Arizona Teacher Resigns Over COVID-19 Fears, Faces $2,000 Fine

By Dana Cruz Aug 07 2020, 00:48 AM EDT

An Arizona teacher resigned after being told that he has to be on campus to teach amid the coronavirus pandemic, and now, he is facing a $2,000 fine.

Tavious Peterkin was supposed to start his first year of teaching at Dysart Unified School District in Arizona. He has been a teacher for 15 years and was by the school to teach band and choir.

Charging a fine is common in Arizona school districts. Teachers in the state are very few, making it hard to find someone to replace the vacant position.

The fine is there to cover the cost of hiring someone new, according to the Associate Press. But Peterkin's case questions if charging fees would be fair, given the state of the pandemic. Peterkin said he thought he would be excused from paying the fine because of COVID-19, but he was wrong.

Dangerous Year for Band and Chorus

Peterkin told Good Morning America that what pushed him to resign was when he was told to prepare to teach virtually inside the classroom starting in August. He was also told that the face-to-face classes would begin by October.

"It was the face-to-face instruction that was the major red flag," he said, but teaching from the classroom also gave rise to many concerns for him.

He told the news outlet that he usually teaches 50 to 70 students. "We were being forced into the classroom around one another," he said, feeling guilty that he may be the one to pass the disease on to his family, especially his three-year-old son.

Since he teaches band and chorus, students will have to take off their masks and face coverings to play certain instruments, leading to further spread of the virus.

In an Arizona Republic report, Peterkin said it's okay for him to teach many students in song. He loves his job and is passionate about teaching. He said if there had not been a pandemic, he probably wouldn't have thought of quitting his job.

But 2020 is a dangerous year to teach band and chorus. The University of Iowa Health Care said wind instrument players and singers might be at a higher risk for spreading coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). One of the dangers is the production of droplets or aerosol that could spread through wind, but more studies are still in order.

Peterkin signed his contract on May 16, when COVID-19 was already rampant in Arizona. Months later, as the cases in the state did not see better numbers, he brought his concerns to the school principal on July 10. The principal passed them along to human resources.

He suggested teaching music theory as an option by incorporating lessons through math and science. He also said many of his students are doing well in the at-home, virtual-learning model.

Peterkin never heard back from the school district, and he resigned on July 20 or two days before his scheduled orientation.

Since Arizona first reopened on May 15, it has seen a surge in reported coronavirus cases. By late July, most intensive care units in the state were full, said the state's health department.

New daily cases in Arizona are at 1,008 on average this week, and the state has had at least 180,000 confirmed cases in total.