Teachers, parents rally in suburban Sacramento school district for COVID-19 safety plan
More than 50 teachers and parents Thursday took to the parking lot outside the Folsom Cordova Unified School District headquarters in Rancho Cordova, waving signs, ringing cow bells and calling for more transparency and communication from school officials as they continue to prepare for a return to classrooms.
Teachers held signs that read “Check your child’s classroom” and “Include educators in the discussion.” The group is a newly formed coalition of mostly teachers and some parents who picketed just before the district’s school board meeting was set to take place – one of the first meetings since March where the majority of the board met in-person.
Some schools are set to reopen next week, as the district begins reopening campuses for elementary aged students. Students throughout Rancho Cordova and Folsom who choose to return to in-person instruction will attend classes twice a week in a hybrid model.
But some teachers say their classrooms are not ready and need updated air filters and added safety measures. One elementary school teacher said she is buying her own thermometer because only parents are doing the morning screenings.
Teachers are calling for the district to implement changes agreed upon in the reopening plan including: keeping students and desks six feet apart, requiring and providing masks, installing MERV 13 filters to ensure proper ventilation and using rapid testing and contact tracing on campus.
Folsom-Cordova Education Association President Angelica Miklos said the district has worked hard in collaborating with the teachers union, and as schools are set to reopen soon, teachers want to be sure their classrooms are ready.
District officials said the they have been planning for a safe return for many weeks in collaboration with the teachers union and Sacramento County Public Health.
HVAC units will be cleaned and equipped with MERV 13 filters, personal protective equipment will be distributed to all sites including masks for students and Plexiglass barriers, and all staff members will go through mandatory COVID-19 safety training, according to district officials.
The district spent more than $7.6 million on PPE, air filters, hand washing stations and more, according to board member Dave Reid.
Like many school districts in the county, there is ongoing collaboration with county health officials to bring rapid testing to staff and students.
Sacramento County Public Health will also visit six elementary schools to verify they are ready for in-person instruction.
Mklos said that while the district is bringing independent contractors to install air filters, the teachers union plans to bring their own contractors to check the installations.
“We’ve heard from some teachers they haven’t seen the new filters installed, and some special education teachers have seen masks being reused,” Miklos said.
Special education teachers have returned to teaching in-person. But some teachers, like Michele Matsumura at Prospect Community Day School, is choosing to work from home.
“I love what I do, because it keeps me young in spirit,” she said. “But I don’t know how much longer my doctor’s note will afford me. The district has been very unclear.”
For parents like Kelly Jones or Rancho Cordova, the safety measures schools are taking are simply not enough for her vulnerable eighth grader. Jones is choosing to keep her son in distance learning, because he has medical challenges.
“I just worry about what would happen if things were not kept safe,” Jones said. “Plans are great on paper, but they need to be implemented properly.”
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 9:40 AM.