RACINE â Saturday was a day of two protests in Racine over whether students and staff members of the Racine Unified School District should return to in-person learning.
The first was the Safety, Equity and Trust Car Caravan, led by Racine Educators United, for parents and educators who donât believe itâs safe yet to return to in-person learning without precautions like vaccinations, contact tracing, regular testing, building updates and more in place.
The second was the Rally For Choice for those who want Unified to put together a plan that will give them a choice between in-person or virtual learning.
Some parents were outraged when they learned that Racine Educators United had asked teachers through a survey if they would be willing to participate in a mock funeral procession this Saturday to âhighlight returning teachers to the building is unsafeâ at this point in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reannyn Bickle, who has been a vocal advocate of returning to in-person learning for Racine Unified students, called the idea for the procession âtruly disgustingâ in an email to District Superintendent Eric Gallien.
âIf this mock funeral protest happens, thatâs an assured few hundred families that will be leaving this district,â Bickle wrote.
A Kenosha educator is mourning the loss of her husband who died Jan. 3 from COVID-19 which she said she was exposed to at school and inadvertently passed along to him.
Jeanne Holmes Hoffman said she had been on unpaid medical leave from Sept. 28 to Nov. 30 caring for her husband Jim, an electrical engineer and service manager who was on disability and had health issues that rendered him high-risk for contracting the virus. Hoffman, a special education support professional at Brass Community School, returned to work Dec. 1 and tested positive for COVID-19 just nine days after.
Three weeks later, her husband, a veteran who served eight years in the U.S. Air Force, died.