SEA Update
October 2021
President’s Message:
In the spirit of solidarity I greet you in Peace, Joy and Love.
As we continue to do the work of our union for our students, families and those that surround us let us remember that WE the educators have organized and bargained for better learning and working conditions since the onset of the pandemic. This includes layered health and safety strategies that will protect students and the community at large.
As I mentioned before “It’s because all of our educators are in the building working together; if one person has experienced an issue, then somebody else has experienced it, and then we build capacity and voices.” When we bring concerns to the administration, educators should know that they will have people behind them who are supporting their concerns with one voice. There are just so many things that we wouldn’t see in our union office unless members bring it to our attention.
SEA members, along with other allies, meet with the superintendent and his cabinet bi weekly. “It’s our agenda — it’s not theirs,” The SEA and the Springfield Federation of Paraprofessionals get together and talk about what concerns our members have, and we bring them to the table. We actively listen to your concerns and bring those issues to the table seeking a solution. It is our hope that each of you who are on the front lines in these buildings come together with lifted voices to ensure the health and safety for all.
I took this statement from our fearless leader Merrie Najimy MTA President, in hopes that all will see “not only together we go far” yet “when we fight we win”.
“We must ensure that the Fair Share Amendment passes, re-engaging with families along the way about a vision for how public funding should be used. Local by local, we must continue to endorse and bring to the bargaining table the PreK-12 Bill of Rights for Education Support Professionals and ensure that all ESPs gain better pay, respect and educational opportunities. Then we must move on to lobby cities and towns to endorse the Bill of Rights and act on it. We need to support longtime teachers through legislation allowing those who want to retire early to do so with economic security and dignity. We need to win the Cherish Act or a substantially similar measure that will greatly increase funding for our public colleges and universities, help achieve fairness for adjunct faculty, and reduce student debt. And now is the time to transform education so that our curriculum, pedagogy, instruction and practice uplift students of all races and ethnicities while teaching history through a more truthful, diverse and critical lens. With that also comes the continued organizing to end high-stakes testing. All of these things and more are within our reach through organizing, union and community solidarity, and collective action. Continue your activism and stay safe, and let’s keep winning the big fights for students, educators and public education”.
I would also like to extend a heartfelt thanks, as we begin to build community connections, to Principal Deanna Suomala and her staff at Daniel B. Brunton Elementary School for opening their door to the SEA and MTA Today so they could compose the Summer 2021 cover story.
Tracy Little-Sasanecki MSW
SEA President
413-782-8300 (Office) 413- 654-7014 (Cell)
COVID Bargaining Update
We have negotiated a new MoU to cover issues related to working during the pandemic. It is based on the MoU from last spring, but is updated for this year. Some important features are:
- Employees may take up to four hours with pay to get vaccinated or a booster shot if the vaccine is not offered at their school.
- Sick days taken due to COVID related reasons will not count towards the four (4) disability and emergency leave days (10/4/5).
- SEEDS: For teachers, evaluators shall consider the special circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including, but not limited to, teaching outside one’s area of certification, supporting the social and emotional needs of students, larger than usual class size, and extended absences related to the pandemic. Evaluators will limit in person observations to fifteen minutes, be masked, and maintain appropriate distancing. Post observation meetings will be conducted remotely.
- Health and Safety measures
- PPE to be available
Please click
here to read the full MOU.
Empowerment Zone Bargaining Update
We are still in bargaining for a new contract. The main issue still on the table is pay raises. We are working to develop a reasonable financial package for all educators. In the meantime, the Zone should be instructing the district to pay members’ step increases based on the old salary scale. Once you see that increase in your check, you should expect to receive a retroactive amount back to the beginning of the year in your next check. Once we reach settlement on the new pay scale, that increase will also be retroactive to the beginning of the year. If you are from one of the following schools, and are free on Wednesdays at 4pm, and would like to join bargaining as a silent observer (you can talk when we meet amongst ourselves) please email the SEA office (
[email protected]) and put Zone bargaining in the subject line.
Chestnut TAG
Emergence
Realization Academy
Commerce
Kennedy
Rise Academy
Discovery High
Kiley Academy
Rise High School
District Bargaining Update
Members covered by the district contract should have received a letter from HR that includes your step and base salary for this year. This however does NOT include longevity and critical needs if you are eligible for this pay.
ALANA (African Latino Asian Native American) Committee
SEEKING EDUCATORS WORKING ON DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND RACIAL EQUITY IN THEIR SCHOOLS
We know that many of our members are working on diversity, inclusion, and racial equity issues in their schools. We would love to hear from you about the work you are doing at our next ALANA meeting, Thursday October 26 at 4:15 (ALANA meets monthly on the 4
th Tuesday). Meetings are open to ALANA members and allies. Contact the SEA office for the Zoom link at
[email protected], put ALANA meeting in the subject line. If you can’t make the meeting but would like to tell us about your work, send the information to the same email address.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS/CONTRACT
WEINGARTEN RIGHTS
You have the right to have union representation at any meeting with any administrator that could result in disciplinary action(s) against you.
The Contract states in Article 20.B:
“A teacher will be notified in advance, in writing, of the purpose of a meeting with an administrator in cases where disciplinary action is contemplated, and shall be entitled to have Association representation. The administrator shall exercise reasonable discretion in disciplining a teacher.”
If you are asked to attend a meeting with administration, ask them these questions:
“Will this meeting lead to disciplinary action?”
“Could this meeting result in future disciplinary action?”
If the answer is yes to either question, request that an Association Representative (Building Rep) be present. If you have questions or want to have Peter J. Reese at the meeting, call the SEA office (782-8300).
STAY CALM. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN
OR DEFEND YOURSELF BEFORE THE MEETING!
DISCIPLINARY ACTION
Closely associated with the above is the contractual language regarding discipline meetings with administration. When asked to meet by an administrator, ask the Weingarten questions. If the answer to either question is yes and although it is incumbent on you to invoke Weingarten, you should request/expect to be notified according to the contract language below.
“A teacher will be notified in advance, in writing, of the purpose of a meeting with an administrator in cases where disciplinary action is contemplated and shall be entitled to have Association representation. The administrator shall exercise reasonable discretion in disciplining a teacher”.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Any use of social media platforms, email, and internet activity, especially when accessed through the employer’s computer/network, should be monitored by your internal “is this appropriate” voice. You can incur disciplinary measures as a result of engaging in posting/communicating a variety of seemingly innocent topics. Protected speech has limitations when taking into account the employee/employer relationship in the public sector. The bottom line (and I can’t stress this too strongly) is do not identify yourself as an SPS employee, do not state you work at a particular school, carefully edit your communication prior to emailing, posting, etc., do not use student names/identifiers, no pictures of students or schools, or colleagues…. There is still to this day, the fact that educators can be disciplined up to and including dismissal, for acts “unbecoming” of an educator. The interpretation of behavior unbecoming is open to interpretation. Basically, don’t let the two worlds collide – professional/personal.
Keep Smiling,
Peter J. Reese
Professional Relations Associate
The Union in your Building
BUILDING REPRESENTATIVES
Building representatives, also known as union representatives, are elected each year by the union members in their school or location. The size of the school or work location determines the number of reps. Every school / location can elect a representative for every fifteen members (or fraction thereof).
This election happens at a union meeting held in early October and is for a one-year term. Newly elected reps take office as soon as the election is completed.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF BUILDING REPS
Building reps are responsible for connecting the SEA members in their school/location with the SEA leadership, and the SEA leadership with members at the school/location.
To accomplish this at least one building rep must be responsible for attending the regular meetings of the Union’s Legislative Board which are held once per month on the 2nd Thursday at 4:15. This responsibility can be shared.
Building reps who attend Legislative Board meeting will receive information about the work that the SEA leadership is doing in conjunction with members across the district and will be asked to help develop and vote on the Local’s goals and policies.
Building reps are also responsible for ensuring that two-way communication occurs between their members and the SEA leadership. This includes keeping their members informed of decisions and information that is shared at the L-Board meetings and distributing union communication to the members.
Building reps call union meetings to discuss information from the L-Board, get feedback from their members, and discuss building level issues. The reps bring the feedback and issues to the next L-Board meeting, unless there are school based issues that they can resolve with the principal on their own.
Reps also attend meetings between members and administration when members request them to. Experienced reps may also assist members in the initial steps of the grievance procedure.
SEA leadership and staff are always available to provide guidance and support to building reps. Building rep trainings will be scheduled for this fall so watch for an announcement of the dates.
The Union in the Community
SEA is an active member of the Pioneer Valley Project, a community / labor / faith-based organization based in Springfield. Every three years or so, they ask each member group to identify issues that impact their members so they can determine the priorities they will work on over the next few years.
At the last Legislative Board meeting, members brainstormed issues that impacted our students in the classroom. The issue that occurred most often was poverty. At the Executive Board meeting, members then discussed what specifically would make sense to bring to the PVP meeting to share with all the other groups. It was decided that the issues SEA would bring to the meeting are: lack of translation services that exacerbates the language barriers families face when dealing with the schools and other programs, a cohesive system of supports for families living in poverty, lack of public transportation, and food insecurity.
The Union in Coalition with Other District Unions for ARPA Pay
The City of Springfield has received $124 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. This money can be used to provide premium pay to employees. The mayor has provided the city department heads with bonuses for work done during the pandemic. The city is in the process of bargaining with the other city unions currently.
Members of the city council believe that all district employees should also get the premium pay. The SEA has been meeting with the other district unions to mount a campaign to get our members included in the payout of ARPA “premium” pay. For the first time in recent history, we are working together to get a majority of the City council to vote in support of district employees receiving this money and to get to the bargaining table. To accomplish this, we:
- sent a joint letter from the unions to the mayor demanding to bargaining over the money,
- asked the following question to each School Committee and City Council candidate at the Pioneer Valley Project’s candidate forums “will you publicly advocate to the mayor to have district employees included in the ARPA premium pay?” (so far all the candidates said “yes!”
- are reaching out to current city council members to shore up their support, and
-
will have a member from each union present a statement on their role in keeping the schools educating our students during the pandemic at the next City Council Speak-out on October 18th.
COVID UPDATE
Close Contact Definition and Information
The close contact definition includes two considerations: Proximity and Duration of Exposure:
· For adults: A close contact is someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person while indoors for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period.
For students in the K–12 indoor classroom setting: A close contact is a student
- Who was within three feet of an infected person, even with a mask on while indoors, for a total of 15 minutes over a 24-hour period,
OR
- who was within three to six feet of an infected person while indoors for a total of 15 minutes over a 24-hour period while either person was not correctly wearing a well-fitting mask for the entire time.
In other words, the close contact definition excludes students who were within 3 to 6 feet of an infected student if both the infected student and the exposed student(s) correctly and consistently wore well-fitting masks the entire time.
An infected person can spread SARS-CoV-2 starting from:
· 2 days before they have any symptoms, or
· for asymptomatic individuals, 2 days before the positive specimen collection date until they meet criteria for discontinuing home isolation.
An infected person is defined, by CDC, as someone who is either laboratory confirmed or a clinical diagnosis.
An infected person is defined, by SPS, as someone who is laboratory confirmed by a positive rapid or PCR test.
Contact Tracing
The nurse in your school will determine close contacts through contact tracing. The tool that the nurse will use are the seating charts that educators have developed for all classes, groups, and individual meetings with students. Nurse will also talk to staff in the room where a positive case was present. People identified as a close contact who have permission to be tested will go into the Test and Stay program, people without testing permission who are close contacts will have to quarantine at home, people who are fully vaccinated are exempt from quarantine protocols.
Test and Stay
Close contacts, who have signed a consent to be tested, will be put into the Test and Stay program. In this program all close contacts are tested in the school with the BinaxNow test upon close contact designation and:
-
If you test negative: you remain in school and get tested daily for up to 5 mornings. It is important to know that if you are determined to be a close contact and are in the Test and Stay program at school you still must quarantine at home until the 7th day after exposure.
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If you test positive in the Test and Stay program you are sent home to follow isolation guidance.
Routine COVID safety checks-aka Pool Testing
Routine COVID safety checks/ Pool testing will happen weekly in each school, hopefully by the end of October. If there is a positive pool, the school will be notified 24-48 hours after the test, and all the people included in that pool will be retested with a BinaxNow antigen test to determine who the positive person is. The positive individual will be sent home. If any of the negative people in the pool are designated as close contacts, they have consented so they will go into the Test and Stay program.
Notice of Positive Cases in Schools
A robo-call should go out every day that there is a confirmed positive COVID case in your school. Schools must have proof of a positive test result before they can do the robo-call. Individuals are being sent home every day with symptoms, but not all of them are tested nor are they all sick with COVID-19 virus. You may witness students going home “sick”, hear reports from other students that someone has COVID, or receive a message from a parent that a child has COVID, but unless the school/district receives the positive COVID-19 test result a call will not go home.
Click here for to see scenarios for:
· Protocol A: When an individual test positive for COVID 19
· Protocol B: Asymptomatic close contact
· Protocol C: Symptomatic Individuals at School
Vaccinated employees and those with an approved medical exemption are eligible for up to 10 consecutive days of paid emergency COVID leave per occurrence when:
a. the SPS employee has tested positive for COVID-19;
b. the SPS employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and is seeking a medical diagnosis (COVID-19 testing);
c. the SPS employee is recovering from a COVID-19 immunization.
d. the SPS employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19; or
e. the SPS employee is subject to a federal, state, or local quarantine or isolation order to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19.
Unvaccinated employees are eligible for up to 5 consecutive days.
The COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave is not available to SPS employees who are subject to quarantine as a result of the employee’s travel for personal reasons outside of the United States or if unvaccinated outside of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Accessing Document to Request the Emergency COVID Leave
The COVID Emergency Leave form is available by emailing [email protected] or you can click here to download it..
Please use this form to ask questions and to bring up issues – we will get back to you the same day. In an emergency, call the SEA office at 413-782-8300 or email [email protected].
