Delaware’s statewide teachers union supports Gov. John Carney’s recommended pause of in-person learning during the holidays.
Carney is calling for schools to switch to remote learning from December 14 through January 11th to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Delaware State Education Association president Stephanie Ingram praises the recommendation as a chance for educators to regroup.
“I think there are a lot of districts that are going remote because they just [sic]need a reset, need to take a look at staffing capabilities, the workload for educators,” said Ingram. “There’s a lot of things involved that I just think a pause would help folks get a handle on.”
Ingram adds she also supports districts that may decide to continue in-person learning, but a number have already moved to pause in-person learning starting Monday.
Ingram also says she's grateful for the advanced notice from the governor’s office.
“Waking up and wondering from day to day what school’s going to look like is no good for anybody,” she said. “But I would hope that it would give time for educators to work with one another and get to develop lessons and instruction that’s good for our students.”
State health officials have consistently said that minimal spread of the virus is occurring in schools.
The teachers union earlier this week demanded more transparent data around in-school spread.
Ingram says the governor’s office has promised more school specific data in the coming weeks.
