By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Missouri teachers are among those who will be eligible to next receive the COVID-19 in Phase 1B - Tier 3, once that's activated by the state.
Missouri educators are trying to speed up that process.
Darbie Valenti-Huff, the curriculum advisor for the St. Joseph School District, was named the Missouri Teacher of the Year in 2017.
She, along with the last four Teacher of the Year winners in the state, penned a letter to Missouri's Department of Health and Senior Services Director, Dr. Randall Williams.
The other signees are Darrion Cockrell (Lindbergh), Melissa Grandel (Fordland), Shelly Parks (Francis Howell) and Beth Davey (Ritenour).
The intent, the letter says, is to "prioritize Missouri school teachers and support staff for immediate vaccination."
"We are connected with teachers in rural, suburban and urban areas," Valenti-Huff said of the Teacher of the Year recipients who signed the letter. "So, we just try to do our best to represent them and be a voice for them. This is something we've had a lot of teachers express concern over. So, we felt like it was time to step up and be a voice for those teachers."
Over 94 percent of Missouri educators support keeping kids in school. Valenti-Huff is among those. The St. Joseph School District made the return to full-time, in-person learning this semester.
Valenti-Huff commends the district for the work they've done to keep students and staff safe. Now, she wants state health officials to do their part.
"I want our kids in schools," Valenti-Huff said, "but I also want our students and staff to be safe. To insure that, we need to make sure our teachers are vaccinated so we can insure our teachers are healthy and so our students remain healthy, too."
Valenti-Huff and the four other Teachers of the Year penned their letter on February 10. As of Tuesday afternoon, they had not received any correspondence or feedback from Dr. Williams or anyone at the state level.
"There's been lots of people advocating on behalf of teachers," Valenti-Huff said. "So, I think (Dr. Williams) is very well aware of our concerns. So, hopefully this letter just reiterated that our teachers are still wanting these vaccines."
Of the eight states that border Missouri, seven of them have at least some COVID-19 vaccines available to educators. Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois and Tennessee are among the 26 U.S. states currently vaccinating school staff.
The one state bordering Missouri that hasn't started vaccinated teachers yet is Oklahoma, though they're set to start offering the shot to educators on February 22.
Missouri activated Phase 1b - Tier 2 of its COVID vaccination plan on January 14. This includes anyone age 65 or older, first responders, emergency management and public works employees and any individual considered to be "high risk" with underlying health conditions.
Medical personnel and residents of long-term care were among the first Missourians to receive the COVID vaccine.
Valenti-Huff says the expectation is for Missouri teachers to be vaccinated in April, which she worries may be too late.
"We'd love to see it happen a little sooner," she said. "Even if we remain in the same tier. But, I'm just afraid that (April) will be too late in the school year."
A study published by the CDC in December found that "attending school and child care was not associated with children receiving positive COVID-19 test results."
While it's unknown exactly how many teachers have died of COVID-19, a report from the American Federation of Teachers, one of the nation's largest teachers' unions, knows of at least 530 educators nationwide who have died from virus complications.
There's no indication that teachers are being infected, or dying, at a higher rate than people in other professions. It's also difficult to exactly say how the teachers who died contracted the virus.
It's also not known how many Missouri educators have died from COVID-19, but 34-year-old AshLee DeMarinis, a special education teacher at John Evans Middle School in Potosi, Missouri, was among them.
Valenti-Huff would rather Missourians be safe than sorry, and not add to the trend.
"I've been really impressed with how it's gone locally," Valenti-Huff said. "I just know at the state level, we've unfortunately lost so many teachers and students through this, and we don't want to see that be a trend that continues."
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