A Highland Elementary School teacher who recently tested positive for COVID-19 has resigned.
Rebecca Combs, 60, was in her 19th year in the Weld RE-9 School District where she was an English Language Development teacher at the elementary school in Pierce.
Combs said her decision stems from a difference of opinion with district leaders on protocol for managing the COVID-19 pandemic.
The elementary school has seen an outbreak of cases dating to before the Thanksgiving recess, with the entire fifth grade in quarantine through the end of this week, and multiple positive tests among staff.
Combs submitted her resignation on Monday afternoon, three days after her husband sent a letter to district officials asking them to enforce a mask policy. Rebecca Combs learned of her positive result on Nov. 27.
“It boils down to the issue of the masks,” she said. “I don’t have any problem teaching in person, and my students benefit greatly from being in person and it’s important for them. My issue is there are known protocols to keep everyone safe and the district is saying we won’t follow those protocols.”
Superintendent Rob Ring on Tuesday declined to comment on Combs’ resignation, citing confidentially on a personnel matter. Ring said it’s the district’s intention to fill Combs’ position, which entails teaching English to Spanish-speaking students.
Ring said while COVID-19 has led to a “different year” in the district, the objective of the school system has always been to reduce the effects of the pandemic on students and staff.
“We’re excited we able to maintain in-person learning because we feel like that is what is best our students,” Ring said. “We worked to minimize the impact in the district. It’s been a different year, for sure.”
Combs said there is no social distancing at the elementary school, and no system of cohorts in place to limit contact among staff and students. Cohorting is the practice of keeping students in small groups through the school day and helps “limit the number of contacts each individual has,” according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Ring said he was not surprised to hear of an employee’s resignation related to COVID-19 because it’s a situation his superintendent colleagues across the state have encountered.
A spokesman for the Colorado Education Association said the organization does not have data on the number of teachers statewide who’ve stepped down or resigned because of COVID-19. The Colorado Education Association is the state’s largest education union with more 38,000 members including teachers, higher education faculty and support professionals.
Ring and Combs both said they consider the matter closed and over.
“I’m pretty sure the 4 million who tested positive for COVID-19 in the month of November, this is not a ground-breaking event,” Ring said.
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December 02, 2020 at 09:04AM
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