Teacher survey recommends delaying school openings
MACON, Ga. -- More than 500 teachers in Bibb and Houston Counties completed a survey about their thoughts on returning to school during COVID-19.
The survey was created by PAGE, the Professional Association of Georgia Educators. The association works with 97,000 school leaders, classroom teachers, bus drivers, and other school staff across the state.
"Educators are doing their best to serve students during the pandemic but these are complicated times and it's important that they have an advocacy group," Margaret Ciccarelli says.
Ciccarelli is an attorney and the Director of Legislative Services for PAGE.
The 30 question survey was conducted from June 26 to July 8. It asked teachers questions about whether they or household members are at a higher risk for COVID-19 and how prepared they are for distance learning.
At the time, no school district in the state had released completed back to school plans.
In Houston County, 386 PAGE members took part in the survey, in Bibb 145 people did.
Of the 531 participants, 87 percent say the district did give them the opportunity to offer input into reopening plans for the upcoming school year.
"They're concerned but they want to come back. The survey data indicates that. But how and when are what the controversies are here," Ciccarelli says.
Based on this survey, PAGE crafted a number of recommendations that they shared with Georgia school districts.
They asked that districts delay in-person school openings until at least mid-August and use a phased approach to return educators and students to the classroom.
RELATED: FIND IT HERE: Middle Georgia school reopening plans for new academic year
Also suggesting virtual only instruction in communities with substantial spread of COVID-19.
The teacher advocacy group recommended that teachers not be assigned virtual and in-person course loads. As well as allowing virtual-only teachers to work remotely to limit their exposure to others.
Houston County Schools are set to begin class August 6. Bibb County Schools decided to wait until September 8.
See the full list of recommendations below.
Here is a look at how Houston and Bibb County educators responded to the survey.
Houston County:
The survey asks If your school and/or district has to shut down due to the COVID-19 virus during the 2020-2021 school year, or begins the school year utilizing remote instruction, do you feel prepared to deliver online instruction? 40 percent of Houston County teachers answered yes while 45 percent said somewhat.
The next question, What would help you prepare for online instruction if it is necessary? ranked providing all students with a device (72 percent) , ensuring home internet access for students (70 percent), and professional learning in developing and delivering engaging online instruction (53 percent), as the top three answers.
Only 12 percent of teachers said they felt fully prepared to provide online instruction.
When asked Are you in a high-risk category (e.g. have diabetes or asthma) for the COVID-19 virus? 28 percent of educators said yes. While 43 percent of educators said a member of their household is in a high-risk category for the virus.
When asked Do you have school-age children who require sustained supervision and/or assistance with remote learning? 38 percent said yes.
"It's important that we understand that educators don't operate in a vacuum, they're parents themselves. They understand the hardship of trying to juggle jobs, and kids, and remote learning," Ciccarelli explains.
RELATED: Houston County Superintendent responds to parent's concerns
Bibb County:
The survey asks If your school and/or district has to shut down due to the COVID-19 virus during the 2020-2021 school year, or begins the school year utilizing remote instruction, do you feel prepared to deliver online instruction? 46 percent of Bibb County teachers answered yes while 41 percent said somewhat.
The next question, What would help you prepare for online instruction if it is necessary? ranked providing all students with a device (62 percent) , ensuring home internet access for students (62 percent), and list of high-quality online resources that align to your content area and grade level (44 percent), as the top three answers.
Only 19 percent of teachers said they felt fully prepared to provide online instruction.
When asked Are you in a high-risk category (e.g. have diabetes or asthma) for the COVID-19 virus? 31 percent of educators said yes. While 44 percent of educators said a member of their household is in a high-risk category for the virus.
When asked Do you have school-age children who require sustained supervision and/or assistance with remote learning? 34 percent said yes.
RELATED: Dr. Curtis Jones discusses reopening Bibb County schools in September
