The John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence, Seattle Public School headquarters, on February 27th, 2021. Credit: KUOW Photo/Ann Dornfeld
Seattle Schools says many essential staff will be called back to classrooms in March By
at 5:31 pm
Seattle Public Schools informed hundreds of teachers and other school staff that they may be among those called back to buildings beginning March 8 to teach in-person classes.
This is before the district reaches a reopening agreement with Seattle Education Association.
In a controversial move, the School Board voted Thursday to classify staff members who serve some of the highest-needs students with disabilities, as well as those in the districtâs preschool and Head Start programs, as essential.
With many WA students lacking internet, remote learning falls short
Students are falling behind in school because of connectivity issues. That could have massive consequences for the economy.
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Many students in Washington state lack internet access. This and other inequities exposed by this pandemic shouldn’t surprise anyone they’ve been festering for decades, writes Claudia Rowe. (Meg Kinnard/AP)
By now, we can agree: Kids are getting less education during the pandemic. Much of the hand-wringing over this has focused on laptops, and making sure that all students have them. More than $24 million in federal COVID-19 aid went toward providing devices for Washington students. But all that shiny tech is useless if the computers stall out on platforms like Microsoft Teams or Zoom for lack of high-speed broadband and that’s if students have internet at home at all.
Garfield High School in Seattle on January 22nd, 2021. Credit: KUOW Photo/Ann Dornfeld
Seattle Public Schools delays reopening plans as teachers union agreement stalls Feb 22, 2021
In the meantime, the district and its teachers union still have yet to reach a reopening agreement.
In a statement, the Seattle Education Association said the district has not yet agreed to provide adequate Covid protections.
The union said its bargaining team is working tirelessly to reach an agreement with SPS as quickly as we can, but we re unwilling to cut corners on safety precautions in order to meet arbitrary deadlines.
The union said that staff members who are currently working with students in person, such as the small number of students receiving special education services in schools, continue to raise concerns about the lack of necessary [personal protective equipment] and failure to follow health and safety protocols.
Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill that makes $714 million available to schools with plans to reopen classrooms, as part of a $2.2 billion statewide relief plan.
MY EDMONDS NEWS Posted: February 19, 2021
Superintendent Gustavo Balderas
After weeks of negotiations, the Edmonds School District announced Friday its bargaining team struck a tentative agreement with teachers that would bring more students back to classrooms by the end of March.
In a letter to families, District Superintendent Gustavo Balderas said the district’s bargaining team has reached a tentative agreement with the Edmonds Education Association which represents the district’s certified teaching staff to open classrooms to kindergarten, first- and second-grade students as well additional special education and early childhood programs. According to Balderas, this Stage 2 re-entry plan will begin March 22 with second graders.