Dupo schools open to students, so this teacher resigned rather than risk COVID exposure

Joshua Oaks had to put it all on paper before he could talk about it: His teaching experience, his grandmother’s death, his father’s cancer, the roof that collapsed, and why he felt he had no choice but to quit his new teaching job just before the school year began.

“It’s been hard for me to communicate lately,” he said in an interview. “Writing it out was therapeutic.”

Oaks was set to start his new job teaching chemistry at Dupo High School this fall. He’d already worked in the district as a permanent sub in the spring, though he was only in the building for about a week.

Then Dupo 196 — along with every other district in Illinois — shut down for remote learning because of COVID-19.

As the summer passed, the district surveyed staff about their concerns and Oaks prepared for the chemistry exam he needed to take before starting his job. Positive cases in St. Clair County surged, and the health department recommended all districts seriously consider going on a fully remote learning schedule to start the school year. Superintendent Kelly Carpenter said she recommended the school board heed that advice.

Then a split school board voted Aug. 12. on a hybrid learning plan that would include both remote and in-person learning days for students. Staff would be in-person for the full week.

The day after the vote, Oaks quit.

It’s not just the rising cases in St. Clair County that convinced Oaks he couldn’t teach in-person this fall. His grandmother died of coronavirus while living at Four Fountains Nursing Home in Belleville and only 10 people could attend her funeral. Along with his wife and their two young daughters, Oaks’ lives with a brother who has had multiple collapsed lungs, including one during the pandemic that required a week-long stay in a hospital.

Oaks also cares for his disabled 61-year-old father, who has been battling cancer for five years.

“If it’s a good morning, and he doesn’t throw up right away, he might be lucky enough to make it to the couch before using the trash bin,” Oaks wrote in a letter to the Belleville News-Democrat. “ ... I’m 31 years old going on 60.”

Oaks and his wife were living in Rapid City, South Dakota, where she was stationed through the Air Force. when they learned about his father’s illness, she asked to be stationed at Scott Air Force Base.

For Oaks, his job wasn’t worth risking the loss of his father and brother.

“I went to my grandmother’s funeral. That was enough for me, having a COVID death in the family,” Oaks said. “We’ve alreaday gone through enough. It was a no brainer.”

Even while he’s convinced he’s made the right decision for his family’s health, it was a less than opportune moment for Oaks to quit his job. Days before, much of the family’s upstairs ceiling caved in, and they were denied by insurance. For now, they’re staying in temporary housing through the Scott Air Force Base.

When Oaks told his principals he was quitting, he said they listened and understood why he had to quit, but didn’t offer an alternative. He said he didn’t ask for one, either.

“When I went in and expressed my concerns, they were limited in what they could probably do for me,” Oaks said.

In an email, Carpenter said the Dupo school district is following all recommended practices, including masks and social distancing. Junior and high school students follow directional signs to facilitate social distancing, and elementary students remain in the same class while teachers rotate.

Oaks, meanwhile, is looking for another job, but doesn’t know if it’ll be in education or not. He said “none of that stuff really matters when it comes to family and protecting the people you care about.”

“I know that one day I’ll look back on it, and I know it’ll be a difficult by proud moment where I chose to stick to my guns, my virtues,” Oaks said.

This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Dupo schools open to students, so this teacher resigned rather than risk COVID exposure."