By Alfred Acenas
EBC Hawaii Bureau
HONOLULU (Eagle News) – Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA) President Corey Rosenlee said on Thursday, July 2, that the Hawaii State Department of Education’s (HIDOE) policy allowing students’ desks to be as close as three feet (less than one meter) to each other in classrooms when school resumes in August is “ludicrous and dangerous and puts our keiki [children], their families, and our teachers at risk.”
Rosenlee was referring to a recent news interview with HIDOE Superintendent Christina Kishimoto who stated that schools “could modify down to three feet of spacing as long as students are facing forward.”
According to HIDOE’s “Return to Learn: School Reopening Plan,” a distance of six feet (two meters) between students and staff members should be maintained whenever possible.
Rosenlee said the new policy will put students and staff in danger and “only ensure Hawaii will have to close our schools again, and go back to a 100-percent virtual model.”
Logan Okita, HSTA Secretary-Teacher and a first-grade teacher, said that she will set up her classroom to have 6 feet of space between each student.
“As first graders, they have difficulty sitting for long periods of time. Since they will likely not sit facing forward for a long time, three feet is not enough space in order to keep them safe,” Okita said. “I can’t think of any age group that would sit facing forward for an entire period without having an urge to lean over and tap a peer, or turning in their seat to say speak to someone.”
She added, “For the safety of my students, their families and my own family, I implore the DOE to be firm and consistent in their guidance that we will practice physical distancing of six feet whenever possible, even in the classroom.”
Rosenlee referenced the University of Hawaii’s reopening plans, which specifically requires the 6 feet of social distancing in classrooms and facilities.
“Why is six feet distancing required for a college freshman, but 3 feet is okay for a high school senior? Why is 6 feet required at Costco and at restaurants, but for public school teachers and students, it is only 3 feet? This is not okay,” Rosenlee stated. “The same rules that apply to the public should be followed in our schools.”
A HSTA research shows that 30% to 40% of educators in the Aloha State are at high risk for the coronavirus, based on age and other health factors.
In addition, HSTA has emphasized the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendation that schools “space seating/desks at least 6 feet apart when feasible” to reduce risk, and that students who are “not spaced apart” are at a highest risk of contracting COVID-19.
HSTA is currently asking every parent or guardian, grandparent, student, and teacher to email the state’s Board of Education (BOE) before the board’s next general meeting on Thursday, July 9, to demand that the board mandate that classrooms be configured with six feet between student desks.
“The teachers of HSTA fully understand the benefit of schooling. That is why we became teachers,” Rosenlee said. “Teachers are not sacrificial lambs in the desire to open our schools.”
(Eagle News Service)