Education students placed in school districts with varying mask policies following Governor’s executive order

by ELI KEITH

Staff Writer

Students in the University of Mary Washington’s College of Education will soon begin their required practicum hours for the spring semester in area schools amid multiple school divisions doing away with their mask mandates. The removal of mask mandates in school districts that have elected to do so follows new Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order that loosens COVID-19 restrictions. 

In Fredericksburg, UMW students are between counties that do have a mask mandate in place and counties that do not. Stafford County, Prince William County and Fredericksburg City have kept their mask mandates, while Spotsylvania County and King George County are opting to follow Youngkin’s executive order. 

Several of the school districts that have not yet lifted their mask mandate, Fredericksburg neighbor Prince William County among them, have sued Gov. Youngkin for this decision and left it up to the courts to decide who has the authority in this situation. The executive order contradicts Virginia Senate Bill 1303, which “requires each school board to provide such in-person instruction in a manner in which it adheres, to the maximum extent practicable, to any currently applicable mitigation strategies … to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 that have been provided by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

This creates a varying and unpredictable environment for education students, many of whom have yet to step into a physical classroom for observational requirements.

Not unlike other adults working in environments where they are at risk of contracting COVID-19, students participating in practicums in public schools have some concerns. 

“Personally, I feel very scared and uncomfortable, especially since I will be around high school students, many of which could be athletes who have extensive, out of community interactions,” said sophomore English major Caleigh Deane, who is in the secondary education program in the College of Education and has received a practicum placement in Stafford County, which still has a mask mandate in place. 

Junior elementary education major Brianna Burckhalter has been placed in Spotsylvania County, where the mask mandate has been removed for students and visitors.

“I personally am very nervous,” she said. “I think it is unfair specifically because most of [the] students in elementary school most likely are not vaccinated.”

Youngkin’s executive order states that any Virginia public school student and their parents can elect for that student to attend school in person without a mask and without providing a reason. For students in non-mandate districts, this provides them with a choice. UMW students, however, will be going into schools for practicum required to wear a mask, regardless of which district they are in, as they are expected to adhere to the University’s current policy that masks are to be worn indoors.

Students in the College of Education do not have a say on which school district they are placed in, primarily because they are placed with a teacher in a school who is able to mentor them at a time that fits all schedules involved. In recent semesters, however, practicums have been conducted in several different ways in order to meet the program requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some students have been in the College of Education for multiple semesters and still have not stepped into a classroom.

Many students in the College of Education will be placed in Spotsylvania County, while others will have placements in Stafford County or Fredericksburg City. These practicums will vary to a large degree in regards to how much their placement school is taking action toward combating the spread of COVID-19. Students placed in Stafford County or Fredericksburg City will be in classroom environments that are aligned with the CDC’s guidance for combatting COVID-19 in K-12 schools, which recommends “universal indoor masking for all” regardless of vaccination status.

Still, school landscapes are expected to return to normal when the pandemic has ended, and current education students are only a couple of years from entering their own classrooms. 

“It’s very important students have as many in-person experiences as can be safely set up for them,” said Janine Davis, associate dean and professor in the College of Education. Davis, as well as Director of Clinical Experiences Kristina Peck, scour the news and updates from school boards about how schools are going forward as each new semester begins. 

“They [school boards] don’t ever ask us what we think,” said Davis.

All residential UMW students were sent home in March of 2020, and from that semester until the fall 2021 semester many students did not go to an in-person practicum. The virtual practicums took the form of modules, lesson videos and virtual tutoring or teaching sessions with students in one of the five school districts that UMW students may be placed in. According to Davis and Peck, students who are immunocompromised or at high risk will still be able to take this option if they must.

Despite the concerns of the masking status in some schools, there are students who are excited to simply get into a classroom. 

“I am a firm believer that a virtual practicum experience will not adequately prepare someone to teach in a real classroom environment,” said sophomore Layla Barnes, an English major in the secondary education program. 

There are also interactions outside of the physical classroom that do not occur without being physically in schools. 

“You’re not walking into the building and interacting with the office staff, interacting with any kids that are not in your class, seeing teachers who are teaching next door,” said Davis. Davis believes that, though the teaching can be done virtually, more subtle aspects of schools may be difficult to learn without walking through the hallways.

“We can’t predict what’s going to happen every single day… all those little tiny things that you just don’t think about,” said Peck. In virtual settings “it was really hard to build relationships with the kids. You had to go really out of your way, even then there were some kids you never even knew what they looked like the entire year.”

Due to the pandemic’s effects on school structure, students’ home lives and socialization opportunities, students are “entering a very different classroom from what they left,” said Peck. “One of the roles of a teacher is to almost be a therapist at times. You have to have that trauma-informed practice.” 

Despite concerns that entering public schools without mask mandates puts practicum students there at risk, some believe that virtual practicums do not prepare students to teach as well as in-person ones do. 

Burckhalter completed an in-person practicum in an elementary school last semester.

“I valued being in person in the classroom because I got to have hands-on experience with the students and could learn and help teach in the classroom,” she said. “I feel like if I was virtual in practicum, I would feel very lost and not learn much. I would not be able to see how the students are collaborating, it makes it more difficult to help the students. It would be a big adjustment from being in person.”

While the outcome of this lawsuit has yet to be decided, the unpredictability and variability of the situation reflect the reality of a profession that is equally as dynamic and complex.