Mississippi Teachers are organizing a protest at the Capitol on Friday, to demand that state leaders refrain from reopening schools for next school year because of the state’s worsening coronavirus statistics. “Mississippi Teachers Unite,” a Facebook group, is organizing the event. It lists two demands. The group describes itself as “a nonaffiliated grassroots group Mississippi teachers, school personnel, and supportive community members who care about the safety of our students and ourselves in returning to school.” Max Vanlandingham was a teacher who helped plan the event. “Parents want children to go to school, children want to go to school, teachers want teachers to be at school, but it’s unsafe at this time,” he said. He stressed that Friday’s rally at 11 a.m. is not a strike but a group representing teachers’ concerns about returning to school as there are more deaths and new cases in Mississippi. Teachers in Mississippi cannot strike legally. If they do, they will be fired and expelled from teaching. This comes after dire warnings from officials. The state’s top health officials last week urged people to be concerned about the virus as ICUs and hospitals are running out of bed and have to turn away patients. The number of ICU patients has increased 16 days in a row, while the number of ventilator-dependent patients has increased over the past nine days. Don Turner, a Mississippian, said that it is not sensible to return to a model we considered unsafe four months ago. He also founded the Mississippi chapter for Safe Return to Campus. This group advocates that schools should not be allowed to return to campus until there are no new cases in 14 days. Governor. Gov. The state Department of Education offers three options for schools in the state to choose from when they open their doors for the new school year. They can choose between traditional schooling, online learning, and in-person. Every school district must make a decision by July 31 and post it on its website. Many schools have done this already, making difficult decisions about when and how students will return to school, if any, what lunches will be served, and how bus transportation will work. Reeves announced that 13 counties would be subject to a mask ordinance. This was based on the criteria of seeing 200 new cases in the past 14 days, or 500 cases per 100,000 residents. This has a negative impact on plans for those counties. They now need to work out how to comply with the mandate that limits social gatherings to 10 indoors and 20 outside. Take our survey: How should Mississippi schools reopen for the fall?