Osceola County teachers concerned about logistics, safety as students head back into classrooms Monday

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Osceola County students and teachers are heading back to school tomorrow – some in person and others digitally. But even with only hours to go before the bell rings, some teachers said they still have major concerns about heading back to class.

“The one word I used to describe it is terrified,” teacher Greg Gahris said.

Gahris, like all teachers in the county, has to be in the buildings for the more than 40% of kids who will be learning face-to-face. Even though he’ll be teaching 100% virtually, he still has concerns about logistics.

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“We tried to do a live stream during pre-planning to seven different classrooms and our internet is somewhat brittle it wasn’t able to handle all the bandwidth,” he said.

Teacher Tamika Lyles said she doesn’t think her classroom is big enough to follow the district’s mandate that desks be 4 to 6 feet apart.

“I have 30 desks in there,” she said, estimating maybe she’ll be able to put them 3 feet apart.

Parent Christina Stewart said she's not sending her kids back to the classroom because of issues like that, and said she doesn't believe anyone else should have to, either.

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“I think schools need to be 100% virtual, (not) face-to-face,” she said. “We’re going to undo all the work we’ve done.”

Another concern teachers voiced is that no plexiglass or barriers will be between students’ desks in classrooms, except in VPK rooms.

The district said that’s because of cost.

A spokesperson for the district said in a statement: “we have not had trouble testing bandwidth for digital learning.”

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