Three Putnam County employees dead from COVID-19

Sam Vance - Sophomore | News

Anita Obermiller loved her students. She took pride in their accomplishments and helped catch them when they stumbled. But now, her students will have to finish the school year without her.

Anita contracted COVID-19 and died on Nov. 12, 2020, leaving behind a husband, daughter, and six grandchildren. She worked at Cane Creek Elementary as an assistant teacher for seventeen years.

“I viewed [Anita] as a parent to me... Anita will be sorely missed. The world would be a better place with more of her,” says Garry Brown, Anita’s son-in-law.

However, Anita isn’t the only school system employee who has died of COVID-19. Donna Sue Sherrell -- the former Upperman High School cheerleading coach and a VITAL ESPO Specialist -- passed away on Christmas Day, and Teresa England, another Cane Creek Elementary assistant teacher, died on Jan. 1, 2021.

Despite each having been employees of Putnam County schools for decades, the school system has said nothing regarding their deaths, leaving many teachers feeling expendable or as if the school board believes acknowledging their employee’s deaths and offering condolences will legitimize the threat of COVID-19.

Some teachers believe that despite schools being a focal point of COVID spread, they have no choice but to come to school if they want to provide for their families.

"It's sad and depressing because we're not really given a choice… It's either [be at risk] or be unemployed… I didn't even know three teachers died." says one anonymous teacher.

Others wish the school board would treat teacher’s health as seriously as the student’s.

"I wish [the school board] would at least let us know [three teachers have died]... Teachers are more at risk than students… We’re the ones who’ll be hospitalized,” says another.

To the Charger’s knowledge, only three teachers have died of COVID in Putnam County, but as long as the school board refuses to acknowledge their employee’s deaths, it’s impossible to know if there are more.