PWEA president organizes teacher protest using child coffins, pushed to reopen swimming pool during virus outbreak, document shows

Teachers paraded around the parking lot of the Prince William County Public Schools headquarters on Wednesday, October 7 with child-sized coffins mounted to their vehicles.

Two small coffins, one black and the other white, were on top of SUVs that were part of the “Mobilize to Survive” caravan, organized by the Prince William Education Association. The protesters drove around and honked their car horns while children and parents looked on, and county School Board members sat inside the building during a closed meeting.

Teachers were protesting the possibility of returning to the classroom on November 10, when the school division had planned on sending students back to class in a hybrid learning model, with some using computers to learn at home, while others were to be inside classrooms.

The Prince William Education Association did not respond to a request for comment about the parade. It did post a statement to its Facebook page, noting “we acknowledge that some found the decorations on two of the cars offensive. Please accept our sincerest apologies.”

Maggie Hansford, a former teacher and a one-time candidate for the Prince William Board of County Supervisors endorsed by Democrats, heads the education association. New information obtained today by PLN indicates Hansford, who serves on a homeowners association in Bristow, pushed in July to reopen the neighborhood swimming pool as Northern Virginia was allowed to enter Phase 3 of Gov. Ralph Northam’s reopening plan following the pandemic lockdowns.

Meeting minutes from the homeowners association meeting state, “Maggie Hansford noted, “basketball hoops and playgrounds have been used during COVID-19 to be used at your own risk, and believes we are able to open successfully in Phase 3.”

Hanford did not return a request for comment on this issue, either. Public swimming pools in Prince William County never opened in 2020.

After the teacher protest Wednesday night, Prince William County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Steven L. Walts backed off that plan which would have sent all grade levels back in November. Instead, he opting to send back kindergarteners, as well as children in first, second, and third grades.

Walts made the decision shortly after a briefing from the region’s top health official, Dr. Alison Ansher, who noted the coronavirus infection rate continues to decline in Prince William County. The call also came after a survey conducted by student representative to the School Board Ben Kim, of Unity Reed High School, showed 60 percent of county high school students want to return to class in person in November.

Originally, the Prince William school division had planned to start the school year in a hybrid learning setting, with the plan having nearly 80 percent support from parents. The school division in August, however, chose to send students back to class virtually and used a $20 million in federal CARES Act funds to purchase laptops for students.

Since the start of the pandemic, one child in Virginia who was between the ages of 10 and 19-years-old has died from the coronavirus. The death was reported in the Southside Health District which borders North Carolina.

There have been more than 2,200 cases of the disease in children and teens aged zero to 19 reported in the Prince William Health District, which also includes the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

“If you’re trying to argue something, and you have a valid point, then you don’t need a display like that,” said Jennifer Alderman, a parent of two Prince William public school students. “That was fear-mongering.”

Alderman stood with other parents who were waiting to speak during the open session of the School Board meeting. She supports giving people the choice to go back to school, to let those who cannot return to in-person learning due to health concerns, or out of fear of the virus, to continue learning virtually from home.

“Teachers are losing our support when they’re pulling dramatic displays like that,” said Alderman. “Many of us have to go back to work. Many of us are already back to work.”

Late last month, PLN toured Saint John Paul The Great Catholic High School near Dumfries, where students have returned to class and are learning in a hybrid model of both online classes at home somedays, and in-person instruction at school other days.

Students we talked to at the high school said they liked the flexibility that online learning provides, but all were happy to back in school, in person.