Today, Gov. David Ige and Schools Superintendent Christina Kishimoto showed they are completely unaware of what’s planned at public schools starting Monday. Many campuses are planning for students and teachers to return to face-to-face learning, putting their health and lives in jeopardy.
Nothing would make HSTA happier than if their statements were a reality, but teachers have been telling us the exact opposite. If the governor and superintendent support only having students and their parents pick up distance learning materials, they should say that. Otherwise, their claims are disingenuous and worse, dangerous.
In a news conference, Ige claimed students will return to campus “by appointment only” while in a statement, Kishimoto made the claim that students will return to schools in a “coordinated manner” to “receive training on distance learning platforms.” Kishimoto also alleged “in many cases, schools have designated one hour a day” for those purposes.
But teachers have been flooding us with calls, emails, and comments to say those claims just aren’t true. See this Facebook post for a glimpse of what they’re talking about.
- At Waipahu High, an educator says more than 2,800 students will be coming on campus in four groups, and “each group of roughly 700 students will come in on one of the four days to see all their teachers and classes.” There are no “appointments" and “we will spend at least 40 minutes in each of the seven periods,” the teacher notes. Here’s a link to Waipahu’s school plan.
- An educator from Oahu’s Moanalua High reports “500 students will show up each day next week, Monday through Thursday, to attend all seven periods and homeroom. No plans have been shared about how before school, recess, etc will be monitored. There are no appointments. Everyone in the group for that day just shows up at the start of the school day.” Here’s a link to Moanalua’s school plan, which includes picture-taking for ninth-graders and new students.
- A teacher at Nimitz Elementary on Oahu reports students are arriving on campus in small groups for three hours at a time starting Monday.
- An educator from Maui’s Kihei Elementary said while the superintendent claimed that all schools had received their PPE, their school had not received anything that was ordered. “Now she says all schools have a plan. As of today, our school does not yet have a set plan to give students their computers or materials,” the teacher writes.
- At Waikoloa Middle on Hawaii Island, a teacher reports “A or B group will be on campus on Monday or Tuesday. Each group will rotate between campus and attend school from 8 a.m. until 2:15 p.m.”
- At Maui’s Wailuku Elementary, a teacher said she will be having “13 kids in her class Monday and Tuesday including recess and lunch, and 12 Wednesday and Friday all day if they show up. I'm not sure when or how lunch and recess will happen, or where families take kids on Monday to enter campus… We've been asking for these things written, but they're still working on it. We've been trying to be understanding and know they're trying to figure it out.”
- Another teacher told us Jefferson Elementary on Oahu was planning a face-to-face return, but thanks to the HSTA news conference today, the school’s principal is revising the plan to grab and go.
- An educator from Waiakeawaena Elementary on Hawaii Island reports students will spend one full day at school from 7:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. next week.
The superintendent and the governor are completely ignoring the dire warnings from our hard-working educators and medical experts who say the pandemic poses an imminent threat on our community and schools, especially with 355 new cases of COVID-19 today.
It is impossible to ignore the realities of what is actually happening in our schools. If the governor and the superintendent continue their reckless plans to bring students and teachers on campus, when a student, teacher, staff, and/or beloved family member gets sick or dies, that tragedy will be on their hands.
Join the social media conversation
Let’s continue to fact check the state! If you haven’t already done so, click on your favorite social media platform below and add your comment to our post. Be sure to identify your school and briefly explain your school’s plan for next week. How many students will be face-to-face with you and for how long? Bonus points if you link to your school plan. Mahalo for all your hard work, dedication, and advocacy.
Teachers, comment below and let’s fact check the state! Today, Gov. David Ige claimed that starting Monday, “Students…
Posted by Hawaii State Teachers Association on Thursday, August 13, 2020