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SDEA Racial Justice Statement

In the wake of the Minnesota jury finding former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of all charges for the murder of George Floyd in May of last year, our state California Teachers Association issued a statement calling for educators to “recommit to shared solutions for confronting racism, pursuing accountability, and advancing justice so that we can build a world together that is safer, more just, and more humane.”

Our SDEA Board of Directors unanimously approved a racial justice statement that challenges us to examine whether our practices contribute to systemic racial inequities. As educators, we have a responsibility to model the growth mindset for students by recognizing that our work toward building anti-racist classrooms and school communities is never done. Together, we must continue the call for justice and to hold powerful people, organizations and each other, accountable. What are we doing as union members to work toward anti-racism every day?

by nnajera

2021 SDUSD Teachers of the Year and Runners-up

Congratulations to SDEA members Thomas Courtney from Chollas-Mead Elementary, Guadalupe Celedon from CPMA Middle School and Sharon Apple from Hoover High School. These accomplished educators have been named San Diego Unified School District’s Teachers of the Year for 2021.

The runners-up are Janice Anderson from Johnson Elementary School, Renee Thomas from Marston Middle School, and Francia Pinillos, a Special Education Teacher with TRACE. More information about these educators can be found here. Congratulations to these outstanding educators and union members!

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Safety Concern Reporting Platform

Members can report safety concerns by submitting a report to the District’s Physical Plant Operations Department. This includes concerns about lack of social distancing, lack of air purifiers, etc. Submit your report to https://pposervices.sandi.net/home.html. You must be on the District network to access the reporting platform.

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SDEA Members Share Hybrid Learning Best Practices

Allison Paredes - Kinder teacher and AR at Franklin and Kristy Drake - 2/3 combo teacher at Gage recorded this best practices video for hybrid teaching, with the help of the CTA IPD department. A big solidarity shout out to Allison and Kristy for sharing their time and best practices!

Presentation links:

• Hybrid Instruction in Kindergarten

• Simulcast Tech on Zoom

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Ratification of Tentative Agreements to Safely Return to Onsite Instruction

The results of the ratification vote are in, with SDEA members overwhelmingly voting to ratify the tentative agreements to safely resume onsite instruction. Yes votes totaled 92%, with 65% of members voting.

The District must now focus 100% of its energy on preparing our school sites to safely welcome back our students. This includes making sure our physical distancing, ventilation, and mask use language is followed in every classroom and workspace.

We know that District communications have been confusing and contradictory at times and that at some sites educators have felt pressure to get to pre-COVID class sizes. While no one wants to return to normal more than we do, we also know that it’s only through strict mitigations that we will be able to prevent transmission on our campuses. This is why all of the mitigations, including physical distance are so critical. On the question of distance our agreement is crystal clear: “Student chairs shall be positioned at least 6 feet away from one another. Under no circumstance should the distance between student chairs be less than 5 feet.” With this agreement as with all other contract language, enforcement is essential. It is up to all of us to make sure safety protocols and mitigations are being utilized and followed at our sites.

During, and after, spring break we’ll have further guidance on how educators can enforce their contractual rights should issues not be resolved prior to students returning to campus. Educators will also have a process to report safety issues they are seeing on campus.

Since last March, we’ve followed the science and we’ve stuck together. As we head into spring break we hope the greater San Diego community continues to do their part to keep the community COVID-19 rates down. However, if rates do start to climb again, there is criteria in our agreements to keep our school communities safe.

This new transition is going to be challenging at times and it may take some time to adjust. This is not going to be perfect, and many times we will only be able to control what is happening in our own classrooms and workspaces. Remember to continue to give yourself and others grace.

We’ve made it this far through solidarity and collective action AND we will make it through the remaining 9 weeks of instruction by sticking to those principles.

Thank you for all of your hard work and try to have a relaxing spring break where you are able to rest and recharge before returning to school sites.

Together We Are Stronger and Safer.

by nnajera

Agreement Reached on Reasonable Accommodations!

The SDEA and SDUSD bargaining teams have reached an agreement on the provision of reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities (including being at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19) that also recognizes that some of us may not have a disability or be at high risk ourselves but may be a caregiver for someone at high risk and may experience a hardship due to COVID-19 as a result.

Please review the Reasonable Accommodations Tentative Agreement and the SDUSD Administrative Circular on ADA Accommodations.

SDEA staff and leadership will hold informational meetings on the ADA Accommodations process soon. Stay tuned!

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SDEA Reaches Tentative Agreement on Safety and Instruction

After marathon negotiations our SDEA Bargaining Team has reached a landmark safety agreement that requires strict school site and workplace safety mitigations to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.

The teams also reached an agreement on instructional models that attempt to balance the needs of our students remaining online with our students who choose to return onsite. While these instructional models present challenges, we also know that they are limited to the remainder of this school year. This agreement, if ratified, would require the District to provide online-only educators for students who may remain online in the fall, when we will have new rosters and can build distinct instructional models based on the needs of our students.

It’s critical to remember that this is bargained language and that any agreement is the result of compromise with the employer. Our team was able to extract significant improvements from the District’s initial proposals and while there were moments when it appeared we could be headed to impasse, we believe we’ve ended up with a package of agreements that will keep us all safe as we navigate these remaining weeks of the school year together.

by nnajera

Superintendents Warn Governor COVID Reopening Plan Will Widen Inequities

As COVID-19 continues to spread out of control, the leaders of seven of the largest school districts in the state are warning that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to physically reopen schools fails to address the needs of urban school districts that serve nearly a quarter of California students.

In a Jan. 6 letter to Newsom, the superintendents of Los Angeles Unified, San Diego Unified, Fresno Unified, Long Beach Unified, San Francisco Unified, Oakland Unified and Sacramento City Unified school districts warned that the governor’s “Safe Schools for All” plan does not address the disproportionate impact COVID is having on low-income communities of color and reverses a decade-long commitment to equity-based funding.

Read more about the Superintendents' letter and the Governor's plan here: https://www.cta.org/educator/posts/superintendents-warn-governor-covid-reopening-plan-will-widen-inequities

by nnajera