Special education educators are at a high risk as the HIDOE has declared that if distance learning does not prove effective for special ed students, full time face-to-face instruction and in many cases, full contact will be required. Distance learning will also not apply to all special education teachers and students who will have to be in face-to-face instruction full-time, as will staff in the learning labs at schools who monitor students who do not have wifi access at home. However, all teachers and staff will continue to report to their school sites to deliver distance-learning instruction. Phase two of the reopening plan outlines fully distance learning for four weeks’ time, from August 24 through September 11. Other school sites have opted for a full virtual orientation, but many schools will still have students receive face-to-face instruction from teachers throughout the week. Some have opted for a “grab and go” orientation for week one where parents drive through the school site to pick up materials for their child. My son will not be attending at all no way! Even more Now since the news has been released that his school has been tied to a case of covid!!!”įaced with this growing opposition, many school site administrators have made changes to their plans for the first days of school. One parent argues, “Our middle school is having the kids come in next week, 2 hours and 45 min in one classroom for ‘training.’ We’re not participating.” Another declared, “I wrote my son’s principal.
Many parents have said they will not have their child participate in the first week of school. The Facebook group Hawai’i for a Safe Return to Schools has grown to over 7,500 members. The reopening policy has created an uproar among teachers and parents who are facing a fight for their lives and have taken to social media to organize opposition. The state has the current highest rate of transmission and cases are on the rise. However, an in person start to the school year for the 180,000 students and 13,000 teachers in Hawaii Public Schools will have a disastrous impact on the spread of the virus. Students will meet with all teachers and receive instructions and materials for distance learning. Phase one of the reopening plan, which starts this Monday and lasts for one week, calls for in-person instruction at all 238 school sites throughout the state despite the acceleration of cases. The dangerous school reopening policy is part of the HIDOE’s new three-phase plan spearheaded by Superintendent Dr. Now, amid a rise in cases throughout the state and in schools that have already reopened to in-person instruction, many parents and teachers are demanding a halt to in-person instruction for all Hawaii public schools. An initial wave of opposition prompted the HIDOE to delay the start date by two weeks from August 4 to August 17. Parent and teacher opposition has been ongoing for weeks leading up to the reopening of Hawaii public schools. Many private schools such as Kamehameha Schools throughout the state have already reopened the schools to in-person instruction.
It is unclear how many students and staff will be under quarantine as a result. In one instance, this past Wednesday, a high school student tested positive at a Kamehameha Schools, Hawaii Island Campus, setting off an immediate lockdown of the entire campus, which includes students in pre-school, elementary and high school. School openings in recent weeks have been disastrous, with at least nine cases of COVID-19 at both private and public schools throughout the state this month alone. Approximately 86 newly reported cases are part of a growing cluster at the Oahu Community Correctional Center, and there is also a growing cluster at a homeless shelter in Iwilei, with 20 cases under investigation. The majority of recent cases have been traced to prisons and shelters on the island of Oahu. Of added concern, Hawaii currently has the highest rate of transmission in the US, at 1.29, according to The COVID Tracking Project. Yesterday saw a new record high of 355 cases, and already in the month of August, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of 14 Hawaiians. Nearly a month ago, the state of Hawaii was touting the low number of cases as a justification for full reopening of schools, but COVID-19 cases are now climbing at an alarming rate with 4,312 cases and 40 deaths. However parents and teachers argue it is not enough. The new plan includes full distance learning for four weeks after an initial in-person orientation for all students at their school sites, which will span the first week of school starting Monday, August 17. Amid a recent surge in COVID-19 cases and an explosion of opposition from teachers and parents for plans to begin in person instruction in Hawaii Public Schools, the Hawaii Department of Education (HIDOE) has altered their plan for reopening.
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