We met with the superintendent late this afternoon. We are making great progress and it is all because we stood up and made our voices heard. A few days ago, the superintendent was absolutely requiring all staff to be in the schools next week because it was “the only fair thing to do.” She is now willing to accept a volunteer system. This is great!
There are some logistics to work out. Because TEA is requiring the schools to open, there needs to be enough staff at the school to make sure the students who come can be safe. No one wants 30 students stuffed in a room with one poor teacher or staff person. The superintendent committed to working with us to create a fair system to determine how to call people in when there is not enough staff. We will want input on how to create such a system from all of you. We will begin meeting with the superintendent to create this system next week. We have also won a commitment from the superintendent to work with us to improve the conditions within the school, so everyone can be safe. We are also working to make the jobs less stressful right now, such as eliminating benchmarks and other items.
Where do we stand on Monday? If you feel comfortable going into school, feel free to do that. Your willingness to stay out in solidarity has gotten us this far! We would never have gotten here without your commitment. If you are not comfortable going to school on Monday, contact your principal. Let the principal know you just cannot come in but are still willing to work remotely until you feel safe. We will back you up 100%
We will have a meeting on Sunday to discuss this and answer your questions. We will send another email tomorrow with details about that meeting.
We only accomplished this by standing up and standing together!
In solidarity,
Education Austin
