Ashley Newman had her dream job Gwinnett County Public Schools, the largest school system in Georgia.
She taught gifted fifth graders in the same school district where she grew up and chose teaching as her profession to give back.
Just last week, Newman resigned after being denied the option to work from home, while all students will begin learning virtually later this month.
At least 2,000 other teachers including Newman, parents, and community stakeholders, have signed a petition asking to allow teachers the option to work from home.
According to Sloan Roach, the executive director of communication for Gwinnett County Public Schools, around 260 district employees had either tested positive for Covid-19 or been in contact with someone who was positive.
The district, which serves about 180,000 students, decided to start the school year on August 12 with all remote learning, keeping students at home.point 243 |
It was a decision made official in July, that has prompted parent protests calling for face-to-face options.point 94 | On the other hand, teachers were told to report to school buildings on July 29 to prepare for the school year.point 184 | point 184 | 1
Roach said in a CNN report that because of the district’s tracing process, they have determined the majority of the 260 cases were from community spread.
“We have people who have called in to report, who have not been at school or work,” Roach said. “Given the number of COVID cases in Gwinnett, we would expect to see positives among our employees based on the community spread in our county.”
Data from the Georgia Department of Public Health says that Gwinnett County has the second-highest number of Covid-19 cases in Georgia, with more than 17,900 confirmed cases and at least 1,996 hospitalizations, the highest in the state as of August 3.