Napa Valley EA News
Representing NVUSD Teachers, Counselors, and Nurses
October 4, 2020
Here is a copy of the message shared last Tuesday evening with all Credentialed employees sent by Dana Page.
NVEA/NVUSD Council Talking Points from 9/29
We had a special meeting with both NVEA and NAPS leadership to share updates, gain insights and problem solve challenges related to moving towards Phase Two. Here are the talking points from this meeting. NVEA Council meets again next week (10/6) and NAPS will meet later in October to work out specific details for each unit.
We started with an update regarding public health. The county is still in the red. The recent fires have impacted NCPH’s capacity to focus on testing while they support evacuation efforts. However, we continue to make progress on a schedule for NVUSD employees and a testing location in American Canyon. Our goal is that every employee be tested every 8 weeks as long as practicable and NCPH can continue to provide the testing capacity necessary.
We discussed concerns from employees regarding safety, communication and the consistency of discipline. An internal, employee google site is under production and will be a storehouse for easier archiving of information. A districtwide discipline matrix is also being created. The district is committed to enforcement of rules for students to wear masks, socially distance and follow procedures. Willful defiance of the health mandates will not be tolerated.
We discussed elements during phase 2 that will be different including the possibility for staff to bring their own school-aged children to the classroom and flexibility in teaching virtually in order to help alleviate barriers to returning in person with a hybrid schedule.
We decided to modify the synchronous portion of the instructional schedule for an unspecified number of days prior to phase 2 beginning to provide time for teachers to prepare classrooms. The exact number of days is still to be determined.
- At our next, regularly scheduled NVEA council meeting we will study the list of planned professional development, prioritize, and determine parameters for when this can be scheduled.
Our next scheduled meeting is Tuesday October 6th. The focus of that meeting will be the development of specific language for the following:
- COVID testing for employees.
- A District-wide aligned students discipline policy addressing the consequences of non-compliance with safety protocols established for in-person learning.
- Flexibility for our members during phase 2 in the location from which they are working. We are advocating that our members have the option to work from home during any virtual instructional time. This would include all day on Wednesdays as well as the virtual portions of the "A" and "B" days.
- The option for members to have their school age children stay with them during the child's virtual classes or asynchronous learning time.
- A modification of the instructional schedule to allow members time during their contract hours to transition their work spaces for in-person instruction.
- Development of a reporting system for safety lapses.
As has been the case through this entire process, our primary interest continues to be the safety of our members.
As always, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email us at nvea.cta@gmail.com.
NVEA Leadership
Digits
Email: nvea.cta@gmail.com
Website: NVEA.ORG
Location: 2160 Jefferson Street, Napa, CA, USA
Phone: (707) 363-1828
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NapaValleyEA/?ref=hl
Twitter: @NapaValleyEA