When Harvard teachers and students walk into their classrooms soon after Labor Day, both groups will come with doubts and questions about the health risks that may lie ahead. But, while students have an option to choose fully remote classes for the year, most teachers do not have that option.
The Harvard Teachers Association surveyed its members about their preferences earlier this month, and HTA president Melissa Niland presented the results to the School Committee Aug. 10. The survey showed a sharp divide in teachers’ views about returning to school.
About two-thirds of the teachers at Hildreth Elementary School endorsed reopening school with a blend of in-person and remote classes—the plan generally called the hybrid option. A third of HES teachers would have preferred a fully remote program.
Teachers at the Bromfield School took the opposite view. Three-fourths of those teachers would have preferred fully remote classes for all students, with only a quarter preferring the hybrid mix of in-person and remote learning.
Overall, Niland told the committee, 80% of Harvard’s teachers favored the district’s reopening plan with the increased safety precautions that the district task force had developed over the summer. But Niland said the union would not take a position on the choice between the hybrid option and fully remote classes because of the split in opinion between the two schools. In the end, the School Committee approved the hybrid option in a 3-2 vote (see story, page 1).
Differing levels of risk
A longtime Bromfield teacher explained that a big reason for the different reactions at the two schools is the difference in possible virus exposure while teaching. At HES most teachers will be with a single group of 14 to 18 students for the whole school day. At Bromfield, each teacher will be meeting with five in-person classes each day—perhaps 75 or more students all together. That larger number of contacts substantially increases the risk of exposure.
Another reason for the difference is pedagogical. As many teachers and parents have commented since the COVID-19 outbreak began, it is hard to teach younger children the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic with remote lessons. As students reach the upper grades, they become more independent learners and can move ahead on assignments with less direct guidance. So remote learning may simply seem more doable to teachers at the middle and high school levels.
In recent years, the trend at all levels of education has involved students doing more work in small groups. But the Bromfield classroom layout this fall will be geared toward minimizing contact, not encouraging interaction. The plan is for students to sit at individual desks (rather than group tables), all facing forward, with the teacher at the front of the room. While this may sound quite normal to people who went to school a few decades ago, it’s not the way many Bromfield teachers present their lessons today. According to one teacher, remote classes with online breakout rooms for group discussion and projects might be more engaging for students than this rigid, in-person setup. And online learning programs also offer a variety of ways for teachers to monitor attendance and participation.
What options do teachers have?
At both schools, some teachers will do all their teaching remotely. At HES most grades will have one all-remote class with its own teacher. (Third grade will have two remote classes, and pre-K and kindergarten will have a combined remote class.) At Bromfield the scheduling is more complex, but two faculty members will be able to teach remotely. Those who have medical reasons for choosing all-remote classes—either because of their own health or a family member’s condition—got preference for the remote option.
Through a letter of agreement with the teachers association, the School Committee also approved some other options for those who were most concerned about the risks of the virus. Under one option, a teacher could take an unpaid leave of absence for the 2020-21 school year, while still retaining status for prior years of service. This option works much like child-rearing leave, and the school hires a long-term substitute to fill the spot. A second option was for a teacher to take a reduced assignment, working just one day a week with individual students who need tutoring or as a mentor for a long-term sub. Either option would result in savings to the district, Superintendent Linda Dwight explained. Neither option, though, would provide health insurance or benefits, so only teachers who can get insurance through a spouse or partner would be likely to take one of these choices.
Since the early stages of planning for this school year, Dwight has praised the hard work teachers have done alongside administrators in seeking a way to reopen schools safely. Early on, she said the Harvard Teachers Association was cooperating diligently in that effort, even as many teachers’ unions in the state and across the country opposed reopening schools this fall.
