SPS’s Initial Response to SEA’s Demands for Safety, Transparency, and Communication
Below is an update of steps SEA has taken to address members’ concerns uplifted in the Rep Assembly NBI as well as SPS’s initial response.
1. SEA Demand: To bargain with SPS to revise the metrics of their Continuity of Operations Plan to be responsive to impacts that student and staff absences have on a daily basis. Revisions would include (i) lowering the student and staff absence rates before pivoting to remote, (ii) centering educators’ voices in the decision-making process by providing a mechanism for the building to decide via their building-decision making matrix whether to pivot to remote or close.
Update:
- Thursday SEA met with SPS to begin negotiating the impacts of the Continuity of Operations Plan as well as to negotiate the impacts of significant staffing and student absences.We continued to assert SPS needs to center educator voice in the decision-making process to pivot schools.We shared how the student absence threshold is too high. There is a significant workload impact to staff who have 20% or more of their students absent and the rest in person over multiple days because educators are working overtime to keep absent students current with classwork/instruction.
- We emphasized how daily unfilled sub jobs have a workload impact because staff have to cover and lose their prep and over multiple days is unsustainable. We also discussed how staff are using all of their sick leave to stay home while awaiting test results or taking care of children with COVID.
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In response, SPS committed to the following today, “The district's Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) will be revised for now to reduce the metric for student absences that trigger review of a potential shift to remote. This metric will be reduced to 35% absence rate for elementary classrooms and 30% overall absence rate for secondary schools over consecutive days. Absence rates are not in and of themselves determinative of switching to remote but are one of the key indicators monitored and considered. The district will continue to monitor staff absent rates and trends (which do not include a set percentage in the COOP) on a building by building and situational basis. The COOP will also be modified to reflect that building leaders should consult their Building Safety Team for input where appropriate and timely as decisions to switch a school to remote learning are being considered.”
2. SEA Demand: SPS will clearly communicate and be transparent about staffing levels to the school community daily.
Update:
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In response, SPS committed to the following today, “The district will provide SEA leadership with a daily staffing report which includes absences and substitute levels at each school. School leaders will be asked to make available regular staff and student absence data to their staff. Reporting will continue during this time of high community Omicron transmission.”
3. SEA Demand: SPS provide weekly rapid (self-administered) COVID tests for all staff working in person and utilize central non-represented staff to support data entry of these tests as needed.
Update:
- SPS shared they have obtained 20,000 additional rapid COVID tests to add to their current supply. SPS indicated they are in the process of distributing these tests so that every school can do weekly screening testing with staff.
- SPS also emailed all staff at 3:09 PM today with additional details about testing availability in the buildings.
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In addition, SPS committed to the following today, “The district will seek to make available to school staff weekly COVID rapid tests for self-administration to the extent available and not cost prohibitive. Participating school staff will be required to report a test results via a district provided portal and notify their supervisor. This testing will be provided, as available, during times of high community Omicron transmission and in accordance to public health recommendations. The building safety team in partnership with the school leader, nurse, and protected health care staff person should seek to develop a predictable testing schedule and help staff the process as needed.”
4. SEA Demand: SPS provide KN95 or KF94 masks at a minimum to all staff and students in person.
Update:
- This week SPS distributed 24,000 KN95 masks to schools for staff. Please note ALL staff - classified and certificated across all programs - should have access to KN95 masks.There are approximately 450,000 N95 adult-sized masks for adults and students arriving next week.
- In 2-3 weeks, SPS anticipates receiving KN95 masks for younger students. SPS also emailed all staff at 3:09 PM today with additional details about masks.
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In addition, SPS committed to the following today, “The district will provide in the near term enhanced masks (N95 or KN95) to all those staff who wish to utilize them. If the district supply is depleted and the district becomes unable to obtain enhanced masks due to vendor supply deficits and/or prohibitive cost, the district will provide a sufficient quantity of medical masks for staff and student double masking as recommended by public health authorities. If enhanced mask supply becomes limited, enhanced masking will be prioritized for staff supporting special education students, students who are unable to consistently wear masks that are well fitted, and in schools with lower vaccination rates. Enhanced masking efforts will continue during this time of high community Omicron transmission and in accordance with public health recommendations.”
5. SEA Demand: SPS will clearly communicate and be transparent about the lack of contact tracing to the school community and will resume contact tracing directed by the central office.
Update:
- SEA met with Public Health Seattle King County today and learned they are recommending a “place-based” contact tracing which is a modified form of contact tracing similar to what Nurses are already implementing in our district.
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In addition, SPS committed to the following today, “The district will distribute a communication to school staff and parents/guardians with a clarifying update as to the district's current contact tracing procedures and efforts in light of increased case counts attributable to Omicron. The district contact tracing program will continue to seek to meet minimum state public health contact tracing requirements. The district will hold a session shortly with nurses to explain current contact tracing efforts, roles and responsibilities.”
6. SEA Demand: SPS and SEA jointly advocate to the state for flexibility in instructional days and hours.
Update:
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In response, SPS committed to the following today, “The district is fully committed to finding areas for joint advocacy with SEA regarding state requirements.”
Today, we will email a polling question to all Association Representatives and Board of Directors (to be completed over the weekend). The purpose of the poll will be for ARs and Board Directors to determine if SPS has sufficiently met our demands and whether we call on SPS to pivot all schools to remote for at least one week. We encourage members to provide feedback to their ARs so that ARs can represent members’ voices in the polling question.
