Abilene, Wylie had high return-to-work rates despite coronavirus concerns

Both Abilene and Wylie school district reported this week their teaching staffs have been reduced slightly as they prepare for a return to in-person learning.

Wylie ISD Superintendent Joey Light said about 98 percent of the district's faculty is set to return this school year.

Abilene ISD Superintendent David Young said five teachers submitted their resignations after filling out a survey last month gauging their interest in returning to school.

He added about 13 employees total tendered their resignations before starting school.

"Some of those I happen to know were ... kind of on the fence anyway," Young said during a call with reporters Wednesday. "And the way this has shaken out just (led to the decision). I certainly understand and I don't want to discount anybody's need to make the very best decision that they feel like for themselves and their family. We hate to lose people anytime."

Abilene ISD this past week released the first public documents concerning a return-to-school plan, which calls for both in-person and at-home learning to begin Aug. 24.

More:Abilene ISD trustees move start of school to Aug. 24; return guidance released

The documents, as they stand, require all students and all staff to wear masks at all times. Cleaning and sterilization processes are also laid out and social distancing standards were established, as well.

These guidelines drew some attention from teacher groups in the district, who agreed the process is a good start and will be changed as the theoretical becomes reality.

Teacher leaders speak

Roger Hall, president of Education Abilene, the local affiliate of the Texas State Teachers Association, said those guidelines continue to be a concern for teachers, not just in Abilene but across Texas and the country.

Teachers want to teach, though, he said. They just have to do so in a healthy environment.

"The health and safety of students and teachers in the classroom is a priority in returning to our new normal," Hall, a Cooper High teacher, said in a statement. "Abilene ISD's 'Guidelines to Return to Campus' is a good start in explaining the process of how we do this and addresses many concerns teachers and staff currently have.

"We know that these guidelines will likely be improved or added upon in the days ahead. We understand that the upcoming year will be very challenging and most likely unprecedented."

As with Education Abilene, leadership for AISD's other two groups have met with Young regarding return procedures well before districts even learned they could resume face-to-face instruction.

Tonja Gray, local president of the Association of Texas Professional Educators, said the three teacher groups, which also includes the Texas Classroom Teachers Association, met with district leadership in June to discuss restarting school.

Gray said she's paying attention to state plans as part of her role as the most immediate past president of the state ATPE organization, and has helped facilitate online webinars with members and nonmembers as teachers look to have their virus and non-virus concerns heard and understood.

She said district leadership has a "daunting" task safely opening schools to students and personnel.

"They have not taken anything lightly," Gray said. "I also know that many plans have been tweaked or completely scrapped as events are fluid and continue to change. I have every confidence that Dr. Young, the members of the Abilene ISD school board and other district leaders have made the best decisions they could with the minimal guidance provided by the state and federal governments."

What about the subs?

While educators worry about their own safety, Young and district leadership are concerned with both employee risk and the risk of those who may be brought in as substitutes.

Young said no decisions have been made yet on how to manage the substitute pool this school year, but one option could be localizing specific substitute teachers to a specific campus.

Essentially, the argument is that a substitute teacher, in a previous year, would go to Johnston Elementary on Monday, Madison Middle on Tuesday, help at Bowie on Thursday, fill in at Abilene High on Thursday and return to Johnston Elementary on Friday.

That's a system designed to maximize efficiency in a substitute pool. But in a pandemic with so many potential health risks, it may not be the best practice, Young said.

"We're better going into the school year than we've ever been," Young said, in terms of numbers of substitutes. "But we are also talking about are there things we need to do with our sub practices to minimize risk.

"How do we take the resource that is our sub group and maximize our efficiency but at the same time maximize the health and safety ... not only for our students (and teachers) but for our subs as well. You have to figure out an individual protocol for every employee group."

From his end, Wylie ISD's Light said substitute teachers is one part of his district's return plan he's still working on.

More:Abilene Wylie ISD officials say Bulldogs are returning to learning under new plan

Light said he's spoken with Dyess officials and put the call out for anyone who's interested in serving as a substitute teacher this school year to contact his office.

Bus drivers, too, he said.

"We're addressing those issue right now," he said. "I don't have any answers yet but we're working on them."

In the age of COVID-19, the Abilene Reporter-News will continue providing public health content free to all. But while that information is vital, that's only one portion of the overall picture. Please consider, if you're able, purchasing a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com to help support the hard work provided by Timothy Chipp and the rest of the staff needed to tell Abilene's entire story, like this one. Without you and your support, this operation is impossible.