Added to their list of concerns: Death.
"How horrible is it that one of the things on the list to do is to have a plan for students and teachers dying?" Denise Bradford, a teacher in Orange County, California's Saddleback Valley Unified School District, told CNN.
Her comment comes after the Orange County Board of Education voted this week to return children to schools without face masks or social distancing, despite a surge in coronavirus cases and more than 7,000 Covid-19 deaths in the state.
Bradford is not alone: Many teachers CNN spoke with, some who requested they not be named due to fears of repercussions from their school districts, said they are preparing for the worst this fall. (CNN has agreed to use pseudonyms for some of the teachers to protect their identities).
Decisions about whether schools will reopen, and in what capacity, have mostly been left to school districts, with some guidance from state officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
President Donald Trump, while pushing for schools to open, has complained the guidelines are "very tough and expensive." Education Secretary Besty DeVos has refused to say whether districts should follow them, and in a recent CNN interview, made it clear the administration has no plan for a safe reopening, leaving it up to states or districts.
All of the interviewed teachers shared a similar sentiment: They miss their students and in person teaching, but they worry about their health should they return to classrooms amid the pandemic.
"We miss our kids terribly," Bradford told CNN's Brianna Keilar. "We lay awake at night wondering if they're okay."
Preparing their wills
Louise, a special education teacher in another state where Covid-19 is surging, told CNN she is preparing a will and a living will. She is also looking into supplementary life insurance as she gets ready to go back into the classroom next month.
"It's probably time that I have something in place," Louise said of her will, "and there's nothing like a pandemic to make you do all that."
Louise said other teachers in her area also know little about what protocols are planned when schools open in their district. What they've heard won't be done has some worried enough to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Eleeza, a high school teacher in the same district, told CNN she is updating her will, and putting a trust in place for her disabled, high-risk 19-year-old son.
She's also struggling with a living will for her son, for whom she has legal guardianship, along with her husband and another person outside the household.
"What does a DNR (do not resuscitate order) look like with three guardians?" Eleeza asked. "We all have to agree on it."
Amy Forehand, a first-grade teacher who was comfortable going on the record with her full name but not her school's name or location, said figuring out how much supplemental life insurance to sign up for is a priority for this weekend.
"How are we in th
