With students set to return to school, along with faculty and staff, they will face their third pandemic impacted school year. President of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers Larry Carter said members have mixed emotions about returning, “Excitement and also there’s an element of concern. Being that we now we are now are faced with a new variant that has really started to change the game.”
Carter said because a majority of school systems handled COVID mitigation well last year he’s confident they will continue to do so, however with an increase in cases among children due to the Delta variant there’s a heightened level of concern among parents.
“Especially elementary and lower grade, kindergarten students, who are not eligible for the vaccine at this point. Having face coverings or face shields provides some level of, at least security for those parents,” said Carter.
LEAP Test schools released this week show students perform better when they are in a physical classroom versus virtual learning. Carter said it’s imperative that more people be vaccinated in order to keep each other safe and students in the classroom.
“What we’re hopeful is that we can be a part of the education of students, parents, and teachers to just talk about how important that vaccine is,” said Carter.
Carter said a poll among national members indicates more than 90% are vaccinated for COVID and an estimated 80% of faculty and staff are vaccinated in Louisiana.
Comments