Tomorrow, members in all of our Stage1 sites will be heading back into their building, after SPFE leaders and staff conducted safety walk-throughs today. Just a reminder: make sure you are in red tomorrow (Thursday 10/8) to show your support for those members and send us pictures of you and other members of your staff supporting these members during this concerning times.
Today, SPFE officers along with Chief Steward Pete Grebner, Executive Board member Denise Young and past Vice President Erica Schatzlein met with district representatives to discuss transitioning into a hybrid model of learning and presented a draft of our proposals for a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).
Our proposals can be viewed in their entirety here. There are three main areas of concern we are focusing our negotiations around:
- Time–We are proposing ways to create more time in your day to prepare for the task of teaching both in person and distantly. Without additional preparation time, we risk our students not getting the support they need and educators burning out. We are also proposing the elimination of unnecessary meetings and requirements that distract from preparing and delivering quality instruction to our students.
- Communication–SPFE members have been clear that they want clearly articulated plans communicated to them in a timely manner. It is essential that educator voice is part of these plans.
- Safety–SPFE members are nervous and uncertain about these transitions back into buildings. Having this MOA signed will give our educators peace of mind and reduce the number of educators leaving.
We will keep you posted on how these negotiations are going. Please watch for additional updates in the coming days as we continue to work on these negotiations.