sent her other children to their father’s house while Clayton and her son isolated for a week. On Jan. 2, when her son tested negative, he joined his siblings and by Wednesday, Clayton also tested negative.
“I guess I have been ignoring a lot of stuff ... I’ll stay busy and I’ll create distractions for myself not to deal (with issues),” Clayton said. “I had to realize, maybe, this job isn’t the healthiest thing for (me) to be doing.”
Before the pandemic, she said students often came to school sick. She worried the same thing would happen after the surge in cases during winter break. She also knew some of her colleagues who had been sick, but said they would still go into work because they didn’t have any leave days to spare or they couldn’t find a COVID-19 test.
Because Clayton still had symptoms last Sunday, her school nurse told her she needed to stay home until she submitted a negative test and didn’t have any symptoms.
She still worked remotely all week because her one of teacher’s assistants became sick Sunday and another is new and Clayton wanted to be there if she needed help. Less than half of Clayton’s students attended her first two blocks. By time her third block came, Clayton’s assistant told her to sign off and get some rest — that she would handle the rest of the day.
After the snowball of challenges she’s had to overcome, with so little in return, she said she doesn’t know how much more she has to give.
Like many teachers, she loves her job and she wants what’s best for her students. But at what cost?
___
An uphill battle
“It just kind of became a perfect storm with COVID — where people realize the extra added stress that everybody is experiencing because of COVID. Then, you add that on top of an already stressful job,” Virginia Beach Education Association President Kathleen Slinde said. “It just is becoming more and more difficult.”
School administrators and elected officials have acknowledged the pressures teachers face, and many districts have worked to implement incentives to show appreciation for their faculty and staff.
Since the start of this school year, Hampton City Schools teachers who instruct an additional class or fill in during their planning blocks receive extra compensation, as do teaching assistants if they work extra hours.
A majority of Hampton Roads school divisions gave out stipends or one-time bonuses for faculty and staff, and others provided additional time for planning periods, early release and wellness days, among others. On a statewide level, Gov. Ralph Northam recently proposed a 10% salary increase for Virginia teachers over the next two years.
Still, the pandemic continues to detour the public school system’s progress.
Five of Hampton Roads’ districts have seen an increase in teacher absences during the first week after winter break, according the divisions’ spokesperson. A Chesapeake Public Schools spokesperson told The Virginian-Pilot the rise in the district’s absentee teachers could be due to a number of reasons, including the coronavirus’ impact.
On Thursday, Chesapeake Superintendent Jared Cotton notified parents that individual schools could switch to virtual learning because of the increase in cases and families should prepare. As of Friday, six schools will switch to virtual learning for the week of Jan. 10.
York County school officials are also mulling plans to switch online due to staff and student attendance.
“While the division believes students benefit most from in-person learning and belong in schools, these attendance rates are not sustainable,” the district said in a daily newsletter Thursday.
Slinde said many teachers have resigned or retired early after the pandemic hit. To make matters worse, there aren’t enough qualified candidates to fill the vacancies.
Staffing shortages existed before COVID-19, and educators predicted that trend would continue with low enrollment in teacher preparation programs and lower pay compared with other professions, Slinde said. The average early career teacher in Virginia with a bachelor’s degree will make 40% less than someone in a different profession with the same educational standard. For many, it’s the reason why teachers have second and third jobs.
Today's Top Stories
Before the pandemic, Norfolk Public School’s substitute pool stood at 85%. It’s down to less than 40% recently, according to Helen Pryor, president of the Education Association of Norfolk. The demands educators face today can leave a negative impression on prospective teachers, which she said is leading them to wait until working conditions improve.
“We know that this really is no one’s fault. And we know everyone is trying their very best,” Pryor said. “But there is no district that’s doing it so much better than everyone else.”
It’s going to take time to address issues that persist before and after the pandemic, Pryor said,. But for the teachers and administrators who stayed, they’re keeping in mind that the work they do every day is for the students.
Sierra Jenkins, 229-462-8896, sierra.jenkins@virginiamedia.com