'We want some standardization': Teachers union asks Maryland for more information

on coronavirus cases.

The union representing more than 74,000 educators in Maryland asked officials on Monday to release standardized procedures to handle coronavirus cases in classrooms across the state and be transparent about infections at schools.

The president of the Maryland State Education Association, Cheryl Bost, said the state’s decision to let local school systems and health departments determine what case information to share with teachers, staff and parents could jeopardize the safe and sustainable reopening of schools. She said schools can balance privacy and transparency by sharing with educators where there is a case without disclosing the name of the ill student or staff member.

“I know that with the teachers here, the grapevine provides more of that information where people are finding it out through people talking to each other, but it’s not coming out publicly that there’s a case in this school or there’s a case in that school,” Bost told reporters during a virtual news conference. “So we want some standardization on what is reported, to whom, the timely manner, and how are we handling those cases. Not all of our schools have nurses, not all of them have places to isolate when there’s a positive case that comes to the school building.”

The union also released a survey of 2,317 of its members that showed 77 percent think it is unlikely their schools will safely reopen for full, in-person classes over the next several months. The survey also showed that educators overwhelmingly support coronavirus-related safety measures including daily sanitization of schools, mandatory use of masks and reduced class sizes to maintain social distancing.'>>>

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