After a summer of consideration and discussions, one Mid-Prairie teacher decided to pack up her supplies just before the start of the school year. Fourth grade teacher Suzanne Yoder has been part of the Mid-Prairie school district since 1993, but after the school board made the decision to implement a fully on-site learning model, she made her decision.

Yoder is a breast cancer survivor and struggles with asthma, meaning she is at a higher risk of contracting and suffering from COVID-19.

After handing in her resignation following the Mid-Prairie public forum on August 8, she had mixed emotions, “Part of me felt like a weight was lifted off because I made the decision that I was warned about for five months. So there was that ‘Ok, I made the decision.’ And that was for a split second, and then it was heartbreaking. I’m a teacher, that’s all I’ve ever wanted to be, it’s all I’ve ever known. And I suddenly no longer was after I turned in that letter. Then of course you go over in your head ‘Well, you’re being a baby. Maybe I should just suck it up and go for it.’ Well, I said I dedicated all those years of my life to other people’s children often at the expense of my own kids, and I just wasn’t ready to sacrifice my life. I will dedicate my life for the school and for them, but I would not sacrifice my life for them.”

Yoder says she has no hard feelings for the school district or the school board, but she didn’t feel safe returning to on-site learning with her current health conditions. She’s currently looking for an opportunity to continue to teach and remains hopeful for her future in teaching. As of Sunday, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health, Washington County’s 14-day COVID-19 positivity rate was 4%. When a county reaches 15%, then school districts may request to move to online learning for up to two weeks.