The union representing Hawaii’s public school teachers is pressuring state officials to implement safer school conditions as COVID-19 cases surge throughout the islands and teachers express concerns about the safety of classrooms.

The Hawaii State Teachers Association, which represents about 13,700 public school teachers throughout the state, has sent an open letter to top state officials expressing concerns about crowded classrooms, poor ventilation, inconsistent case reporting and notification, and difficulty enforcing mask-wearing among students.

It’s not clear from the letter whether those concerns extend to the majority of schools or a subset. But HSTA says that most teachers don’t feel that conditions are safe for themselves or students. Right before schools reopened, HSTA said that a survey of members found that 60% felt somewhat unsafe or very unsafe, while 70% felt that conditions weren’t safe for students. HSTA says that those concerns grew after schools reopened to 175,000 students earlier this month.

“We are seeing frequent failures to adhere to guidance with no support regarding COVID-19 response in our schools. This ultimately hurts the education we all believe is essential for our keiki,” according to the letter sent to Department of Education Interim Superintendent Keith Hayashi, Gov. David Ige and members of the Board of Education.

HSTA plans to hold a news conference today to demand that the Department of Education bargain over safety protocols. The union says that the department has refused to renew and update a memorandum of understanding that was in place for the last school year.

The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a question about whether it would be willing to negotiate with the union, but a spokeswoman said that the department continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation along with the Department of Health.

“Schools are enforcing four core essential strategies to be implemented in every situation: promoting vaccinations for staff and eligible students, staying home when ill, consistent and correct masking, and proper hand hygiene,” said DOE spokeswoman Nanea Kalani by email. “Physical distancing is categorized as an additional mitigation strategy along with cohorting, improving ventilation and cleaning to be applied in combination to the greatest extent possible.

“According to DOH, using multiple mitigation measures consistently and in combination gives schools the flexibility to achieve safe learning environments even when not every mitigation measure can be applied.”

The union had earlier pushed the state to delay the reopening of schools until Hawaii saw a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases. But Ige and other top state officials have so far remained committed to keeping the schools open as they emphasize the harm that closing again would cause students.

“One thing we’ve learned is that in-person learning is, for most students, critical for their academic and social success, as well as their overall well-being,” Ige said earlier this month as he outlined plans for safely reopening schools. “We also know that it will take the entire community to keep our students, faculty and staff safe at our 256 public schools.”

Fully reopening schools came at a challenging time for the state, which had lunged forward in its economic recovery after a tortuous 18 months. The state was pushing toward dropping all COVID-19-related restrictions as Hawaii’s vaccination rate ticked upward. But the highly contagious delta variant upended the policy landscape.

The state has averaged 657 new cases a day over the past week, by far the highest level seen since the start of the pandemic. The increase in cases has been swift. In early July, before the delta variant of the coronavirus became dominant, the state was averaging about 50 new cases a day.

The steepest increase in cases has been among children and residents between 18 and 44 years old, who have lower vaccination rates, according state data. Those under 12 years old still aren’t eligible for the vaccine. There were just 22 new cases per 100,000 children during the week beginning July 4. That number jumped to 155 new cases per 100,000 children for the week beginning Aug. 1.

HSTA has criticized the Department of Education for not being adequately prepared.

“The HIDOE had months to plan for the upcoming school year. Yet, its COVID- 19 Health and Safety Guidance for School Year 2021-22 wasn’t posted until the afternoon of Friday, July 30, after educators were already at school for three days with just one more day to prepare for the return of their students,” according to the letter from HSTA, which has been available to teachers to sign. “Teachers want to provide safe spaces where their students can learn without distraction. However, the vigilance necessary to maintain that safety in overcrowded classrooms is already taking its toll.”

The letter provides anonymous quotes from about a dozen teachers raising concerns about school safety.

“There is barely enough space to fit desks in the room so forget about safety,” according to one middle school teacher in Honolulu. “It’s just pack them in as much as possible. We keep procedures in the classroom, but at lunch, the cafeteria is overfilled. We have whole grade-level assemblies of 100 kids at a time, and recess is kids hanging all over each other and in everyone’s face with and without masks worn properly. It’s an absolute free for all.”

HSTA also questioned the logic of Ige’s Aug. 10 order limiting indoor social gatherings to 10 people in an attempt to limit the spread of the coronavirus, while at the same time keeping classrooms open.

State Department of Health officials reported 460 new confirmed and probable coronavirus infections Tuesday, bringing the state’s total since the start of the pandemic to 52,199 cases.

The infection count by island includes 330 new cases on Oahu, 21 on Maui, 84 on Hawaii island, 15 on Kauai, two on Molokai and seven Hawaii residents diagnosed outside the state.

No new virus-related fatalities were reported, and the statewide COVID-19 death toll remained 552.