From a Twenty-Seven-Year Long Servant of Caddo School Children:
Dear Caddo Parish School Board Member,
I do not need a lot of money or to be hailed as a hero- those types of things are not why I started teaching over forty years ago. However, being appreciated by my Caddo family is important to me. I never thought I would live during a pandemic and have to make hardchoices to not only protect myself, but to also do the right thing to help my students. This Fall, knowing how vulnerable someone like I was if they contracted COVID and face with my documented underlying medical condition, I became very anxious about going back to school. How was I going to stay reasonably safe and still honor the commitment I had made to my students?
After conferring with my family and two of my doctors, I decided to use sick leave days while a substitute was hired to in my room in my absence. During the time I was not on campus, I attendedprofessional development, prepared daily lessons, studied how to use the new Canvas system, zoomed daily to teach my lessons, and worked on campus on Fridays when students were not present. I was not an “absent” teacher!
This has been a very difficult year for everyone. I am certain that the compromise I made to ensure my safety, while still dedicated to teaching my students, was the right choice. People with health conditions making them more vulnerable to COVID should not be punished for missing over 17 days. I am not writing so much for myself, but for all of those who have had to make the same choice for health or family. Those choices have now resulted in those people being told they are not heroes, don’t deserve any extra pay for all they have had to do, and just plain are not appreciated. Everyone in our Caddo family should not only be told they are appreciated, but they should be shown so as well. I think you can afford to pay each and every one of them attention and compensation.