ORLANDO, Fla. — More than 200,000 students in Orange County Public Schools will start the new school year off Monday, the first nine days of instruction held virtually for all students.
Teachers are expected to find out this Friday if they’ll be teaching virtually through LaunchEd or in-person at schools. But one Southwest Middle School teacher is worried about the school year starting up, concerned that coming back in-person could kill him.
What You Need To Know
- As school return draws near, many Orange County teachers are expressing concern
- Southwest Middle teacher Ladara Royal concerned due to his asthma
- Get more back-to-school coverage in Central Florida
“Lives are at stake," said Ladara Royal. “Having to choose between what you’re called to do and your very well-being, your very life is a nerve-wracking thought and reality that we have to answer day to day,”
Royal is worried due to having asthma and an auto-immune deficiency. He said this is the first year that teaching has put his life at risk.
“This could very well end my life if something goes wrong or protocols aren’t adhered to,”
A state mandate says schools must open for in-person instruction in late August.
OCPS says teachers will find out on Friday if they’ll be going back in-person or virtually through LaunchEd, some will do a combination of both.
Royal worries about what that will mean for himself and thousands of other teachers.
“We don’t sign up, that’s not in our contract that what you do could put your life at risk, right?" he said. "So of course we are nervous that we could contract a disease that there’s no treatment, no vaccine for."
A study put out by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds one in four teachers in the U.S. is at risk for contracting a severe form of coronavirus.
The average age of teachers in the nation is 42 and close to one-fifth of instructors are 55 or older.
Governor Ron DeSantis has stressed in recent weeks that reopening schools is safe because young children are less likely to contract COVID-19 as well as spread it.
Royal knows that’s not always the case.
“I have members in my own family who have contracted COVID-19 from their grandchildren, their great-grandchildren so obviously, kids or children are carriers of the virus,” he said.
He’s hopeful the state or lawmakers will step in to allow districts to spend more of the year at home through virtual learning… knowing that taking this step now could save lives.
“So if you’re not willing to put your own life at risk, don’t demand that I do,”
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