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Kristi Morrow of Eddington is a teacher for the Bangor School Department and an Air Force spouse. She has two young children, one who is immune compromised.
I feel so fortunate to work for a school department where student safety is valued. I feel honored to spend my time with students and their families who inevitably feel like my own family throughout our time together. I will always stand up for what I believe is right for students, whether or not that matches the popular opinion.
Unfortunately, many school boards appear not to value student safety and I’m advocating for change. I feel that silence at times means complacency and this is not the time to be complacent.
My heart breaks for the educators, administrators and superintendent who are advocating for masks until COVID-19 numbers come down, yet their school board refused to listen. Since speaking up for them and for my own children, I have been told that:
— I’m a “child abuser” for wanting my students to wear masks to keep them safe.
— I’m “indoctrinating” my students to the government’s agenda.
— I chose my profession for the “jammies and summers off on my butt.”
— I have been laughed at, ridiculed and called a “sheep” by people who I thought I knew but clearly I don’t.
People, this has absolutely nothing to do with politics and everything to do with getting — and keeping — our kids in school where they truly need to be in order to learn. Remote learning is not what is best for students. It was a means to an end, but it is not what is most effective for the majority of students.
If schools follow masking protocols, only those who test positive or have symptoms need to isolate. If schools don’t use masking protocols, every person in that classroom must quarantine.
This is an impossible situation for children who will not have adults at home, for the many parents who don’t have access to child care, for the school systems that are understaffed and facing yet another substitute teacher shortage, and for the teachers who have their own families at home and not nearly enough sick time for the amount of quarantines we may be facing.
These are the same teachers who rose to the challenge when schools first closed, who kept kids fed, clothed and engaged in learning as best they could. These teachers refuse to give up, so please don’t give up on them.
No one likes masks, but most of us know and understand that masks make it possible to remain in school. Kids ages 11 and younger aren’t eligible for vaccines yet and COVID-19 cases are rising. Why would we take away one of the only defenses we have for our children? Anyone who knows me knows how much I love my students and I love my job. I can’t imagine doing anything else.