Arizona superintendent dismisses hopes for reopening schools this fall as 'fantasy'

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Teachers at deadly coronavirus risk even with all precautions: AZ superintendent

Hayden-Winkelman School District Superintendent Jeff Gregorich discusses losing a teacher to coronavirus and whether it’s realistic to have children return to schools in the coming months.

Sending students back to school during the coronavirus pandemic is pure “fantasy,” Hayden-Winkelman School District (Ariz.) Superintendent Jeff Gregorich told Fox Business Network's "Varney & Co." Tuesday.

On June 26, local elementary school teacher Kimberley Chavez Lopez Byrd, 61, died of COVID-19 after teaching summer school. Two other teachers were also infected even though the team followed all safety precautions, Gregorich said.

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“They were team teaching because we were trying to learn to use the online tools because of the second wave we're expecting in the fall,” he said. “We wanted to be prepared this time around and that didn’t work.”

Gregorich told host Stuart Varney that he doesn’t believe young students will be able to follow social distancing guidelines.

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“So many of my children, students go home to their multi-generation families in a close-knit community,” he said. “And I don't see how it's not going to be transmitted to their grandparents and throughout our community.”

Gregorich said his goal is to keep his staff and the school’s families safe until a vaccine is developed while using advanced online education that was not available in March.

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“I don't think you could just put kids into a classroom and they're going to learn,” he said. “I'm scared for teachers in Arizona. I'm scared for teachers throughout America [at] risk of catching it … We can't afford to lose more Kims.”