Rochester Teacher Union Pushes for Temporary Remote Learning

As children head back to school this week after a week-long winter break, many are nervous as the surge in COVID cases is making this challenging. According to the Rochester City School District, families and students were instructed to bring technology home in case of a shift to remote learning, and now, the head of the teachers union has proposed a temporary shift to virtual learning due to COVID.

However, according to RCSD superintendent Lesli Myers-Small, the current goal of the district is to keep schools open safely. Not only is COVID a concern for returning to the classroom, but the staffing shortage along with the surge is a concern. RCSD teacher Maureen Doohan stated: “We already have classrooms going uncovered. We’re splitting classrooms, and now we have the superintendent coming out and saying that they are going to have people from the central office coming into the buildings to help substitute and cover those classes. We’ve been in a crisis since September. Where have they been?… It’s probably going to get worse. We’re not seeing the COVID numbers going down. I don’t know what the long-term plan is and maybe that’s part of the problem, too.”

Source: 13 WHAM