The purpose of this joint communication post is to be an edifying communication for the MOU between the Teachers Association and the District regarding Distance and Hybrid Instructional Delivery Models for the 2020-2021 school year. A lot of time and effort went into ensuring that this MOU would provide clarity around issues that are important to our safety and to our work. We wanted to make sure to highlight a few important points as an overview:
- Requirements of SB 98: As you heard during your professional development, SB 98 sets forth specific requirements for districts for the implementation of distance learning. These requirements will be carefully monitored this year — hence, they are not bargainable. Those expectations include:
- Daily Live interaction
- Taking student attendance daily
- Minimum instructional minutes
- Serving students in need
- Weekly engagement tracking
- Preventing disengagement
- Connectivity to the internet and access to devices
- Accountability
- Commitment to Safety: We have continued to emphasize a collective commitment to the health and safety of both students and staff. Our agreement emphasizes that we will adhere to the requirements set forth by the guidance issued from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH); the most recent version is attached for your reference. Here are some additional highlights:
- Students (ages 2 and up), all staff and all visitors to campus will be required to wear face coverings unless they meet exemption criteria.
- Distancing for educators will be maintained in classrooms and workspaces, and distancing between student desks will also be maximized.
- CDPH requirements for ventilation will be met in order to maximize outside air intake.
- Staff will be provided with appropriate PPE and safety protocols as required to meet legal obligations should in-person assessments or evaluations be necessary.
- Commitment to Support: Transitioning to a new way of teaching and learning is an adjustment for all of us. In addition to the two additional paid training days that were bargained in our previous MOU, we wanted to ensure that we were supporting staff through this transition. Here are a few highlights:
- During distance learning, staff may work from home (provided they have access to reliable technology, internet and phone service)
- The current side letter, “Combo Class Relief” remains in effect during hybrid and distance learning. Provided assistance can be used to support instruction for students at the discretion of the teacher. The previously-identified best practice of “deployment” of students may still be achieved through a Zoom synchronous platform with the cooperation of colleagues and creative scheduling.
- Every effort will be made to provide educators whose curriculum is not easily adaptable to online instruction with additional planning and collaboration time.
- While ESS is open and operating, staff will continue to be provided care for their eligible children during the school year — at no cost to employees
- Monitoring of special education caseloads and pending assessment numbers will occur on a monthly basis to determine if additional supports need to be provided.
We are very thankful for the hard work of both bargaining teams, who spent countless hours during the summer planning, learning, and advocating on all of your behalf. We are confident that we have come up with an agreement that allows us to both support and keep educators as safe as possible as they provide quality learning opportunities for our students.
Emily Scheitlin and Ernesto D. Villanueva
Bargaining Chair and Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources
