Leaving home

Douglas High School re-opens despite state COVID-19 guidance, forcing this teacher to leave the job she loves.

BY KATI PARAZOO, TEACHER, DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL

ON OCT. 6, 2020, I submitted my resignation letter to Douglas High School, about a month after the school board announced its plans to open the high school in a hybrid model, ultimately exposing all teachers and staff to COVID-19. I pleaded a case with our School Board against opening Douglas High School, citing Douglas County’s recent spike in COVID-19 cases, which meant we no longer met the 10 cases/100,000 population requirement to open. That did not deter our school board and administration from continuing with their plans to bring students back to in-person learning.

Ultimately, I weighed my options and the impact on my family if I went back to Douglas High School, knowing that the board and administration did not have my best interest in mind. I felt that they had misrepresented information to ODE and Governor Brown to be granted an exception that they did not meet. I was sick, physically, and emotionally, from the interactions with school board members where they berated teachers, threatened budget cuts and job loss for teachers that tried to stop in-person learning. Rather than attempt to pursue leave options, I chose to resign and to walk away from the school district that had meant so much to me as a student, teacher, and community member of Winston-Dillard for most of my life.

Editor's Update: On Oct. 19, Douglas High School announced a student had tested positive for COVID-19. Multiple teachers called in sick, leaving the school no other option but to close its doors the next day. The following is a letter Parazoo prepared for her former principal and superintendent, announcing her decision to leave her position.

“I started preschool at Douglas High School when I was 4. I went from Kindergarten through Senior year in the Winston-Dillard School district. I was a 4.0 student, varsity athlete, all-state softball player, ASB president, and leader in NHS and Spanish club. The friendships and memories that I made in this school are innumerable.

I went to the University of Oregon where I earned a BA in Spanish. I went to college for a term in Oviedo, Spain and I’ve traveled to many countries in my short 31 years on this earth. No place felt more like home to me than returning as a Spanish teacher in 2018 and replacing my own Spanish teacher, Mrs. New.

I received “New Teacher of the Year” in 2018-2019 and soon was leading the Student Body and the NHS clubs in addition to coaching softball, raising two toddlers, and helping my husband run his business. During this year I completed my master’s degree in Secondary Education with a 3.94 GPA. I spoke at the Winston First Citizens banquet to honor the new members, as a previously recognized Student First Citizen, too. I was busy, but I loved investing in the school that built me.

I was influential in helping with the G.O. bond that passed at our school, and I drove students around to distribute flyers throughout the community after school. I chaperoned dances, cooked BBQ at homecoming, helped my classes organize food drives and blood drives and I did this while taking time away from my own family. I believed in Douglas High School with every ounce of my being.

This year has been difficult. Teachers banded together to fight for face-to-face CDL rather than third-party courses that were boring and dated. We planned, prepped, set up extra monitors and video cameras so that we could teach students in the best way we knew how to- with our voices.

This week Douglas High School opened outside of state guidance. They fought and pleaded a case based on misperceptions and false information. School board members threatened and berated teachers, and the community bashed them for wanting to keep our students and their own families safe. We asked for a plan. We asked that our district communicate this plan early to allow all stakeholders time to prepare. We asked to consider the risk that opening would have when our Covid-19 cases are rising, flu season is approaching, our building is poorly ventilated and under construction. We wanted them to plan for Thanksgiving gatherings and Christmas break travel.

Instead, our district met with the ODE and pleaded for exemption from the rules. We don’t meet the exemption numbers either. They threatened teachers that if they didn’t show up to school, they would lose their jobs. And they put many teachers in an uncomfortable position to either risk their own safety or to risk their jobs and their livelihood. You showed the teachers that you didn’t care what their thoughts were.

Here’s what they didn’t consider: I will not stand for this irresponsible and inconsiderate action. It is a slap in the face of a person who has invested the better part of her life building up a school. I will stand with my convictions, and I will focus on rebuilding myself to a point where I’m emotionally stable enough to fight this and the injustices throughout our district again. I pray that the opening is successful and that students and families remain healthy, but I fear for the worst. Our community does not have the means to fight this virus like the elite in our country. Many people live below the poverty line and will not receive the medical attention necessary to defeat Covid-19. They are raised by grandparents or older parents, and many are worried.

At the end of the day, I didn’t lose Douglas High School. Douglas High School lost me.

Thank you for allowing me to work with our future leaders. The students are and have always been the best part of teaching. I hope you keep them safe.”

2021 OEA/NEA POSITIONS OPEN FOR NOMINATION & ELECTION

The following positions are open for nomination for the 2021 elections:

Elected at OEA RA:

n OEA President: 1 position for a 2-year term n OEA Vice President: 1 position for a 2-year term n NEA Director: 1 position for a 3-yr term (term begins September 1, 2021) n Education Support Professional Director: 1 position for a 3-yr term

Elected by Mail Ballot: State Delegates to the NEA RA: 13 positions: n Region I:

Six (6) positions for a 3-year term; n Region II:

Four (4) positions for a 3-year term; n Region III:

Three (3) positions for a 3-year term.

(The number of delegates per region may be adjusted as the number of members within the region dictates as indicated by the JanuaryFebruary NEA membership report.) OEA Board of Directors: 9 positions for 3-year terms in Board Districts: n 03b (Salem-Keizer EA) n 04 (Three Rivers Education Council) n 05 (Eugene UniServ Council) n 07 (Cascade UniServ Council) n 10a (Portland A.T.) n 14 (East Multnomah County UniServ

Council) n 17a (Santiam UniServ Council) n 18 (Mt. Hood UniServ Council) n 26a (Three Valley UniServ Council)

1 positions for a 2-year term in Board District: n 26b (Three Valley UniServ Council)

1 positions for a 1-year term in Board Districts: n 20b (Metro SE UniServ Council)