A number of Florida lawyers are offering free or discounted living wills for teachers who may be required to return to the classroom this school year.
"I had read a story a few weeks ago about three Arizona teachers who'd gone back to school to work on a project," said Charles Gallagher, whose St. Petersburg law firm, Gallagher & Associates, is among those offering teachers free living wills. "All three contracted COVID-19 and one died."
Gallagher said he was "taken aback by the story" and he wasn't the only one, as advocates are now warning about the risks of sending teachers and children back to school prematurely, NBC News reports.
Yet the question of when schools should reopen remains a divisive one, particularly in Florida, where the state's largest teachers' union in the state is suing Gov. Ron DeSantis over his administration's push to fully reopen public schools next month, despite the fact that coronavirus cases are skyrocketing in the state.
Since advertising the free living wills, a document that provides legal instructions for a person's choice of medical care should they be unable to communicate them directly to a doctor themselves, he has received inquires from some 600 teachers and others school employees.
