Fall 2020, Issue 15 - 12/23/2020 |
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IT'S THE "TIME TO MAKE SOME NOISE FOR YOUR TEACHERS" ISSUE.
EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, THE PTO DOES NOT ASK FOR MONEY OR DONATIONS. WE NEED ADVOCATES.
TAKE A FEW MOMENTS TO ADVOCATE FOR OUR TEACHERS BEFORE HISD MAKES A CRITICAL CHANGE IN THEIR COVID-RELATED "SICK DAYS" POLICY THAT MAY... DRAMATICALLY REDUCE TEACHER'S TIME WITH OUR STUDENTS.
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HEARD ENOUGH?
CLICK THE BUTTON / LINKS BELOW
TO SIGN AND SHARE.
HEALTH CARE & MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS: WE REALLY NEED YOU TO SPEAK WITH AUTHORITY ON WHY PENALIZING TEACHERS THAT ARE WILLING TO TEACH FROM HOME AFTER COVID EXPOSURE IS BAD PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY.
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THE PROPOSED HISD CHANGE IN POLICY TO TAKE PLACE JANUARY 4TH WILL FORCE TEACHERS THAT ARE EXPOSED TO COVID OR POSSIBLY EXPOSED TO COVID TO HAVE TO USE THEIR SICK LEAVE UNLESS THEY CAN PROVE THAT THEY WERE EXPOSED TO COVID AT WORK.
- FORCING TEACHERS to use their sick leave when they are well enough to do their jobs remotely (as they have been doing all these months) is a bad policy for teachers, a bad policy for taxpayers, and a bad policy for our students.
1.Compelling quarantined educators to use their sick leave legally obligates them not to work.
- It restricts them from logging on and continuing to teach online classes, even if they are perfectly able to do so.
- This Policy is an unnecessary financial burden on teachers at a time when we cannot afford to give our educators any more reasons to take their talents elsewhere.
2. This Policy severely disrupts the continuity of instruction for students.
- When teachers are absent, students have a substitute or an Associate teacher for the time the teacher is out. For a COVID quarantine, this could be 5-10 class days or longer.
- However talented or well-meaning, a substitute is not equivalent to a teacher that has been carefully chosen by a school administrator for a particular class or department and has been an integral part of the school community from before our children step onto campus.
- Furthermore, there are not enough substitutes to go around, generally. This problem is particularly critical in AP classes or where certification is needed in GT and Special Education. When there is no appropriate substitute available, our students may get shuffled to another online class in a similar subject, or, in smaller schools, students may even miss two weeks of vital instruction.
3. Many teachers have children of their own, and contrary to popular wishful thinking, children can indeed contract COVID.
- How would the proposed changes apply if a teacher has to stay home because one of their children has COVID or was exposed to COVID?
4.Contact tracing is flawed as it is.
- Only covering leave for teachers who can prove they contracted the virus at work sounds like a convenient way for the district to deny COVID coverage to anyone. That is not the sort of relationship between teachers and administration that HISD claims to want to foster.
- As parents and taxpayers, we do not want our tax dollars spent on substitutes and HISD central administration investigations of COVID cases. That money is best spent on our full-time teachers and students and efforts to prevent COVID transmission.
5.This proposed policy change provides an incentive for teachers to not report that they have or have been exposed to COVID-19. Unreported illness could have a severe negative impact on everyone involved.
- These circumstances have already disrupted the lives of our students significantly. In order to serve our students well, we need to focus on continuity and consistency.
*We ask that no changes in Policy occur on January 4th.
*We ask that the current COVID-19 Policy for Teachers remain in place and only be revisited after all HISD Teachers and staff are offered the COVID Vaccine in 2021.
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*TIMES/DETAILS SUBJECT TO CHANGE DUE TO COVID-19
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General Information:
- December 21 - January 1: Winter Break.
- School resumes on Monday, January 4, 2021.
- January 28 – end of cycle 3 / semester 1
- Friday, January 29 – student holiday (teacher prep day)
- February 1 - March 12 = grading cycle 4
PTO General Meetings are held the
FINALIZED meeting dates and times will be listed in the calendar.
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ADDRESSING THE BOARD AT BOARD MEETINGS
The Board of Education welcomes members of the community to speak on subjects related to the school district. Community members can address the board in one of two ways:
Speakers to Agenda Items - During any board meeting, people may speak about items on the agenda for that meeting.
Hearing of the Community - During the regular monthly board meeting, people may speak about a district-related subject not covered by an item on the meeting agenda.
To comply with state and local requirements during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, and to protect the health of our community, the Hattie Mae White Administration Building is closed and board meetings are being conducted online.
The procedures have changed... but not your need to be heard!
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Online enrollment is now available for students new to HISD, current HISD students enrolling at a different campus, or past HISD students returning to the district. More information here
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PARENTS!
The price is $65 but will increase to $75 second semester. Supplies are limited!
From Balfour.com, then click on SHOP MY SCHOOL – enter and select Carnegie Vanguard – Scroll all the way down to YEARBOOK PRODUCTS & ADS – Click on ORDER NOW.
Thank you!
Cindy Schulze
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Thank you to our 2020-2021 Friends and Family Campaign Donors!
- The Hawes Family
- The Pipkin Family
- The Nitin Manian Family
- The Family of Ronnie & David Rauch
- The Wolff Family
- The Rajagopal Family
- The Jotwani Family
- Family of Morgan Peden
- The Shamoo Family
- Family of Samuel Lindenberg
- Lydia & David Tiede
- Elissa Merhi
- The Gau Family
- The Jenna Mercado Family
- Fung Family
- The Ghozali Family
- The Holland Family
- Famille Philippe
- The Pierce Family
- Nishanth Kadiyala’s Family
- Yao & Liu Family
- Vansh Gupta and Family
- Family of Monica Balakrishnan
Anonymous
- The Hirsch-Martin Family
- Family of Caoilin Krathaus
- Family of Jack Waligura
- The Knight Family
- Kelly Dowe
- Casa Clavijo
- Colvin Family
- Family of Talia Cohen-Fette
- Brandy Silverman
- Family of Aranza Salazar
- Dharani & Narendra Civunigunta
- Ankit Burudgunte & Family
Anonymous
- The Barnett Family
- Family of AZ
- The Carlin Family
- Leon & Aileen Sakata Family
- The Crabb Family
- Family of Amara Freedson
- Family of Mario Garcia
- Lambert Bollich Family
- The Koksoy Family
- Family of Jeffery Qi
- The Lin Family
Anonymous (12)
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TOPH, The Cat is SHOOK!!!
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***
Vendor
Programs
WORK!
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PLEASE - Do NOT FORGET to do this simple thing before starting your holiday shopping!!!
You can REALLY make a big difference to Carnegie without spending one extra penny!
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PTO Executive Board
June 2020 – May 2021
President:
Immediate Past President:
1st VP Fundraising:
2nd VP Membership & Communications:
3rd VP Volunteers & Special Events:
Secretary:
Treasurer:
Parliamentarian:
Michelle Ferrell
Teacher Rep:
Heather Hill
Principal (Ex Officio):
Ramon Moss
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ATTENTION:
ALL PTO Members, Teacher, and Student Groups that want to submit an article or ad in the PTO Vanguardian eNews:
no later than Fridays at midnight
(to have it included in that week’s edition of the newsletter).
(Submissions are not guaranteed to be included and are subject to review by the PTO Executive Board).
THANKS!
HAVE A GREAT WINTER BREAK
-Maria Castro Calzada,
PTO VP Communications & Membership
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