San Diego teachers have been given the option to replace work shifts at their current schools to teach migrant children being housed at the San Diego Convention Center.
“Our teachers have been asked if they’re interested in working at the convention center site, as opposed to the worksites they are assigned to. So, for example, one of our SDCOE teachers who normally works at School X could volunteer to change their placement, working at the convention center site instead of School X,” San Diego County Office of Education chief of staff Music Watson said in a statement to Fox News.
Over 700 unaccompanied minor migrants are currently housed at the San Diego Convention Center, where teachers will be able to volunteer to teach the children in person despite widespread coronavirus cases among the migrants.
“Why would anyone volunteer to go in that situation and put our own students at risk with COVID running amok? My first obligation is my current students’ health. Why would the board of education allow putting our kids at risk of getting COVID?” asked a teacher from the district, who asked to remain anonymous.
SAN DIEGO OFFERS IN-PERSON LEARNING TO MIGRANT CHILDREN BEFORE OFFERING THE SAME TO RESIDENTS
“I have parents now nervous to send their kids to school because they’re afraid their teacher, who is volunteering to teach in person to migrant kids, is going to give our own students COVID,” the teacher continued.
“It almost borders insanity that we’re offering education to these migrant kids while they’re also not offering the same services to our own kids in the same county,” added Jonathan Zachreson, a spokesman for Reopen California Schools.
Watson said that so far, about 15 county employees have volunteered for the assignments at the convention center, noting that the teachers will not be receiving extra pay to volunteer for the assignment.
“It is possible that some people on that list [of teachers] are not reporting full-time in person at the school,” Watson added.
Volunteer sheets to teach the migrant students ask teachers their availability for morning, day, and evening hours as well as all seven days of the week, including normal school hours.
“The in-person educational program may not have traditional hours, so there may be opportunities for involvement outside regular work hours. Any opportunities will be voluntary, and employees will be compensated,” San Diego County Superintendent of Schools Paul Gothold told district employees in an email.
But Watson said the decision has since been made to have teachers only volunteer at the convention center during normal work hours, a period that taxpayers are paying the teachers to teach their own students.
“We have 130,000 kids who haven’t been allowed in a classroom for over a year in the San Diego Unified School District. It’s great that there’s in-person learning for those unaccompanied minors from Central America, but I wish every child in San Diego County was allowed the same opportunity for in-person teaching,” said San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond.
San Diego’s schools have been closed to in-person instruction for more than a year, though a tentative start date for hybrid classes has been set for April 12. Despite that, some parents in the district are unhappy with the development that migrant students will get immediate in-person instruction.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“The system is broken when San Diego teachers are teaching migrant children in person, but the 100k students of taxpaying families at San Diego Unified School District are stuck learning in Zoom school,” said Emily Diaz, a San Diego Unified School District parent. “We agree that every child deserves an in-person education, but why are taxpaying students put last? If this is a humanitarian issue, then who is rescuing San Diego Unified students, because our leaders have failed them.”
