Irving ISD denies 150 staff requests to work from home as teacher shortage worsens Read more here:

[TexasTowelie]

Some school staff in Irving say they feel pressured by the school district to return to in-person teaching despite health concerns as more children return to the classroom during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Irving school district, like other Dallas-Fort Worth schools, has started to fill the hallways with students this month as more families choose in-person learning. Irving began optional in-person learning for students on Sept. 28. Every six weeks, students can choose to return to school or continue virtual learning.

At the end of October, the district told staff who were previously allowed to remotely teach due to health concerns that they needed to come back to campus by Nov. 9. A teacher’s aide currently on oxygen support, a special education teacher on immunosuppressants and a teacher of 20 years who just completed chemotherapy were among those asked to return to campus.

“What Irving has done is ripped the rug out from under a lot of employees who are at-risk,” Steven Poole, executive director of the United Educators Association union, said.

Read more: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/coronavirus/article247358499.html

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Okay, here's my question.

If this were November, 2019, would

A teacher’s aide currently on oxygen support, a special education teacher on immunosuppressants and a teacher of 20 years who just completed chemotherapy

be asked to return to the classroom?

I suppose I could say, asking for a friend, but I'm not. I'm asking on behalf of all sentient creatures.

What's going to happen over the next few months is that a significant percentage of classroom teachers will decide that it's just not worth it.