Skiatook teacher resigns due to COVID-19 concerns

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    SKIATOOK, OK (KFOR) — A Skiatook Public Schools teacher resigned over her concerns with returning to school amid the pandemic.

Nancy Shively says she has underlying health conditions, and she didn’t want to risk her life.

“I’m over 60, I’m overweight, and none of that was going to work for me if I got COVID,” she said. “In the end I just had to say, ‘I can’t.’”

Shively spent over four decades in education; the last two years were at Skiatook.

She also didn’t want heartbreak for her own family.

“My husband, when we met, he was a widower, and he lost his first wife at a fairly young age, and nobody should have to live through that twice,” she said.

Shively says it was a hard decision to leave something so ingrained in her identity.

“I love teaching. I love the kids, and I’m worried about them,” she said.

Shively says she may have stayed if a virtual option was offered.

Shively gained attention after an op-ed in USA Today, where she writes she regrets voting for President Trump because of his response to the pandemic.

She says teachers are at the end of the chain, feeling the effects of decisions made by those in power.

“The one place it has to stop is with teachers and children. I’m just not willing to take the consequences of all that failed leadership with my life,” she said.

Skiatook Public Schools says three staff members have resigned due to COVID-19 concerns. The State Department of Education says they don’t track those numbers statewide.

Shively says she doesn’t want heartbreak for any student, especially those raised by grandparents.

“So a kid gets infected at school, and brings it home to the one stable adult in their lives, I don’t want any kid to have to live with that. I don’t want any grandparents to die because of it,” she said.

Shively says she still wants to continue working with students, such as with one-on-one tutoring and being a virtual mentor.

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