The Oakland Unified School District’s push to begin reopening some schools next Tuesday is hitting a major roadblock: not enough teachers willing to come back yet.
A truncated reopening timeline and unanswered questions about the process have prompted a majority of teachers, who were given the choice as part of the reopening deal, to opt out of returning to their classrooms next week, leaving parents in limbo and administrators scrambling to prepare for returning students.
Skyline High School, a half dozen elementary schools and 10 preschools that had been scheduled to reopen next week will now remain closed until mid-April because not enough of their teachers have volunteered to return next week. Thirty other elementary and preschools will reopen on an even more limited basis than originally planned because only a small percentage of teachers have opted in.
According to the district's latest tally, over 30 other schools have enough teachers to reopen as planned. Heather Dodge, whose two kids attend Peralta Elementary School in North Oakland, says she was elated when she first heard a reopening agreement between the district and the teachers union had been reached earlier this month. Doing so, she says, would enable her kindergartener to meet her teacher in person for the first time this year.
But when she learned none of the school’s teachers would be returning next week, she felt duped. “They've suddenly done this bait and switch," Dodge said. "I feel really betrayed by it."
The first phase of the district’s reopening plan, announced March 14 and narrowly approved by union membership, offers pre-K through second grade students and some of the highest-needs students from all ages the option to start in-person classes on a limited basis beginning Tuesday, March 30. District and union officials said making the return to in-person classes voluntarily for teachers was an effort to practice safety protocols and build trust with staff before more students are allowed to come back April 19, at which point most teachers can no longer opt out.
OUSD’s challenges are similar to what other districts around the country are facing as they work to get students who have struggled the most with distance learning back inside physical classrooms, notes John Sasaki, a district spokesman. “We expect to face challenges in Oakland under such imperfect conditions,” he said. “We are working to stay one step ahead and communicate with families, but we know that there could be some unanticipated changes.”
As of Thursday, 38% of teachers had volunteered to return, according to the district.
Reasons vary widely as to why many teachers have opted not to return to their classrooms next week. While some aren’t vaccinated yet, many others say the tight turnaround has left them little time to sort out personal logistics like child care. Some teachers have also expressed doubt that the district's agreed-on conditions for a safe and organized return can be met by next week.
“Nobody on either side has said, ‘Here is what your room should look like if it’s ready to go and safe,’ ” said Erin Ronhovde, a third grade teacher and union representative at East Oakland Pride Elementary School. “My room, at least, has not changed at all — nobody's come in to figure out how to open the windows.”
“While we are trying our best to move forward together, there are a lot of logistics that need to be figured out still,” said Tim Douglas, a fifth grade teacher at International Community School, who’s also on the union bargaining team. With less than a week to go, he says, there are still sites that don't have air filters yet. “So those pain points are very real and we're very aware of that.”
