In Lincoln and Omaha on Monday, the message from educators was clear: they don't feel safe returning to school.
About one hundred people — more than half of them teachers — gathered on the steps of the capitol hoping to convince Lincoln Public Schools that students should not head back to the classroom yet.
To make their point, attendees arranged desks and chairs in a roped-in area resembling the size of a classroom for 25 learners. Protesters then mimicked students taking their seats for class, approximating the reality of social distancing in schools. The space quickly appeared cramped.
"I think parents are so ready for things to go back to normal, they aren’t fully aware normal isn’t going to happen," said parent and teacher Meghan Stock.
"I want to make sure all that information is out there, so they can have a complete picture of what it will actually be like so that we aren’t doing any more harm to kids."
LPS recently acknowledged the higher risk level of contracting COVID-19 and announced only half of high school students will attend classes in-person on any given day — others will do remote learning. Classes are scheduled to begin in the middle of next week.
(Teachers protesting in Omaha on Monday. Photos courtesy: Patrick Jones)
In Omaha, more than 200 people stood along Dodge St. to protest the lack of a mask mandate in Nebraska.
Gov. Pete Ricketts has publicly opposed the mask mandate in Lincoln and Lancaster County, saying he’ll legally challenge other local mandates. The Douglas County Health Department considered implementing a mask mandate but backed off after the state Attorney General's office questioned their legal authority to do so.
The Omaha City Council will consider a mask rule soon — but teacher Katrina Jacobberger says that’s not enough to limit the spread of the virus.
(Teachers protesting in Omaha on Monday. Photos courtesy: Patrick Jones)
"That is the Omaha city limits," Jacobberger said. "It doesn't cover all of Douglas County, it wouldn't cover Sarpy County. And Douglas and Sarpy County are kind of one integral community, and we really need the whole community protected. Otherwise, it's almost a moot point."
State education commissioner Matt Blomstedt says schools need to open because they fulfill children's needs for nutrition, socialization, and mental health.
"It's hard to balance between the safe environment, dealing with the pandemic while also understanding the impacts of not having school operating," Blomstedt said.
Jacobberger is worried about that, too — but she thinks even in-person instruction will struggle to meet students' needs.
"It's going to be very institutionalized, they are not going to be able to interact with their friends, they are not going to be able to sit next to them in the cafeteria, they are not going to be able to hold conversations the way they would, there is no group work," Jacobberger said. "The entire social aspect of school is going to be different, it's changed."
Experts at the University of Nebraska Medical Center say community transmission of COVID-19 is too high to safely reopen schools.
Ricketts says it's up to policy makers to take all factors into account when making decisions about schools.
"While we want to take advice from all sorts of different sources, at the end of the day policy makers have to make that decision about getting kids back in school, looking at the broader picture," Ricketts said.