While Alabama’s 722,000 students won’t return to k-12 classrooms this spring, some teachers will be returning to school as early as April 6.

As officials form their plans for distance learning, due to the state department of education by Friday, teachers are learning whether they're required to return to school buildings to do their work.

School officials can legally require their teachers to return to work, but some are asking whether it's safe for them to do so.

"What we're faced with, I don't think we should be putting anybody in harm's way," said Birmingham American Federation of Teachers President Richard Franklin, whose members include teachers, custodians, bus drivers and lunchroom workers.

Franklin said as the number of positive tests for COVID-19 have increased in recent days, he's been bombarded with calls from members asking questions about the safety of their work-related duties.

State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey warned school officials to be mindful of the public health concern caused by COVID-19 during a phone conference on Friday morning. If officials are planning to require employees return to the school buildings, he said, "Be thinking about latex gloves, hand sanitizer. Be very focused on health and keeping employees safe."

Mackey reiterated those warnings in a memo to superintendents on Monday. Officials must have all schools cleaned and sanitized before April 6. "Please use common sense and limit both the number and time that teachers and staff will spend together," Mackey wrote.

But teachers "are very afraid," said Franklin. Many have children and are caregivers for elderly family members. "They're going to do what they need to do for the kids, but they also want people to be fair to them."

Mackey's memo included a letter from State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris addressed to superintendents, laying out guidelines for conditions that must be met to stay within guidance already issued.

In short, school officials must adhere to Alabama Department of Public Health guidelines, which currently ask for school employees to work from home wherever possible but "if working from home is not feasible, the employee should practice social distancing (by maintaining consistent six-foot distance between persons) and follow public health guidelines."

Harris addressed special considerations for high-risk populations, which include people age 65 years of age and older, those with chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma, serious heart conditions, or who are immunocompromised including cancer treatment, those who are severely obese and those with certain underlying medical conditions.

Related: Alabama K-12 schools are closed. Now what?

In Hoover City Schools, teachers already have been working on their distance learning plans.

"We realize that many of the resources teachers need are at the school," Hoover City Schools Superintendent Dr. Kathy Murphy said. "They need to be able to get to those materials to prepare for online learning or the packages that need to be put together for students."

Principals are making schools accessible to teachers as needed, she added. As soon as Hoover officials knew schools would not reopen, the deep-cleaning started.

On Monday, Murphy sent an email to teachers and faculty outlining the employee rights under the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which goes into effect April 2, that could come into play as teachers consider returning to school buildings.

Under the FFCRA, an employee qualifies for paid sick time if the employee is unable to work due to a need for leave because the employee:

is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19; has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine related to COVID-19; is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis; is caring for an individual subject to an order described in (1) or self-quarantine as described in (2); is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed (or child care provider is unavailable) for reasons related to COVID-19; or is experiencing any other substantially-similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of Labor and Treasury.

Up to two weeks of paid sick leave is available, but the rate and amount paid depends on which of the six reasons the employee requests leave.

For employees who are caring for a child whose school or childcare provider is closed or unavailable (reason number five in the list above), an additional 10 weeks of partially paid expanded family and medical leave is available.

Franklin recommended any teacher or other school employee who has concerns about returning to work to call and email their principal. “If the principal is not receptive, reach out to the local school board and then superintendent.”

Related: Coronavirus in Alabama: Cases, maps, charts and resources

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