OHIO — Heading back to school in the fall will certainly look and feel different this year. For staff in school districts, there’s a mixture of emotions as districts prepare for fall. While many teachers are excited, they're also concerned for students with the possibility of COVID-19 transmission in the classroom.

What You Need To Know


  • Many teachers are concerned about everything students will bring to the classroom in addition to the learning challenges

  • Teachers are living in fear already as they know they may be asked to come back to the classroom at full-time with masks on

  • Another challenge facing school staff is building relationships with children while remaining socially distant

With a stopwatch in hand, Coach James Lautzenheiser is up and at ‘em early with his players at Crestview High School in Convoy, Ohio. He’s trying to set the stage early with strength and conditioning training in preparation for what they hope will be an upcoming football season. Although they've been practicing, the 8th grade American History teacher is a little anxious about the new year.

“We're really excited about getting back and seeing our kids, working with our kids doing things as normal as possible." Lautzenheiser said. “We also have to think about the learning concerns, and the challenges that our students might be bringing to the table, things like unemployment or underemployment.”

He like others across the state are also concerned about the coronavirus and its impact as more waves of the virus are expected.

“I'm hoping that a year from now, we don't have one of those stories that a student became very sick, or worse, and the same for a staff member," said Heather Stambaugh, a Greenon Junior Senior High School American Studies teacher. 

She said some of her colleagues are on edge as the pressure to reopen mounts. 

“Looking at the numbers now, I have quite a few staff members who are living in fear, and then to be asked to come back at what looks like 100 percent with masks and some social distancing. It adds extra anxiety," Stambaugh said.

Working on Google classroom and classroom maps, Stambaugh said personally, she’s also concerned about how she’ll build relationships with students. That’s in addition to how she’ll make the necessary transitions with curriculum if they start school one way and then have to switch midstream because of the rise in COVID-19 cases.

“I’ll have this really great moment of inspiration, I'll be very excited and then the reality of, well we don't know how long we're going to be face to face hits, and so it's like well I can't really channel my energy to that. And then you get sad.”

Those concerns are just the beginning as she and other teachers like Lautzenheiser wonder how they’'ll engage with students effectively in a classroom six feet away. As both teachers prepare for the roll out an official restart plan, they’re looking to legislators to make the right decisions, so that districts across the state don’t come up short when school starts.  

“We need to make sure that there’s enough financial resources as support for our school districts moving forward.” For now, they take it one day at a time hoping they come out with a win," Lautzenheiser said.