As school buildings in some states begin to reopen in various capacities, many teachers who are at higher risk for severe complications from COVID-19 are hoping they won鈥檛 have to go back.
But there are big questions around who qualifies for a medical exemption from returning to the physical classroom.
People who are older than 65 are at higher risk for serious illness due to COVID-19, as are those who are obese, have serious heart conditions, or have Type II diabetes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that people who have immune deficiencies, have asthma, have Type I diabetes, are smokers, or are pregnant might also be at increased risk for serious illness, although the evidence is more limited.
Districts are now tasked with deciding which conditions to prioritize and trying to accommodate as many teachers as they can while still maintaining staffing levels for the students who are on campus. In some cases, that has proved to be impossible, and district leaders have had to either decide to keep school buildings closed or find alternate ways to accommodate teachers without keeping them home.
In the meantime, teachers who have a high-risk condition or are otherwise vulnerable, and those who live with someone who is high-risk, are left waiting anxiously to hear how they will be protected when they go back to school. So far, about half of the 600 districts in Education Week鈥檚 database, which is not nationally representative, have opted to provide some form of in-person schooling this fall, including five of the 25 largest districts.
鈥淚鈥檝e been holed up in my house since March and have been very careful,鈥� said Margee, an 8th grade teacher in Colorado with asthma. 鈥淚t just made me very, very nervous to think I鈥檒l be exposed to 120 students and their families.鈥�
Margee, who asked that her last name be withheld, got a doctor鈥檚 note for her asthma and requested to work remotely. Her district, which plans to begin in-person instruction in October, approved her request. She will be working from home the whole year, teaching the students who opted to stay home. She鈥檒l be delivering instruction on a new platform, but she鈥檚 relieved to not have to worry about potential exposure.
鈥淚鈥檇 rather deal with unfamiliarity than feeling unsafe,鈥� she said.
Forty-three percent of teachers said they personally have a physical condition believed to make people more vulnerable to the effects of the coronavirus, a nationally representative Education Week Research Center survey found. And estimates that about 1.5 million teachers鈥攏early one in four鈥攈ave health conditions that put them at higher risk for COVID-19 complications.
In New York City schools, the nation鈥檚 largest district that is set to welcome students back into school buildings on Sept. 10 for a few days a week, about 15 percent of teachers have applied for medical exemptions to work from home. The district is still finalizing staffing details.
For some districts, requests for accommodations have created staffing challenges. In Elizabeth, N.J., for example, more than 400 teachers鈥攁bout a fifth of the district鈥檚 workforce鈥攔eported that they needed special consideration for health-related risks and could not teach in person. The sheer volume of accommodations forced the school board to vote to begin the school year remotely.
鈥淭here would be insufficient staff to open safely in person with that many teachers unavailable for in-person instruction,鈥� said district spokesman Pat Politano in a statement . 鈥淚t became a mathematical impossibility.鈥�
Reasonable Accommodations
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities, unless doing so would cause undue hardship. Reasonable accommodations entail modifying or adjusting the work environment to allow the individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of the position or allowing the employee to take earned paid leave or unpaid leave.
For teachers who have a disability that puts them at higher risk for serious illness due to COVID-19, which could include conditions like asthma or diabetes, reasonable accommodations could mean smaller class sizes, receiving access to N-95 masks, being reassigned to a position that involves less contact with others, being given temporary leave, or working remotely altogether. What鈥檚 reasonable will depend on what a teacher鈥檚 individual condition requires, says the National Education Association, the nation鈥檚 largest teachers鈥� union, and for many high-risk teachers, remote work is the safest option.
However, employees aren鈥檛 guaranteed to get the exact accommodation they request. If the requested accommodation would pose an undue hardship鈥攄efined in the law as an action requiring significant difficulty or expense鈥攖he employer must try to identify another way to accommodate the employee.
Kaitlyn, an elementary teacher in Texas who asked for her last name to be withheld, has a rare blood disorder and had her spleen removed at a young age, leaving her with a compromised immune system. Her school district is starting the school year remotely but plans to begin in-person instruction in September.
Due to health concerns, Kaitlyn requested to be in as little contact with students as possible, hoping to work remotely. But her partner teacher is also immunocompromised and requested to work from home as well. Administrators said both of them couldn鈥檛 be remote, and since Kaitlyn鈥檚 partner teacher submitted her paperwork first, she is the one who will be teaching remotely.
Instead, the district is giving Kaitlyn a teacher鈥檚 assistant and an office. Kaitlyn will teach in person for half the day and teach via webcam from her office for the rest of the day, while the assistant will be in the classroom with the students to facilitate and manage behavior.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a little weird. ... I would prefer it if everyone was online for quite a while,鈥� she said.
Still, the district has 鈥渞educed our class sizes as much as they can, and they鈥檝e been very accommodating,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e doing the best they can to help me be healthy, which I really appreciate.鈥�
Up to Districts
In Georgia, where schools across the state have already started the year with mostly in-person learning, some districts have told teachers that letting them work remotely would be too great of a burden on their operations, said Lisa Morgan, the president of the Georgia Association of Educators, a professional group of teachers in the state.
鈥淓ducators are being asked to come back into the classroom in what is in many cases an unsafe situation鈥攎asks are not required, social distancing is impossible because class sizes have not been reduced, and the only option educators are being given when the accommodations are being denied is to resign,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey are being asked to make the choice between their safety and their careers.鈥�
There are especially few options for teachers who have a high-risk family member, Morgan said. The ADA does not cover employees who live with someone who has a disability or high-risk condition. Forty-six percent of teachers said a member of their household has a physical condition that puts them at risk, according to the EdWeek survey.
District leaders say they will try to accommodate those employees if possible. Many districts have created tiered systems for requesting to work from home鈥攑riority is given to those who are at high risk, followed by those with high-risk family members. Teachers who feel uncomfortable returning are then given exemptions if there are still spots available.
Also, a health condition that puts a teacher at higher risk for COVID-19 complications isn鈥檛 always the same as an ADA-recognized disability, which means it鈥檚 often left up to the district on how to handle those requests for accommodation. For example, simply being older than 65 is not a disability.
Pregnancy itself is also not considered a disability, although conditions resulting from pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes or preeclampsia, may qualify as disabilities under the ADA. About 77 percent of teachers are women, and many are in prime childbearing years.
Much remains unknown about COVID-19 and pregnancy. One study found that pregnant women with COVID-19 were more likely to end up in intensive care units and need ventilators than non-pregnant women, but they were not more likely to die.
Dr. Aparna Sridhar, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California Los Angeles鈥� school of medicine, said in an email that at this time, all pregnant women, regardless of trimester, should take precautions to prevent infections. She said pregnant teachers who have additional risk factors should consult their obstetricians for accommodation guidelines, and those should be communicated to school management.
Taking Time Off
In some cases, teachers who have not been able to secure an accommodation are considering not coming back to work at all. Some are retiring early, resigning, or taking unpaid leave.
Some districts have also offered their teachers an unpaid, job-protected leave of absence. For example, the Springdale, Ark., school district offered any employee who was uncomfortable going back to school the opportunity to take an unpaid leave of absence. Forty-eight employees accepted that option, which guarantees them a job next fall. Of those, 26 were certified staff, including teachers. The district has 2,950 total employees.
The Family Medical Leave Act also allows employees who have been at their job for at least a year to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected time off. This can be used if the employee has a serious health condition that makes it impossible to perform the essential functions of his job, or if the employee needs to care for a spouse, parent, or child with a serious health condition.
However, FMLA can only be used once in a 12-month period, so employees who already used it鈥攐r are planning to use it鈥攖o care for a new baby will be ineligible.
Employees who are quarantined based on either a government order or the advice of a healthcare provider and those who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms are eligible for two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
That federal law also gives employees two weeks of paid sick leave at two-thirds pay if they need to care for someone who is quarantining. Employees can also take up to 12 weeks of paid leave at two-thirds pay to care for a child whose school or child-care provider is closed or unavailable due to COVID-19. (These leave provisions are set to expire on Dec. 31.)
However, the reduced pay will be a barrier for many teachers. Morgan said that in one Georgia district, more than 700 teachers initially expressed interest in the extended family leave, but when they learned the details, only one teacher chose to apply.
鈥淢ost people can鈥檛 afford a 33 percent cut in pay,鈥� she said.
Teachers who feel like their request for an accommodation has been unfairly denied also have the option to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or with their local union, the NEA says, adding that there could also be grounds for possible litigation. The NEA that local affiliates with collective bargaining rights add language to their contract about ensuring teachers鈥� safety, and that educators in states without collective bargaining rights form health and safety committees to try to add similar language to school policies.
