How education reporters stay safe

Education journalists share their safety protocols for going back into schools and board meetings. 

As more and more education reporters go back into schools this year, they are testing and upgrading masks in order to stay safe. 

Some use at-home tests, while others use PCR tests.

Several bring hand sanitizer along with them to use during and after their school visits.

Some make sure to tell the people they’re interviewing that they’re vaccinated. (Some probably don’t.)

And they describe a variety of social distancing techniques to get the story without unnecessarily endangering themselves.

Thanks to all the reporters who shared their experiences!

Above: Des Moines Register/Iowa City Press-Citizen reporter Cleo Krejci, in a board meeting where she is the only person watching. 

Cleo Krejci, Des Moines Register/Iowa City Press

I wear a mask, usually a KN95. Everyone in the boardroom is masked.

[I’m] fully vaccinated and boosted! And the editors always stress that our health is more important than any story, so if I was feeling unsafe about going then I wouldn’t have to. They’re good about it. Luckily I feel comfortable going so it’s not an issue. 

But, the Iowa City school board doesn’t have a livestream of the meetings, so if I decided not to go out of safety concerns I’d have to watch the clip a few days later on YouTube.

Sawsan Morrar, Sacramento Bee

After one scare of being at an elementary school campus and being around a COVID positive principal, I try to test at home more regularly. The reality is if there was a direct contact exposure, staff and students will be informed, but they may not remember to notify the journalist that popped in for an interview for 30 min. 

I’ve been wearing surgical masks for the entirety of the pandemic, but only recently switched to KN95s when the Omicron variant began to spread.

Lily Altavena, Detroit Free Press

I mostly use a KN95 mask on my own, and I think our photographers have switched to those too. Then I ask the school what protocol they prefer we follow.

Naturally, I’ve kept more distance than I usually would, so like, sitting in a classroom or an office, I take a seat a few seats away from the kid/educators.

Above: “First in-person observation for a story since the pandemic began 🙌🏻,” tweeted Chalkbeat national education reporter Kalyn Belsha in December. 

Kalyn Belsha, Chalkbeat National

I don’t have a very special setup — I was wearing a fabric mask to go into schools, but recently bought some KN95s from VIDA that I’ll be wearing going forward. 

I keep generic hand sanitizer in my purse to use after reporting, and I bring my vaccine card on school visits.

Meg Woolhouse, GBH

My precautions can vary widely depending on the situation. KN95 mask is a must.

I don’t wear a face shield, it’s too off-putting, but I don’t judge if that’s in someone else’s comfort zone. I test before and after interviews, because I have a child in school myself and her classroom has fairly routinely had students with Covid. My employer has offered PPE and I have taken advantage of free tests given away at the public library and visited a city clinic that offers free PCR tests more times than I can remember.

Also, my editors have been aware of the in-person situations I enter and let me ultimately determine what is safe and what is not. I let the people I am interviewing know that I am vaxxed and boosted. When I do it usually prompts them to tell me their status as well. I haven’t been pressured in any way to go into situations where I’m uncomfortable. And I’ve been in a variety of schools and classrooms without contracting Covid. But my employer has made it abundantly clear they want reporters to be extremely cautious for their own good and the good of others. So I take many precautions and never rely on luck.

Above: Chalkbeat NY reporter Reema Amin during a recent visit to the New York Transit Museum.

Reema Amin, Chalkbeat NY

Pre-Omicron I was just wearing either a surgical mask, a cloth mask, or sometimes a KN95. During Omicron I actually haven’t been permitted inside of a school except for a brief moment last week, but I’ve decided to switch to N95s, given how contagious the variant is. 

I try to make sure I have some at-home tests at the ready in case I’m displaying symptoms, which I’d obviously use before/after visiting a school, if necessary.

Wearing the N95 while reporting out a story in the Bronx last week made me feel better about not inadvertently infecting a parent or child! It does feel safer because I believe the FDA considers it the most protective, and it does fit more snugly than any other mask I’ve owned.

Hannah Dellinger, Houston Chronicle

As far as PPE goes, I’ve been using KN95s or N95s when I’m able to find any in stock online. I opt for wearing glasses instead of contacts for the extra protection over my eyes. 

One technique I recently adopted while covering packed school board meetings with many unmasked people indoors has been to sit just outside the board room and stream the live meeting on my phone or laptop. That way I’m in a safe place with few people around me and I can still catch  speakers for further comment as well as the correct spelling of their names as they leave the meeting room. 

I also regularly take free PCR tests offered by the City of Houston and will start doing rapid testing periodically before and after covering events.

Anna Lynn Winfrey, Montrose Daily Press

The Covid policies in the district I cover are super lax. Masks are “recommended” but less than 10% of students wear them. Also, the vaccination rates around here are very low — less than half of people 5+ have gotten shots.  (I’m triple-vaxxed myself.)

I was wearing surgical masks whenever I went into schools and at board meetings. I’ve switched over to N95s over the past month as omicron has been spreading like wildfire.

Sometimes, I feel like it’s harder for me to build trust with people when I’m wearing a mask, especially if I’m one of the only people in a room wearing one. Still, I’ve made a conscious decision to avoid putting myself at risk.

Most people get used to me wearing a mask even if I get strange looks at first — [though] I’ve been called out a couple times, once by a county commissioner, for having one on in public.

Ann Doss Helms, WFAE North Carolina

When the pandemic first hit WFAE got us all boom sticks so we could stand further away for interviews. I’ve used it a few times and keep it in my car, but especially if I’m in a classroom it gets in the way.

After the CDC said cloth masks weren’t very effective against omicron, we raised the issue in a staff meeting and promptly got some KN95s delivered to our homes (we’re still working from home except for hosts who need the studio). I think they might be the same kind that ticked off the Congressional Republicans. 😁 [above]

We’ve been strongly encouraged to get vaccinated, with time off as needed for any reactions. Just this week we were told 100% of staff are vaxxed. Also, we were told WFAE will reimburse us for COVID testing if we’re exposed on the job.

As a 62-year-old reporter with mild asthma, I’m not that worried about exposure and, knock on wood, haven’t gotten COVID. I get into schools as often as I can, most recently at a high school where I was shoulder-to-shoulder with teens boarding buses. I am doing most of my school board meetings from home — not because of COVID but because of time. I live 30-minutes plus from Charlotte’s government center, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board meetings routinely run from 6-10 p.m… Remote is far more effective, but I worry about losing the personal contact and try to do in-person periodically for that reason.

Above: KPCC/LAist reporter Kyle Stokes in March 2021, when LAUSD campuses were still closed.

Kyle Stokes, KPCC/LAist

Even then it kinda felt like overkill. By April, I wasn’t using a face shield any longer.

Michael Elsen-Rooney, NY Daily News

I’ve tried to defer to the preferences/policies of the schools as much as possible. When I spent a longer stretch in a school earlier this fall, I double-masked, and when I’ve visited schools throughout the fall, I’ve worn surgical masks.

I haven’t been inside a school building during the Omicron surge, but I imagine I would try to use a KN95, which most school staff are using at this point.

Rukmini Callimachi NYT

When I went to do the Jordyn story in Mississippi, the principal asked me to get a PCR test and then another one 48 hours later before she would let me into her school.

I basically took one the day before I left New Jersey, and another the day I got to Mississippi and then presented her the two tests.

And, of course, masking.

Above: Claire McInerny, KUT

Claire McInerny, KUT

I’m getting tested through my employer, University of Texas, so I don’t have to scramble for tests. I just double mask with a surgical mask usually. Because the kids are really good about keeping their masks on so that makes me feel good in classrooms.

 

Previously from The Grade

Back to school for reporters, too

Education reporters back in schools — and newsrooms