The following message was sent to all members yesterday (1/27) afternoon:
SPFE Member,
On Monday, as most of you know, we received news that SPPS would receive 2049 vaccinations to be distributed this week. We also know that additional vaccinations will continue to come in during the coming weeks.
This should be good news. Instead, what we saw yesterday was a serious mishandling of these vaccinations and communication blunders. Here is what we know:
- District officials told me this morning there was no coordinated communications plan for sharing with employees how these vaccinations were to be handled. As a result rumors have been flying across the district.
- Principals at two of our high schools forwarded emails they were not supposed to forward with live links.
- Some members teaching in VLS have gotten links for vaccination while others teaching in person have not.
- Some elementary specialists have gotten links for vaccination while others have not.
SPFE leaders have heard time and time again from the district that things are moving and changing fast with the vaccinations. Obviously some mistakes are going to be made.
But we can slow down. SPPS doesn’t have to go back on Feb. 1. The chaotic environment that is causing these mistakes to take place are of the district’s own doing and stems from this rush to return. What mistakes are going to happen next week as a result of our hurried pace without proper input, reflection, and care? They will be mistakes that directly impact our students.
Please continue to share problems that you are discovering and mistakes that are made. We ask that you share these with your building steward, who can compile them and forward to our organizers so that we can process the information the most efficiently.
I want to reiterate the important concern I shared with you at Monday’s member meeting. Please take care of one another. While we may be frustrated that others have gotten a VLS spot or vaccination and you did not, that is not their fault. We have been placed in this situation by a system that has more allegiance to deadlines and numbers than students and employees. We should all be vaccinated before we return, or at the very least delay the Feb. 1 opening to March 1 so that we can open more safely and with thoughtful systems in place.
Look for information coming from SPFE about how to share your confidence or lack of confidence in the district’s plan to safely and effectively reopen on February 1 given this latest incident.
In Solidarity,
Nick Faber