UPDATED: Survey says many employees in education group don't want to return to school as planned

Just 20% of parish school district employees who are St. Mary Parish Association of Educators members and completed a survey by the group last week said they felt prepared to return to school amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and only 10% desired to return to school in August.
Those were the main points of feedback in responses from 152 members before Thursday’s special school system meeting in Centerville, according to Jim Croad of the Louisiana Association of Educators. Croad provided The Daily Review with the survey data.
He said the survey was sent to more than 300 members of the organization. In all, St. Mary Parish schools employ about 1,100, according to Superintendent Teresa Bagwell.
The survey results came from employees in nearly all job positions, including administrators, teachers, classroom aides, custodians, cafeteria staff and secretaries, Croad said. Feedback was received from those who worked with each grade level, and respondents ranged from the 20-30-year-old age group to the over-61-year-old group.
While Croad said there was some duplication in data for the answer for how faculty and staff would like to return to school as respondents inadvertently were allowed to choose more than one answer to the question, he said the results still show that the majority of respondents don’t feel comfortable returning to work in August.
Of the respondents, 51% said they would rather use virtual education this semester, while 47% said they would like to begin classes in September using the district’s plan. Just 10% said they wanted to return to school in August using the district’s plan.
During Thursday’s special meeting, individual comments were voiced by three citizens, two of whom are employed by the St. Mary Parish School System.
Patty Meehan, a speech language pathologist at Raintree Elementary in Baldwin, and Thai Browder, an itinerant teacher who spends the majority of her time at Franklin Junior High, asked the board to delay opening school.
Meehan cited portions of the state’s Teachers Bill of Rights as well as the Louisiana Department of Education’s “Strong Start” document in her arguments against reopening school as planned in August.
“I know y’all worked really hard (on the reopening plan), but in all honesty, it’s unrealistic and it’s unachievable,” she told the board. “There is no way we’re going to be able to keep these kids six feet apart, or five feet or four feet.”
The same goes with staff, she said.
“How are we supposed to keep these kids safe, and how are we supposed to keep ourselves safe and not share whatever we might have and send those kids home to infect their homes?” Meehan asked.
Meehan also said with all of the disinfecting and handwashing that will be occurring throughout the day, it will be a challenge to get a lot of teaching done.
She asked the board to delay opening school until infection rates drop.
In her remarks against reopening at the projected date, Browder said she thought virtual learning was a good option for students.
“I believe they’ll still benefit from virtual learning,” she said. “I believe they’re learning more just on their computers.”
Browder said being in the classroom right now in a situation in conditions that are abnormal could be “dramatic to that child, to that school, to the district.”
School Board member Pearl Rack also said she believes more time was needed to hear what teachers and parents had to say about the reopening.
Bagwell said that information has been gathered through surveys to gauge feedback of parents about the plan, while the school principals have begun addressing individual parents’ needs through phone calls and has a list of frequently asked questions available, too.
The board failed to pass a motion to delay opening schools until after Labor Day, and later, agreed to a calendar adjustment to open schools on Aug. 10 instead of Aug. 7 to allow an extra day of professional development for teachers. A second professional development day will be held Aug. 14.
Bagwell responded to the public comments at the meeting, which also included those of parent and St. Mary Parish Councilman Craig Mathews, who also asked the board to delay opening at least 30 days in order to get input from teachers and parents, among others.
Bagwell said the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, which set the standards for reopening schools and serves as a guide for school systems, utilized the expertise of numerous medical professionals, including the state Office of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and various hospitals. She said these entities all agreed upon the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s policy.
Bagwell said the school system would meet these safety regulations and health and wellness guidelines that BESE put out to keep students safe while also enabling them to learn.