08/07/2020
These were the questions JMCEA asked. We were told we would receive more clarification from principals over the next two weeks and the board attorney suggested there might be a FAQ area on their website for employees only.
JMCEA questions for Dr. King:
We understand you might not readily have answers for all these questions. We raise them because they are the questions and concerns we are hearing from our members. We want to work with you and the Board to find good solutions for the myriad of questions and challenges that are coming. We also want to be sure to give complete and accurate responses. So, we pose these questions seeking answers to share with our membership and to help in finding solutions for unanswered questions that benefit our students, employees and our community as a whole.
Employee Protection/Health
▪︎What accommodations are available for employees with health concerns?
▪︎What are the medical protocols, temp screenings, and methods for removing sick students, teachers, or other employees?
▪︎How will faculty meetings and other group meetings of staff be conducted and how often?
▪︎Are we considered essential employees and if so, will we be expected to work if we have been exposed?
▪︎Will I be liable if a student in my class or in my care tests positive and I test positive?
▪︎If a person in a classroom is exposed or diagnosed does the entire class have to quarantine and how long? Who is in charge of making the decision of how long?
▪︎What supports or provisions are in place for employees who are exposed or exposed multiple times? Specifically, how are sick days, local leave and personal leave going to be protected if an employee must take more than 10 days due to COVID? What about after Dec. 31? Will employees continued to be paid if their sick leave is depleted? What is the policy?
▪︎What PPE will be provided for employees? Does the system currently have PPE on hand for all employees and how long should the supply last? How often will PPE be replaced?
▪︎Will there be a nurse in each building? What will be their responsibilities?
Building Safety/ Cleanliness
▪︎What are the plans for use of shared spaces? i.e. copiers, cafeteria, teacher’s workroom, etc.
▪︎Will plexiglass dividers be provided for teachers to teach behind and will there be plexiglass provided between students’ desks if the space does not allow for 6 ft. social distancing?
▪︎How many janitorial staff persons will be provided at each school during the school day? What specifically will be their duties during the school day and what supplies will be provided? What happens when they do not do those tasks? We have had times when we didn’t have soap or toilet paper or someone to clean up vomit.
What are protocols for cleaning? Will our teachers and staff be responsible for any cleaning? If so, will the cleaning supplies be provided?
▪︎Will there be visitors allowed in the buildings? If so, what will be the requirements or restrictions?
▪︎Will the school system be collecting data on how many are positive in a school and make it available?
▪︎Who will be responsible for notifying parents students are exposed in the classroom?
▪︎Who will notify employees if they have been exposed and how will they notify them?
Teacher/Employee Duties
▪︎Will JMCSS teachers provide all the instruction whether in person, virtual or cyber? Does this include PreK?
▪︎How will cyber teachers be chosen? Will those teachers with documented health concerns be given priority?
▪︎How many laptops are going to be provided and how will we distribute them?
▪︎If we have to shut down and go to all virtual, will teachers be allowed to go into classrooms and teach from there or will they teach from home?
▪︎Will there be cameras in every classroom? Will it be livestreamed? How are students’ and teachers’ privacy rights going to be protected if we are live streaming? If it is not livestreamed will the teacher have the ability to edit prior to uploading it?
▪︎What about FERPA and people being able to see students with disabilities, discipline issues and students who are struggling?
▪︎How will discipline be handled for virtual offenses?
▪︎We are very concerned about the physical and emotional health of our students and ourselves. Will flexibility, time, and support be provided to allow for teaching of new safety protocols, counseling, and socialization of students so they feel supported and cared for? ▪︎Many things that we will not be able to do are required in our evaluations such as group work and many things we need to do to help students through this pandemic are not part of the rubric and standards.
▪︎Will we be expected to provide feedback to in person, virtual and cyber students? How will that affect our evaluations?
▪︎How will evaluations be conducted?
▪︎Have you requested that testing and the TEAM evaluation/portfolio be thrown out this year? If not, will you do so?
▪︎How will students and parents be held accountable for virtual learning?
▪︎What about duty free lunch, duty free planning, stockpile days? ▪︎How will instructional time be protected?
▪︎What extra duties will be expected over and above classroom time?
▪︎How will you protect teacher time off the clock?
▪︎How many subs are available? Who will be responsible for acquiring a substitute if a teacher is out? What happens if we can’t find a substitute? What happens if there is no substitute?
▪︎What provisions are in place if a bus driver is exposed or sick? How will this impact other employees’ duties?
