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'Anxious To Get Back': Douglas County Teachers Union Want Safer Return To School

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (CBS4) - Teachers rallied outside the Douglas County School District main office on Wednesday to call for clear decisions on returning to school in August. The teachers union says they want a plan that outlines more safety precautions for students and staff including masks, remote learning and testing access.

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"Our teachers and staff are just anxious to get back and get into the classroom with the kids, but we want to do it safely," said Kallie Leyba, the president of Douglas County Federation.

The Federation is the union for teachers in the Douglas County School District. Union members made signs and lined up along the block where the district office is located. Wearing masks and standing farther apart than usual, they practiced social distancing as much as they could at the event. Steps that emphasized the challenge ahead for everyone during the pandemic.

"What we really want to see is mandatory masks at all levels," Leyba said. "Staggered attendance so not all kids are in the same room at the same time."

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Compared to the approach the district has suggested, which includes all students in school with masks only for certain grades and lunch looking similar to last fall, teachers say there needs to be a different approach. They are asking for about half of all students in school at a time and virtual learning for the rest.

The union also wants to push back the start date to Aug. 24.

"What we need to remember is the classroom isn't going to look the same either," she said.

Leyba says teachers will need more time to prepare their classrooms and staff will have to rethink how they can conduct school with social distancing necessary at all times. The union also said it operates differently from other collective bargaining units in the state and does not negotiate at the table like other teachers groups. So they planned the rally on Wednesday in advance of administrators releasing their final plan.

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"We have to look at teaching from a completely different point of view now," she said. "So teachers and principals need time to be in the buildings together and just hash it out and figure out how we're going to do it."

The district has outlined some of its goals for returning to school in the fall of 2020 but has yet to release a final plan. A document is in the works and expected to become public this week. CBS4 reached out to district leaders, staff referred to their "Road To Return" webpage.

The Douglas County School District Board of Education has an all day meeting scheduled for Saturday, July 25. It will be livestreamed for the public.

LINK: Douglas County School District Road To Return

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