Pandemic Planning: What Can Parents Do to Support Their School District's Teachers?

[lizzywednesday]

I am writing a lot of letters to my school district this summer; the next BoE meeting is August 3rd.

What kinds of things can I put into my letters to the superintendent & BoE to support the teachers who serve the school DD attends?

So far, I have a bunch that I've pulled from the document created (and amended) by the Garden State Coalition of Schools (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1akEtf2FDUZ4i2hbwMduVlEVds75RpF60/view?usp=sharing), but I want to be more focused.

My teacher-friends have suggested that I put "invest in the development of a robust remote-learning curriculum" into the letter. I support that and have added it to my very long list of things I need to voice to feel like I've "said my piece and counted to 3 (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0190590/quotes/qt0404068)."

What else do you need me, and parents like me, to put in our letters before school starts? (Or, if school has already started, what should we keep squeaky-wheeling about to help you feel more supported?)

[ahisma]

Safety. Safety. Safety. Safety.

[PZMommy]

Safety. Safety. Safety. Safety.

YES and not opening up until they can safely do so. No cutting corners to rush to open.

[Kindra178]

Provide PPE so everyone can go back to work.

[carolinamama]

Demand all decisions be made with safety in mind. PPE provided and schools only reopen with concrete plans and supplies in place.

A few months down the road in November - vote. Look at the local, state and federal candidates' voting records and stances on public education. Vote for those that further public education, they are usually endorsed by your local teacher advocacy groups or unions if your state has them.

[okinawama]

Safety should be priority number 1 :)

[lizzywednesday]

Demand all decisions be made with safety in mind. PPE provided and schools only reopen with concrete plans and supplies in place.

Yeah, I feel that the district's proposal is still far too vague and runs into major supply-chain issues, especially when it comes to cleaning products and PPE.

I don't feel like teachers are protected enough here with the proposal as it stands now, which is 1 week out from its release.




A few months down the road in November - vote. Look at the local, state and federal candidates' voting records and stances on public education. Vote for those that further public education, they are usually endorsed by your local teacher advocacy groups or unions if your state has them.

I always do; we have a decent BoE here and a lot of very involved parents, but we're still getting to know the superintendent.

[California]

Thank you so much for doing this. Having caring parents advocate for the safety of teachers really boosts our morale. At one of our school zoom mtgs, a parent who is a physician explained the limited effectiveness of barriers and face shields in an indoor space. She said at a minimum teachers need K95 or N95 masks, provided by the district. This is just one example of many ways that she spoke up for teacher and student safety.

What I noticed was that having one thoughtful, caring person advocate for safety empowered more parents to speak up as well. It ended up becoming a great, team building conversation. By being willing to write a letter, and speak up, you are helping create that space where families and educators (who are often also parents too!) can work together.

One of the things that has come out of our conversations Is that it’ll be easier on parents and teachers if teachers increase their collaboration by grade level. Students in small “pods” or with zoom working buddies will then have the same assignments, even if they aren’t in the same class. I would advocate/encourage for teachers to have time to Olán and collaborate (via zoom) together. That will help everyone!

[ahisma]

More on safety - ask about contact tracing and quarantine procedures. In our district, I asked how long I should keep my kids out if I was quarantined for a known workplace exposure. The answer was - not at all. Ask about testing capabilities - many states are struggling with adequate testing. Ask how long after an exposure that want folks to wait to test - you have to allow for an incubation period. Ask what they are doing to increase ventilation - and filtration.

[lizzywednesday]

Thank you so much for doing this. Having caring parents advocate for the safety of teachers really boosts our morale. At one of our school zoom mtgs, a parent who is a physician explained the limited effectiveness of barriers and face shields in an indoor space. She said at a minimum teachers need K95 or N95 masks, provided by the district. This is just one example of many ways that she spoke up for teacher and student safety.

I have teachers and former teachers among my family and friends. They range from pre-k through university professors (one just earned tenure at UGA, for example) and I am terrified for them. I'm stepping back to listen, which is hard for me because I've always got something to say. And the teachers in my kid's district NEED parents to advocate for them.



...

One of the things that has come out of our conversations Is that it’ll be easier on parents and teachers if teachers increase their collaboration by grade level. Students in small “pods” or with zoom working buddies will then have the same assignments, even if they aren’t in the same class. I would advocate/encourage for teachers to have time to Olán and collaborate (via zoom) together. That will help everyone!

I think it's important to allow teachers time to plan, and I think investing in the development of a robust distance-learning curriculum is part of that puzzle.

All of our teachers have access to G-Suite tools (school district uses Google Classroom/Chromebooks) and they should be able to use those for staff meetings and other types of collaborative sessions.

I would assume on the middle and high-school levels the subject-level teams can collaborate this way as well.

[lizzywednesday]

More on safety - ask about contact tracing and quarantine procedures. In our district, I asked how long I should keep my kids out if I was quarantined for a known workplace exposure. The answer was - not at all. Ask about testing capabilities - many states are struggling with adequate testing. Ask how long after an exposure that want folks to wait to test - you have to allow for an incubation period. Ask what they are doing to increase ventilation - and filtration.

Yes, I am still unclear about the following:

* What happens if a teacher tests positive?
* What happens if a student tests positive?
* What is the quarantine procedure after a family positive? 5 days? 10 days? 14 days?
* What is the quarantine procedure after a classroom positive? '' '' ''
* Will siblings' classes also be required to quarantine?
* What is the quarantine procedure for a known immediate-family workplace exposure?
* How will contact tracing be implemented to be in line with local, county, state, and federal health department policies while also protecting students' and families' privacy? (They're already so freaked about privacy that they won't do class lists; how will they need to revamp their understanding of privacy rights in order to follow mandates on contact tracing? I'm actually going to take the contact tracing training webinars - they are free - to see what they require.)
* How often will teachers be tested? Will testing kits be provided by the district?
* How often should students be tested?
* What's the isolation procedure for a child who exhibits symptoms at school?
* How will temperature checks be implemented and will summertime-developed procedures change during poor weather?

As for ventilation, they're supposed to leave windows open, but this doesn't account for classrooms without windows, which I don't believe are adequately ventilated in general - DD has been assigned to at least 2 (including Kindergarten!) and it has a terrible impact on her behavior and mood.

Filtration, the a/c filters in building systems (which don't provide adequate ventilation, IMO) will be changed quarterly under the current proposal. No mention of whether or not they will change them more often if there's a school building exposure/positive or what. (And now all I have in my head is Legionnaires' Disease (https://www.cdc.gov/legionella/about/history.html) - OK, so that was bacterial, but still.)