"I Hope You Can't Sleep At Night": My Former High School Teacher Has Some Words for Ron DeSantis

[babylonsister]

August 28, 2020
“I Hope You Can’t Sleep At Night”: My Former High School Teacher Has Some Words for Ron DeSantis
After the coronavirus killed her colleague this summer, she won’t be returning to class next week despite the Florida governor’s demands.
Jackie Mogensen


A few weeks ago, I saw on Facebook that a social studies teacher at my former high school in Sarasota, Florida, had died from COVID-19. His name was Robert Shackelford, or “Shack” for short. He was 61 years old. One of his colleagues, my former economics and government teacher Christy Karwatt, shared the news: “He taught countless children to love history and he will be missed.”

“‘Christy, this monster is trying to kill me.’ Those were his exact words.”

Last week, I decided to reach out to Karwatt. I had seen through social media the impact Shackelford’s death had on her and many of my former classmates, and I wondered how it would influence the reopening plans of Sarasota High, my alma mater.

While state policy demands all Florida schools reopen for in-person learning or risk losing funding (a policy currently in the middle of a fast-moving legal battle), Karwatt, who I remember as one of my most devoted teachers, told me she will not be returning when the school reopens on August 31. That’s in large part because of Shackleford’s death. “Had that not happened,” she said, she might have been open to going back. They were the same age when he passed, and she says going back is “not worth the risk right now.” Instead, she plans to take a temporary medical leave of absence, delaying the start of her 27th year of teaching at the school.

snip//

If you could send a message to Ron DeSantis, to speak directly to him, what would you say?

I would say that politics, the economy, his cozying up to Donald Trump is not worth the sickness and maybe the death that his decisions are going to cause. I get so tired of hearing them say, “Well, the death rate is this low.” And doctors are concerned about kids having long-term health problems [after COVID-19]. We don’t know. So if we don’t know, I think I’d rather be cautious instead of gambling with kids’ lives. I would tell him that I think, if people get sick and die, it’s his responsibility if he’s sending them back to school. I hope you can’t sleep at night because of it.

more...

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/08/coronavirus-florida-school-reopening-sarasota-desantis-high-school-teacher/

[Cha]

1. Righteous message to de santis.. Gov Blood on his hands.

My sister, in Gainesville, Fla, just texted me that her grandkids are going to be homeschooled now.

So sorry about Robert Shackelford

[GusBob]

2. That is one of the most thoughtful statements on Covid

If we dont know, dont risk it

Also screw the low death rate. One death is too many

Thanks for posting

[dameatball]

3. This bs about "the death rate is low" makes me nuts. I have a couple family members spouting that

crap. Completely ignoring the elephant in the room, which is the plain fact that things did not have to be this way. Desantis, Trump and the Republican Party allowed it to happen. Why these a-holes refuse to address that is beyond maddening.