Some Teachers Not Getting 5 Face Masks Like Promised
Aug 20, 2020, 9:00 AM | Updated: 9:57 am
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — As more Utah students head back into the classroom, there is more confusion over personal protective equipment that was promised to teachers.
Gov. Gary Herbert’s office said on Monday that face shields and masks had been sent to all 41 school districts in the state.
“In congruence with my executive order requiring face masks in Utah schools, each teacher can expect two face shields and five KN95 masks to use this year,” a tweet from the governor said.
But the Cache County School District told employees that the masks provided by the state won’t be distributed to all employees.
“As an employee, if you need a KN95 mask, please work through your school principal or supervisor, who in turn will work through the school nurses to supply those,” read an email sent by the district to employees.
The email also said that the KN95 masks are single, daily-use masks, and the district received 6,000 of them from the state and also purchased several thousand more.
“We’ve been trying to provide those to our teachers who are in the high-risk category,” said Cache County School District spokesperson Tim Smith. “We just didn’t think it was valuable to hand them out to teachers who may or may not need them.”
Smith said he wanted to make it clear that all employees have access to the masks, as long as they ask for them.
“Any teacher who requests them will get them,” he said. “We don’t want anyone to not have the equipment they need.”
As for the face shields, Smith said the district already purchased a shield for employees who work directly with students but that the shields sent from the governor will also be distributed to schools.
Cache County isn’t the only district where teachers won’t be allotted the five masks like expected. The Alpine School District said that instead of five KN95 masks per employee, they received enough for about three per employee.
When asked about the distribution of masks provided by the state, the governor’s office said that it did not place any restrictions on who should receive the masks.
The president of the Utah Education Association said the confusion over the protective equipment for teachers is concerning.
“The frustrations about the delivery of the PPE from the state is understandable, but it should not be the only PPE that they have available,” said UEA President Heidi Matthews. “The governor’s five masks and two face shields was intended to supplement the districts’ plans and the districts’ support of their employees—not supplant it.”
Matthews said there needs to be more oversight over the distribution of PPE and how other protective measures — like social distancing — are being implemented at each school district.
“Let’s do it right at the beginning rather than running the risk of having our schools be the super spreaders in our communities,” she said.
