GEA Survey Results Letter to Superintendent

Dear Superintendent Bates, Board President Winder, and members of the Granite school board,
 
I am writing you to plead once again that you prioritize the safety of your staff as well as the students.

GEA just completed a survey of its membership.  There were over 1400 responses. A very large majority, over 69%, feel unsafe with the district’s current plan.  Over 55%, 792 educators, say “No amount of PPE and cleaning will be enough without the ability to create adequate distance between people in the building,” and only eight percent say they have no concerns with Granite’s current plan for the 2020-21 school year.
 
This result is not surprising to any of us who have been reading the emails from educators these last few weeks. Educators are afraid. They are pleading. They are waiting for some sign that the district means what it says when it tells educators “we value you.” Based on these survey results, GEA is once again renewing its request that Granite School District change its plan to allow for distancing within our school buildings.
 
We are asking that teacher concerns about lack of social distancing be taken seriously.  We have several recent examples of teacher-training events where the presenters asked participants to engage in close group work, writing on a common poster for example, passing a ball back and forth, or manipulating the same physical items as a team.  In normal times such strategies would be admirable efforts to engage participants. In the current climate they are not simply an unnecessary risk; they send the message that the health and safety of the participants are not a priority, and that their concerns are not taken seriously. 
 
Whatever plan the district uses must include adequate social distancing (six feet from another person who is not part of your immediate family). We believe that social distancing is possible in any meeting of adults in the school building. We ask that principals:

• Be directed to allow for social distancing in their plans for all staff meetings and all professional development.
• Any principal-directed activity during:
  • the seven teacher contract days before the start of the school year could allow for distancing or even be done remotely through video conference,
  • as could every faculty meeting this year,
  • every leadership committee meeting,
  • every meeting of adult professionals. 
• There should not be any activities requiring a group of adults to crowd around a small table or sit in a size-constricted room. 

 
And I hope it goes without saying at this point that we expect principals to model and enforce mask-wearing in any room or space which educators and students will congregate. We also expect them to enforce the negotiated agreement, i.e. today, secondary teachers are being told they will need to donate 10 minutes of their duty-free lunch to facilitate student lunch transitions. Please communicate this expectation with all building administrators.
 
Unfortunately, the efforts made to allow elementary educators the option to teach face-to-face or online has become confusing and difficult, if not near impossible, for many school buildings. Following are significant challenges we are hearing:

• Principals and educators are trying to navigate a lack of FTE,
• the high number of students enrolling for face-to-face instruction,
• and programs such as Dual Immersion, Gifted, and other Special classes.
• Educators working online are being asked to participate in school transition periods and supervision, which means they are in front of students during the most crowded times of the day.
• Educators should not be asked to sign a form acknowledging they will be provided two hours of planning time; we already know will not happen.  We already know years before Covid-19 we haven’t had enough paras and substitutes.  Why would we put in place a process we know will not work?
• Principals are, today, telling distance learning teachers that they will be called on to substitute when a face-to-face teacher is out.
• Principals do not have the budget to pay an additional two hours to those volunteering to teach dual modalities, and many educators are feeling pressured into taking on both modalities to avoid disruptions to the school and/or their fellow colleagues.
• We have teacher coaches and specialists throughout the district.  Why not dispatch these individuals to teach the distance learning students throughout the district when FTE is short?
• We understand it is inconvenient, but what you are asking schools and their staffs to do is untenable.

At this time, GEA is advising educators not to sign the form which gives away their rights under the contract and is requesting that a weekly schedule similar to secondary be provided for elementary schools (Monday – Thursday students face-to-face, educators managing both modalities, and Friday’s with all students online and an opportunity to prepare for their online students for the next week).
 
Please note that this requested shift in plan is not meant to replace the medical accommodations necessary for some educators to not be face-to-face with students but allow for the ADAAA interactive process to meet the needs of these high-risk individuals.
 
Educators are afraid for their health and the health of their loved ones. We are said to be essential employees and are the only group of such workers asked to be sequestered in a room with 25+ people for several hours a day, every day. GEA is asking that educators’ fears and concerns be acknowledged and more so, addressed. Telling educators not to worry is not helpful.  Providing sanitation materials is not enough. Show us that you take our concerns seriously. Make the difficult decisions necessary to protect all your employees, and students.
 
Sincerely,
Michael McDonough
GEA President