WASHINGTON — Parents were given a choice about whether they wanted to send their children back to school if they were offered an in-person seat. But DC Public Schools teacher Laura Fuchs said DCPS denied her that right.
“I feel like a let a lot of people down,” Fuchs told WUSA9 from her home Tuesday morning.
The Woodson High School teacher documented her walk to work after Tuesday’s 2 hours snow delay armed with a face shield and two masks including an N95 her students’ parents mailed her. Hours earlier she was emotional about the idea of returning to the building.
“I was like fighting this and tell people this damn strong and that we get together,” cried Fuchs. "And somehow, we know now we're still going back. People are afraid for their jobs and stuff, they're going to go back and I'm probably the least at risk out of the group that is coming back. So, I should be the one to go, but…someone’s going to get hurt.”
DCPS parent Gregory Cook agrees.
“There are hard choices being made right now,” Cook said as he was trying to drop off his 7-year old daughter Khayla at Randle Highlands in Ward 7.
The second-grader was sitting patiently in the car’s back seat wearing a pink mask and face shield.
“She knows to do what we always do when we have to go outside,” explained Cook. "It’s her responsibility to make sure that she’s safe and she doesn’t hurt anyone else or expose them.”
However, the family was greeted by road closures and DC Water crews; classes were canceled. “We were notified by the principal that a last-minute water pipe burst so, a big disappointment for everyone," Cook said.
Class was in session at Ketcham Elementary in Ward 8 where the principal tweeted out several pictures of students and teachers. In Northwest D.C., a handful of Pre-K and Kindergarteners made it into Janney Elementary where children underwent volunteer COVID testing, an initiative DCPS offers at all schools.
“We are so grateful we got a spot in the DCPS lottery,” said Shari Gronvall who sent her 5-year old daughter to school today. "it was just nice to send her into a school building with other kids. I didn’t talk to her about her mask protocol because honestly, it’s just our way of life now.”
As for Fuchs, she said only three students showed up to in-person learning.
“I hope we (Washington Teachers’ Union) can do something that stops it, but also think the train left the station," Fuchs said.