Covid, flu, heat and classroom air.
I went over to my neighborhood CVS and got my flu shot yesterday.
I know. It’s a little early. But after 30 years as a public school teacher who saw 500 kids a week, I’m trained.
Anne and I are going on a trip next week and as soon as I get back I am planning to get the RSV and new Covid vaccine.
When I first started teaching I would get a cold by the fifth week of school. By the time I retired I could make it all the way to the third trimester.
The district would offer flu shots. The one year I skipped it to got to a friggin’ meeting I got the flu and it was a bad one.
Never again.
I have a reader who is an anti-vaxxer and constantly sends me articles on the dangers of the Covid vaccine and other medical conspiracy theories.
I’m not buying what she’s selling.
I wrote something the other day about the unusual early start of Chicago schools this year which corresponded with a couple of pre-Labor Day heat waves.
The Chicago Public Schools assured everyone that every Chicago classroom had AC.
But I’ve heard from plenty of Chicago teachers who told me otherwise.
As temperatures hit 90 degrees in May, educators and parents told the teachers union there were “severe air conditioning/overheating issues” in at least 25 Chicago public schools, disrupting learning and leaving the district scrambling.
I’m thinking 25 schools might be an undercount.
We are going through another spike in Covid cases. Not like before. But still.
I keep a mask in my pocket and put it on when I’m in situations I’m not comfortable with.
I remember during the early days of the pandemic teachers I know were handed a roll of paper towels and told to open their windows to mitigate the virus.
This was in January. In Chicago. In New York.
Even now, with what looks like a Covid spike, many students and teachers are facing the same deal.
A recent report shows that even with the Feds providing almost $200 billion in Covid money to schools, as of April 2023, only 52% of the K-12 Covid aid money was spent.
In Illinois it was just a little above that.
In spite of the knowledge that good ventilation was key to preventing the spread of Covid, for many schools, especially schools in poor neighborhoods, this meant telling teachers to open their windows rather that spending all those billions that didn’t get spent (or spent on something else) on updated ventilation and HVAC systems.