Polk teachers union calls for e-learning as primary back-to-school option

In about a month, Florida schools are going to re-open. But it’s unclear how that is going to happen given COVID-19.

The Polk Education Association, which represents the county’s teachers, said its members want to go back to the classroom, but it’s just too risky.

“I’m really urging our district, and other Central Florida districts, and really the entire state, to unify and say we’re not going to put our people at risk,” said Stephanie Yokum, president of the association.

She is getting support from members such as Lyndsay Gendreau, a fourth-grade teacher, and mother of a 2-year-old son who is immune-compromised.

“I don’t want to get sick,” Gendreau said. “I don’t want my son to get sick. He gets a common cold and he ends up in the hospital for one to two days on oxygen.”

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So the Polk Education Association is pushing for the district to employ e-learning across the board.

Families have already gotten a taste of it. At the end of the last school year, schools were suddenly closed and kids were forced to learn virtually.

They studied at home, learned and stayed in touch with their teachers online.

“I am very sensitive to the fact that distance learning doesn’t necessarily work for everybody,” said Yokum.

She said it is still worth putting the time into working out the bugs, rather than possibly exposing people to COVID-19 in the classroom.

One of the biggest complaints about e-learning came from frustrated parents who didn’t feel qualified to provide as much academic support as their kids needed.

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Yokum is also against going back to the classroom because there is not enough room to social distance, or enough teachers to deal with smaller classes.

Yokum plans to pitch the idea of total e-learning to school board members during a workshop on Tuesday.