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Demonstrators hope to delay return to classroom in Prince George’s County
'Only when it’s safe' – that’s the catch phrase that was chanted Thursday in Prince George’s County to keep schools closed to in-person learning.
SPRINGDALE, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - "Only when it’s safe" – that’s the catchphrase that was chanted at a car rally Thursday in Prince George’s County in an effort to delay the return to the classroom.
The Prince George’s County Educators' Association doesn’t believe it’s safe for anyone to go back to the classroom for in-person learning —at least not within the next month.
READ MORE: New pushback from PGCPS teachers, but CEO says reopening on track
They tell FOX 5's Ayesha Khan COVID numbers are still in the red within the county and believe those numbers will stay there until mid-April —but schools in the district will begin reopening in April anyway.
That’s not sitting well with many teachers, educators, staff, and even other community members who pushed back by holding a car rally. They are expecting about 400 cars.
READ MORE: New data shows almost twice as many PGCPS students failing over last year
Most of the educators who responded to a union survey claim that their schools are either unaware of, or do not have a safety and sanitization plan for the buildings or any adequate access to PPE.
Ayesha spoke with a student who was at the rally this evening.
"It’s a little personal to me because I am an extrovert and I like to go out and meet and talk to new people, but I definitely don’t want to be at risk if I’m to meet somebody new and really enjoy the high school experience," said Ayeme Owona, a freshman at Charles Herbert Flowers High School.
Owona continued, "Although getting kids back into school is a really great thing and that’s something we need to focus on, I think that we should try to make the schools safer first before cramming us into schools that are not ready and equipped because too many schools that aren’t ready could just cause more risks."
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Prince George's County Public Schools CEO Monica Goldson said in a recent interview with FOX 5's Lindsay Watts that staffing should be fine despite teacher concerns and that they have a good relationship with the teachers' unions.
Goldson said that the district will be opening a permanent virtual school next year for 8th grade to 12th-grade students, which will eventually be expanded to sixth and seventh graders.