AFT Health Issues has several resources for public employees during COVID-19. Follow the links below to open these helpful information sheets.

• Know Your Rights: Returning to Work at Public Employee Workplaces

https://sites.google.com/view/nmft1794extended/home

Our thoughts and prayers are with those impacted by Hurricane Laura. Federation representatives have been reaching out to our members directly, but if you haven't heard from us yet please take a moment to review these relief resources compiled by AFT, https://www.aft.org/our-community/disaster-relief-emergency-preparedness/hurricane-preparedness-relief

We also want to take a moment to update you about last week's Monroe City School Board meeting. We will be working to bring you regular updates from the School Board meetings throughout the school year:

AFT Health Issues has several resources for public employees during COVID-19. Follow the links below to open this information sheets.

HCTA Bargaining Update – 8/28/2020

This week, HCTA and District bargaining teams reached tentative agreement on a comprehensive Schools Reopening MOU.

Chief among the provisions secured in the agreement are:

• Access to cleaning and sanitizing supplies for classroom
• Appropriate PPE for teachers commensurate with level of exposure  
• Restriction on the use of ESE Co-teachers for coverage during times scheduled for delivery of services
• Expansion of teacher authority and protections, including prohibition of recording without teacher’s consent
• Remote work plan in the event of school and/or district closure
• Option of remote work in lieu of leave during quarantine resulting from on the job exposure
• Protection for use of leaves associated with COVID-19
• Adjustment to proration of athletic supplements in the event of season cancellation

The MOU requires that the evaluation committee (EMART) meet to review classroom observation protocols and recommend temporary adjustments to evaluation processes or criteria. Further, administrators will be trained on--and teachers will be informed of—any alterations to the process, criteria or instrument prior to the first evaluative classroom observation being conducted. Both brick-and-mortar and digital classroom assignments will be observed by administrators following the normal walkthrough/observation process in the physical setting. Evaluative observations for brick and mortar, digital home learning, and hybrid classes require the administrator’s physical presence in the room.

Additionally, employees on the District’s insurance plan will not pay out of pocket costs associated with testing and treatment of COVID-19 through December of 2020.

Though HCTA was unable to secure class size limits for traditional classroom electives (Art, Language, etc.), the District team offered assurance at the bargaining table that each site administrator has been tasked with creating school-specific plans to address safety measures for transition times, common areas, meal times, and classes with larger student numbers. It will be important that we work with admin to address concerns for areas which pose greater possibility of exposure to the virus. Please contact your HCTA worksite leader to ask for assistance in addressing these concerns as they arise.

The Reopening MOU, along with the other tentative agreements pertaining to the 2020-21 school year, can be viewed online at myHCTA.org. Remember that all other provisions of the HCTA master contract continue to apply, including planning time protection, duty-free lunch, and the 7.75 hour workday.

The parties will be reconvening in the days ahead to address the Teacher Salary Allocation. Please continue to look for updates and information from the HCTA bargaining team in September.

Please donate to the Taylor Federation of Teachers Political Action Committee. These funds are used to support canidates that support Public Education and Public Unions. 

Visit here to donate

Owned and operated by the AFT, Share My Lesson is the premier digital platform where educators can collaborate and share standards-aligned learning resources such as lesson plans, classroom strategies and professional development webinars—at no cost. More

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IMPORTANT SURVEY!  For staff who are doing remote learning, we are looking to find out if you will be working from home, school, or a combination of both.  Click here for a quick one question survey  Thank you!

https://forms.gle/FL2c1YxTM3jERoXT6

Our country is currently dealing with a pandemic, an economic recession and structural racism—three crises that affect public schools across this country. At a time when we need our federal leaders to step up to support public schools and the 90 percent of students who attend them, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos just can’t help herself from trying to revive a failed school privatization agenda.

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