This letter is intended to address the recent discussion at a meeting of the Evangeline Parish School Board regarding the issue of parish teachers being allowed to wear "tennis shoes." I am aware that some allowances have already been made to the teacher dress code, such as wearing scrubs.
As an elementary teacher in this parish, I feel led to respond to certain comments made at this meeting. However, this is solely my opinion first hand.
First of all, many of the members who sit on the school board making decisions for all personnel, have not been inside a classroom for many years. I doubt any of them have ever taught during a nationwide pandemic such as Covid 19.
To say this school year is an "ordinary" one is so very far from the truth and opened my eyes to how little they know.
After comments were made about teachers "hounding" board members to allow this exception, the board discussed and agreed to allow teachers to wear tennis shoes the remainder of this school year. I think the word "hounding" was a poor choice of word usage by a board member. A nicer word such as "strongly requested" could have been used instead.
I would like you to "take a walk in my shoes" for the next few minutes. This will give you a better idea of what an "ordinary" day entails in 2021.
Teachers are now required to wear a face mask/covering for 8 1/2 hours each day. We arrive at school at 7 a.m. instead of the usual 7:25 a.m. (pre-Covid days). We clock in, report to our classrooms to disinfect prior to students arriving with their breakfast bags. They eat breakfast and lunch in our classrooms, meaning we clean up any spills/messes. We hand out napkins, wipe tables/desks down for sanitation purposes before any bell work/morning work begins. We collect signed papers, notes from home, reports, etc. all while enjoying our breakfast with our students. We sanitize little hands ALL day long. We collect and record canteen orders daily, followed by breakfast log on computer, as well as attendance. All this is being done while keeping them socially distanced.
Recesses entail teachers staying with students on the playground and remaining socially distanced. Students are not allowed to play with their friends in any other class EVER. We line them up six feet apart and sanitize again each time they enter the classroom.
With a shortage of subs this year, many days we have no break at all. We have to buzz the office to get an administrator to watch our class while we use the restroom. It is the teacher's responsibility to spend PE with students.
When this school year began, all students were behind due to the previous year getting cut short. This is no one's fault, but this adds to our stress and pressure to get them where they need to be academically.
Some board members are quick to say that tennis shoes are not professional. I ask, "What type of shoes do nurses wear? What type of shoes do doctors wear?" and why. They are professionals. We work extra hours, most days with little or no break. We are on our feet almost nine hours a day. We often leave our work day with stacks of papers to grade. We get home and work on lessons on the computer, many times for long periods of time.
In closing, I would like to say that every teacher is teaching in this pandemic because we care about our students. We have never worked harder and been more stressed. We are accountable for our students. We work for the outcome, not the income.
I ask you, as a board, to be more considerate and appreciative of what we do. And be thankful we have only asked to wear more comfortable shoes while putting our lives on the line every day with this horrible pandemic.
We are working very hard to make this "ordinary" year the best it can be. May God bless you all.
Sincerely, Bernice Ardoin