Submitted by Laurie Sison, Hudtloff Middle School Teacher.
I am a teacher in the Clover Park School District.
Since September 2021, I have been asking for support for students who refuse to follow mask protocols set in place by our district.
There has been no significant support. There was not even a policy until I began asking.
What has been required of teachers is a seven-step disciplinary process that takes much time and dedication to get any kind of support. I’m including both the initial progressive discipline process and a more watered down one that was sent out when teachers got to step 5, which is the step before administrators step in.
In this building, I have had many students quarantined. Normally, we have had 2 to 3 covid cases per week. We were told that we have 30 this week alone.
I have communicated with the district to get a plan in place to address the maskless students in a more immediate manner. They refer me back to the seven-step progressive discipline policy for mask use, which does not offer timely support, or offers no support at all.
Myself and another teacher have been counting the maskless students and the numbers are up to 200 per day.
We were told that only students with a mask completely off their face would get immediate attention, but they do not. Students who continuously pull mask below their nose get even less attention and it is a rampant occurrence.
I have been trying to get help since September. The numbers of students who have been quarantined is high in my classes alone.
The day before Thanksgiving, I was provided a covid test because I was exposed. I tested negative that time. I hope my luck holds out.
I do not believe that parents fully understand how vulnerable their child is in the school building. Their children are at risk each and every day.
Teacher friends at other schools tell me that this is not an isolated incidence in our district.
Covid safety violations are being treated as a disciplinary offenses and not a safety offense. A safety offense would be dealt with immediately to curtail further harm. Disciplinary actions can take more time due to non-emergency situations. The violations of covid safety protocols has not been treated as a safety concern.
These are the steps that teachers must go through to get these safety violations the attention they should be getting. These steps take much time and effort. Even when we get to the step 5 point, there is no real action to support covid safety protocols.
Progressive discipline policy provided 10/13/2021 that teachers must follow to get support for students not wearing masks or wearing them correctly:
PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE: Staff this is a reminder of classroom progressive discipline for students who are not wearing their face masks correctly or not wearing face mask at all:
- Other Forms of Discipline/Documentation
- Two-way communication with family to partner and solution find
- Student of Concerns FORMs Survey
- Parent/Teacher Meet (Teacher with Concern & Family)- teacher meets with family to review student concern. This meeting is to review with family the concern. This is not an Admin meet with family meeting.
- Staffing (All Teachers & Family)- this meeting is if other teachers have the same concern. One teacher reaches out to the family to ask for a staffing with as many of the student’s teacher.
- Admin meet with student and family- Admin will meet with student and family to review student behavior and explain the district’s backing to enroll student in online school.
- If matter is not corrected- Family will be notified students will be moved to Online School
Watered down version recently provided 12/8/2021 for to teachers to follow:
- Progressive Discipline
- Teacher Skyward Documentation: Teacher uses other forms of Discipline. Teacher creates a Skyward Documentation. This is prior to a Skyward Referral.
- Teacher has Two-Way Communication with Parent/Family: Teacher has Two-way communication with family to partner and solution find.
- Teacher Fills-Out Student of Concern Form: Teacher fill-out a Student of Concerns FORMs Survey on student’s behavior.
- Teacher: Parent/Teacher Meet (Teacher with Concern & Family): Teacher meets with parent/family to review student concern. This is not an Admin meet with family meeting.
- Teacher calls a Staffing (All Teachers & Parent/Family): This meeting is if other teachers have the same student concern. Once teacher reaches out to the parent/family to ask for a staffing with as many of the student’s teachers. The teacher who calls the staffing facilitates the meeting. Admin and counselor should be invited to the staffing.
- Admin meet with Student and Parent/Family: Admin will meet with student/family to review student behavior and explain expectations. Admin partners with student/family to solution find. (all of this was added, which makes the process take much more time to address the safety issue of students not wearing a mask/correctly)
- Student will have a behavior interview with Counselor
- Some situations could have the consequence of a classroom exclusion this is an exclusion from the class period. This happens when a student repeatedly does not comply with classroom expectations.
- Some situations could have the consequence of school exclusion this is a suspension for the school day(s) ( Consider temporarily sending a student home a last resort health and safety precaution for students who do not respond to the steps above in order to engage in problem solving among school staff, the family, and the student.)
- Online School could apply
Since September, I have been asking for a streamlined approach to addressing and enforcing the policy for students who do not follow our district’s mask requirement. I have provided the district with examples from the Onalaska and Lake Washington School Districts, who have a policy that students who refuse to wear a mask/correctly are required to call home and are picked up for the remainder of the day.
To reiterate, mask wearing should not be a disciplinary issue, but a safety issue first and foremost. If needed, then discipline should be included. We would no sooner allow a student to pull a fire alarm and have that take seven steps to address and we should not be having seven step process to address a valid covid safety concern.
We were told that students who refuse to wear a mask over nose and mouth would be addressed immediately, but they are not.
This also applies to social distancing, which is no longer enforced in the building either.
I have tried to get help from those who are able to do so. I’ve been informed to refer back to the above-mentioned building progressive discipline policy as it supposedly aligns with the OSPI expectations.
The health and safety of students and staff is endangered every time a student is allowed to disregard the mask policy and wander freely down the halls.
This letter is to raise awareness among parents and community members so they can take action to keep their children safe.
Ask yourself this… would the district allow a football player to run on to the playing field during a game without a helmet? Would immediate action not only occur but be an expectation?
I send my child to school each and every day having an expectation that their safety is first and foremost. Sounds like that is not the case.
I am shocked, but not really surprised at this report. It is blatant ignorance and the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department needs to be alerted so that they can take appropriate action and shut this insanity down, hopefully before it’s too late and someone else dies.
This is absolutely appalling and everyone needs to be reprimanded in the school district for allowing it in the first place.
Thank you K.R.
TPCHD does know and has requested the district to get a plan in place to realistically enforce the policy they set down.
The district has said since November that they would and have not.
Families who have had to quarantine their child, had people get ill if their child got covid, or who are sick now should be asking some tough questions. The district owes them answers.
Please take care,
Laurie
Great analogy, and I appreciate your response.
Think also that if a student doesn’t wear a mask properly or at all, it becomes a discipline report that teachers must file through seven-steps to get help. That’s a lot of reports that could have been avoided if the district had a plan like Onalaska and Lake Washington to enforce mask use.
This is absolutely not the case that your child is as safe as you may think they are.
Guidelines on paper are only as good as the enforcement, and enforcement takes a long time, if it ever shows up. For me, I’ve had since September to see it happen and it has not.
Take care
Laurie
I hope that this teacher is not a science teacher. If my children attended Hudtloff, I would question what kind of education they would be getting from someone who lacks the ability to understand that the cloth masks that the kids wear to school are as effective as the effort Pierce County Sewer put forth with that brigade of septic pump trucks on Lakewood Drive last summer while volumes of raw sewage well in excess of 500,000 gallons was flowing in to the storm sewers. Lipstick on a pig. Both efforts are less than 10% effective.
Find a different cause lady. This isn’t your hill to die on. If it is, you have other issues.
Wow, lipstick on a pig? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a response to a letter that is as tone deaf as this one. It contains all the insight, sensitivity and sympathy of a hit-and-run driver. It’s another example of what is driving teachers out of the profession.
I agree, Scott’s answer is ludicrous…seems to me that with is obvious background in ‘science’ he needs to keep his children home for ‘schooling’.
I know facts can be difficult for individuals like Mona and Raymond to comprehend as they have gulped the kool aid.
The CDC is about to change their mask guidance here shortly because of…science. Anything less than N95 does you no good. Also known as lipstick on a pig. How else would you explain the sudden burst of infection? Do you think people just aren’t wearing masks and that is why it’s spreading so quickly? It’s pretty apparent to those with common sense and actual scientists have been saying this for quite some time.
This teacher wasn’t discussing the effectiveness of the cloth masks so why are you attacking her knowledge on the subject? You are correct that with the new variant the cloth and medical masks are not very effective and everyone (not just students and staff but all of us) should be using N95/KN95 masks. Unfortunately, with the new demand for them, sellers of these masks are price gouging and sending the prices sky-high. Many families are unlikely able to afford them. Should the school district supply them to students as they do for staff? Absolutely they should. We all should be telling the school board that we endorse that. Since that is unlikely to happen for the prohibitive costs they would cite, then this teacher is correct that mask enforcement must take place and that it should be treated as the health and safety issue that it is and not a disciplinary issue that requires these endless steps. Instead of an ad hominem attack why not offer some actual solutions to the issue?
Mr. Anderson
While this may not be a hill for some to “die on,” this is a situation that I am invested in. I’ve had students and families let me know that someone they love died from covid and the fear their child has is real. I’ve had students who find comfort in the support I give them, with high quality masks that they appreciate, respect and dignity for them regardless of whether or not they are pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine, pro-mask or anti-mask. I honor my students and their families. EVERY single student knows that I also honor the guidelines set in place by our district. I’d be “one of those teachers” if I didn’t follow district guidelines. I’d love to tell you my whole story so you could see who I really am, rather who you seem to believe I am. I’d love for you to ask my colleagues; students, and their families who I am and what I do. I DO teach science. I use the district’s curriculum. I do not vary from it because I value the choices this district makes about curriculum. People who work to support us teachers in that manner do so with highest regard to us and our students. I’m not teaching anything that doesn’t get support from our district.
Hmmm. The incident(s) in Auburn were valid. I do not sit around and allow poor treatment of others, or myself. This principal had leveled gender-bias against at least 19 female teachers. If that makes me a “bad apple” then that is the kind of apple I have to be. I’d love to share with you my journey as a teacher. I’ve wanted to teach since I was 6, and I cherish each day in the classroom.
I wrote the letter after months of requesting support for the guidelines set in place for our district to be kept safe. I’m hoping families who this resonates will find it relevant.
I was warned that people would “tear me apart” and I understand that some may disagree.
I will still stand by what I wrote as truth. I will still keep looking for resolution.
I still hope parents who have students at Hudtloff will speak up and parents of students in other schools will ask their children what happens if students refuse to follow guidelines.
Those who don’t find it relevant are welcome to comment or not as this is a public forum that I purposely posted this letter to.
Please take care,
Laurie
This kind of discipline procedure is not new to CPSD; multiple steps which take forever to get anything accomplished with the student, if ever.
Notice that five of the six steps in the “watered down” version begin with the word, “Teacher.” It is an effort to wear down the teacher with so much paperwork and procedure that eventually they give up. When the flow of paperwork diminishes, administration, sitting in its ivory tower, draws a false conclusion that there is “no problem.”
Teachers are hired to teach. They can do it, especially if they feel they are backed up by a strong administration. Kudos to school districts such as Onalaska and Lake Washington which, apparently, DO have strong administrations that support their teachers.
Thank you. I know that Lake Washington are working to take care of the situation by shutting some schools down to make sure they get a handle on things.
Some other districts won’t.
I appreciate you knowing what I intended to say.
I mean no harm. I mean only information to protect others when it needs to be done and is not.
Take care
Laurie
It’s reasonable to believe that a virus which can leak through 2 vaccinations and a booster, cannot be stopped by a thin blue mask.
It is also reasonable to believe herd immunity can be better achieved by letting this Omicron
variant run its course quickly, rather than over a prolonged period where it has a greater opportunity to mutate into something worse.
It has been shown that exposure to Omicron has produced a better immune response than vaccine, while having a near zero rate of fatality or adverse long term effects.
This is a great opportunity to teach the kids about proper cleaning, sanitation, and hygene, and involve them in the process. That is how the scientists in Africa beat back an Ebola outbreak a few years ago.
Kids are naturally rebellious, especially where credibility of authority is in question. They Google everything we tell them.
If you’ve been following the Senate hearings on the handling of this pandemic, you know that there are huge accountability issues that demand answers from those in positions of absolute authority.
The last thing we need is another generation that doesn’t trust anyone.
I totally agree with Scott & Brian! Find a different job Laurie Sison, Hudtloff obviously the students don’t trust you if they won’t listen to you.
Okay (Sigh) let’s go back to the beginning. The teacher’s concern was not with the quality of masks, but rather than there is no enforcement, top down. of the mask requirement. Yes, the science seems to be incontrovertible that anything less than an N95 provides a false sense of security, at best. But, even if the CPSD provided N95s to every child, in the absence of any enforcement they wouldn’t feel obligated to use them. And the gratuitous slam at the teacher was way off base: the problem isn’t a lack of student trust in this particular teacher: as she pointed out, it is school wide.
Re: herd immunity. I trust that anyone who indorses it as a solution will volunteer to get Covid and its variants as their contribution towards that goal.
I would agree with you if this was the first beef that Ms. Sison had with an employer. She sued her last employer for “sexual discrimination” https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/auburn-principal-still-working-after-teachers-sue-for-bullying/287775443
She may just be a bad apple. Could be two bad things that happened to one person. My guess is probably a mix of the two. She’s probably got issues and exploits gray areas.
Oh so sexism doesn’t exist? So the Me Too thing, that was just hot air? When you say she has issues we know you mean you think she’s crazy. She’s concerned about kids and putting herself at great risk by publicly stating her name. Where do you work Scott Anderson?
Dear Laura
Thanks for stating this.
We were “me too” before it was “me too”
There’s always someone who feels the need to bash and belittle. I was warned.
Please take care
Laurie
Dear Raymond
Thank you kindly. This is exactly what I was saying.
Some families are more protective due to family members who cannot or choose to not get vaccinated. I spoke out for them.
Some families are working to make ends meet and may not have the time or energy after long days at work to discuss this with their child.
Others may see the guidelines and believe that they are being followed at all times and have a false sense of safety. They should not.
All schools with cameras can have a request of a public records request to check what their child is exposed to. Get your child’s schedule, the bell schedule and request the video from right outside the classrooms or hallways to see what’s going on. Middle and high schools have over 500 students who should wear a mask at the bus ramps…are they? If you look at any building, you will see what I wrote.
The story I told is district-wide.
All that I’ve sought is for enforcement of the guidelines our district set in place. Just like every other guideline we are expected to uphold.
No less. No more.
Thank you kindly for your thoughts and words.
Laurie
Dear Kellie
Actually, I love teaching and I’m a pretty good teacher. My students do listen to me. In fact, students who see me in the hallway know that I will gently remind them to social distance and put masks on. They do so willingly and respectfully because I treat them with respect at all times. I don’t ever expect respect, I earn it.
I enjoy teaching, and even if I ever choose to do something else, it will be on my time.
Right now, Hudtloff is where I choose to teach.
I love my job. It’s not what this is about.
Please take care
Laurie
Dear Teacher Laurie Sison,
I am thankful for the time and effort you have taken to reveal your fraught but real-world “teaching” experience from the front lines. Yours is an honest appeal for attention and support by school and community leadership willing to listen, able to consider. I hope it generates constructive response from those best able to provide. I should think safety of all concerned is foremost, and that administration is present where management is the issue, so that teachers may be able to teach and students learn – which I assume remains the point of it all.
This isn’t the first instance when Administration piles on more and more requirements on teachers and then walks away from them. The May 2021 CPEA letter makes the same complaint about the English language programs for non-English speaking/marginalized groups and the dilemma that teachers find themselves in regarding implementation: integrated or segregated classes by English language skill level. When they sought guidance from Administration they were essentially told to “figure it out”. It is a luxury to be able not to endure the hardship that your decisions levy on those responsible for enacting them.
Aren’t you the “race pimps” guy? The one who Wagemann emailed? So you care about English language learners when it fits your argument but you make fun of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton?
Kids with no underlying health issues are not at all in danger of having issues with Covid. The cloth mask is ineffective and we are the only developed country that even still allows them. Testing for Covid is currently restricted to individuals with proven exposure or symptoms, due to the overwhelming hysteria and anxiety of everyone running for a test. We didn’t have this concern over other viruses spreading among kids in school. How many a parent or adult got their yearly colds and flu from kids going to School. If they do have a mask and do wear; it ask where it has been stored, how old is it, when was it washed last. It will likely horrify you that it has been stuffed in an unwashed pant back pocket that sat on countless unsanitized seats, hung on a hook in the toilet stall, absorbed countless amounts of snot and food particles, touched by unwashed hands all day, and likely I’ll fitting to begin with.
My advice, relax, get vaccinated (to protect you from severe effects of those that may be carriers mask or not), lead a healthy balanced life, stay fit, wash hands and encourage same in others. After all soap and hot water still kill most any virus.
And after all that you’ll be fine with your six hours a day and nine month working schedule being exposed to kids.
You’re more likely to catch Covid from the staff pot lucks, teacher retreats, or outside of work activities.
All in my humble opinion.
My concern is not only for myself. I know students have lost family members, are worried about losing family members are ethical enough to know that they can spread covid even if vaccinated. They also know that guidelines are set in place to be followed; like cell phone policies, behavior policies, and any other kind of safety policy. It’s about being ethical and following guidelines because they are set in place due to a lot of time and money spent on finding solutions.
Those who wear dirty masks are who I would like to target and support. Our district offers masks, suggests mask breaks and our family has purchased hundreds of dollars worth of high-quality masks that don’t get fuzzy so the students don’t feel like they need to take them off. The ones who refuse to wear a mask correctly (defined by our district guidelines as over nose and mouth at all times while in the building unless on a meal break or an outside mask break) are the ones I am talking about.
I’m triple vaccinated, lead a healthy and balanced life, stay fit, wash my hands, and I encourage the same in others. That is what this letter is all about. Those who made the guidelines are hearing from me and others that students are not following them. Teachers who do request support when it gets to that level on the district’s seven-step progressive discipline policy are being met with further demands to get enforcement of a safety policy.
Would you want your child sent home with a discipline referral on their record rather than having support and enforcement of the policy? I’m a parent and I would not want my child to have a permanent record of this in their skyward files. I was appalled when this happened. Students who violate the mask policy should be sent to the main office, call parents, parents come get them, remind them of mask policy and that they need to follow it, ask for mask breaks and then return them the next day with nothing on their record. That is what my letter is about. Masking is a safety issue, not a discipline issue.
I shouldn’t have to write a skyward report on a student not wearing a mask. That’s me from a mom/grandmother standpoint and a teacher standpoint.
Also, take social distancing, we had guidelines to begin the year in regard to stairs being one way only. Students wouldn’t follow this expectation, and instead of enforcing it, they took the signs down. Now students do not in any regard keep social distance while moving from class to class. Those of us who request them to do so are either met with students ignoring our request, or students who see us and know we will request it and follow guidelines because they know we will ask this of them. I always remind students of the expectations. Just like any other rule, I work to teach, remind, and then request support for enforcement. That is what teachers are supposed to do. It is something that if we do not do it, we can be considered derelict of duty—like classroom management. My classrooms are sometimes noisy due to social needs of students, but when I ask them to be quiet, they understand that is part of the expectations.
While some are thinking only in the “me” sense, I am thinking in the “us” sense and know that there are many who are concerned about why the policies are not being enforced.
Imagine a student running around and shoving other students. Say one student falls and is injured enough to need medical care. We would no sooner demand a seven-step process for that, and we should not for this safety concern.
Thank you for sharing your viewpoint. I will continue to speak out and seek support for enforcement of the guidelines we have been told we need to follow. I would rather see a student sent home than to see multiple (seven-steps, possibly seven referrals) discipline referrals on their permanent record for a pandemic safety guideline the district provided to all families and staff.
Take care,
Laurie
So true!! Despite all best efforts to keep healthy and safe – I have had Delta and Omni variants and survived.! 99% who contract Covid survive!! Do the math yourself – here’s an example – right off the webpage – from NY Times
total population of WA state : 7.65 million
Total cases of Covid: 1.03 million , Covid related deaths : 10,212. So 13.4% of WA have had Covid .. out of those cases: less than 1% have died – meaning 99% lived!! It’s time we figure out how to live with it – hygiene, keep healthy, exercise, eat healthy and have a positive outlook on life and dealing with stress vs fear .. i am sure the struggle is real as a teacher even before Covid ! You are appreciated, try to relax and stop counting mask violations ! Do some science experiments using real live data ! Teach real research – not media or paid for by big pharma styles! Do a petri dish experiment on masks, hands, swipe sinks, toilets etc to teach about Germs! These kids and adults are tired and being vaccinated does not mean you are not gonna get it .. masks certainly are not containing it ! We will get through this – don’t sweat the small stuff when you know masks really don’t work but maybe you as a science teacher can find something else that helps !
I hear Paul Wagemann and Dave Anderson really care and listen to the public. Especially if it makes the district look bad, you should let them know so they can hold a town hall (masks optional of course)
Thank you kindly. I’ve contacted every level from building to Board. I have been referred back to the seven-step process time after time.
I’m grateful for so many in the building who are working to support students in keeping everyone safe.
Take care 🙂
Laurie
Kris, because listening to the public, who elected them, and who they work for, is a bad thing? God forbid we have some transparency in this district instead of the shenanigans that have gone on for years. I’m thankful that David and Paul actually take the time to listen to the public. So are many others. Have you noticed that only Paul and David have brought up issues that members of the public have addressed to them at board meetings? In the last seven months (that’s when I started attending meetings), I’ve never once seen the other three current board members (or Marty Schafer) bring up something that was brought to their attention from a phone call, an email, or a letter, The public knows who truly listens.
Ms. Sison,
If you had relationships with you students I don’t believe they would defy you as you describe. A google search of your name shows that you haven’t been happy in your previous district(s). Time to move on? I agree with Kris, attend the town hall with Dave and Paul to share your concerns.
Good luck out there.
Thank you for responding. My students do listen and respond to me at a high rate. There are about 5 or 6 out of 142 who don’t respond. Those students need support in a different setting.
However, I’m speaking of enforcement of the rules. I’d love to hear that some of you have requested video footage of the hallway during passing period, or drive through the parent pick up spot at 3:30 to see how many of the over 500 students are unmasked.
How many of you coming here trying to put me down would want your child subjected to discipline rather than support? Students are being dealt with in a disciplinary manner rather than reminders of safety protocols. Skyward referrals are part of their permanent record.
If they are going to have a policy, they should enforce it.
They’re not enforcing it and students are at risk, as are staff.
Take care
Laurie
Thank you for your article I had no idea that this was happening. I do happy that you brought this to the attention of the parents.
I have been both happy and unhappy in the places I’ve worked. One thing that all adults must accept. I stay where I stay until I don’t. I stand up for myself and others. Those at the “top” don’t always appreciate that.
I’d encourage you to see what is going on in the district. Public records about the former Lochburn vice-principal…in “other districts ” look at how they treat their teachers. I stand up and speak out. I always will.
Please let me know your last name so I can Google search you. I gave my real name and workplace. I’m not hiding because I’m not lying and I am a well-loved teacher who’s earned every bit of respect and love I get from my students. It’s something I cherish.
The responsibility to fix this lies 100% on Ron Banner. Our district has a huge issue with rules and procedures being followed, and this is just one example of many. Now that this is public, let’s see how Mr. Banner handles this. Laurie, I would encourage you to keep calling the PCHD and also OSPI. I would also send a letter to every board member so that you know that they are all aware of the situation. (Nobody knows if they’ll all see this article). Whether people are for or against masks (I’m personally against them), rules are in place for a reason, and they need to be followed.
Board members:
Alyssa Anderson Pearson ~
mailto:apearson@cloverpark.k12.wa.us
Carole Jacobs ~
mailto:cjacobs@cloverpark.k12.wa.us
Anthony Veliz~
mailto:aveliz@cloverpark.k12.wa.us
David Anderson~
mailto:danderso@cloverpark.k12.wa.us
Paul Wagemann~
mailto:wagemanp@cloverpark.k12.wa.us
Dear Rebecca
I have an e mail saved where I did contact the board. All who you list. I was told to take it back to Mr. Banner. I did that, and never heard back from him. TPCHD asked if the district responded to me. They have not.
I have a string of e mails. One where I was told that I can seek a change in enforcement policy from my administrator, and then one stating that I cannot, and the seven-step progressive discipline policy is the only way to address students refusing to follow mask protocols. I’ll gladly share them all with anyone who would like to see them. They are public record as well and anyone can request them.
When they can so blatantly disregard a teacher who’s in the thick of this mess (speaking for other teachers and families who feel the same way), they can disregard anything.
Take care,
Laurie
I think it’s high time someone contacts the Health Department, if kids are not wearing masks and the district isn’t enforcing it in a timely manner that should be enough to close the school. Look at of 13 of the new guidance! https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1600/coronavirus/820-218-K12SupplementalRecommendations.pdf
Well I just found out the Health Department does nothing so that’s why teachers are going public with this. I called and they told me to fill out a form, they said they don’t know when it will be addressed.
Dear Shelly
The TPCHD actually has addressed this to the district. The district was told to get a plan in place to address enforcement and has not done that. They keep referring me back to the seven-step plan. Meanwhile, there are at least fifteen reported cases at the school and many more that are either unwilling to tell that their child has covid or are in the mix to be called.
It’s a hot mess that is bigger than the covid team at a school. I think the mess is bigger than the district can address in a realistic manner.
Why I’ve been vocal is to encourage families who have concerns to protect their children and themselves.
I’ve heard we will all (98%) get this variant, but I’m not only talking about this variant. I’ve been talking about enforcement of guidelines this district spent a lot of money on. I’m talking about the district being okay with exclusion of students if they don’t follow mask protocols for days, instead of an afternoon. If a student is suspended for not correctly wearing a mask, that is on their record. What I’ve proposed is what other districts have done—call parent, have child picked up, return with a stern warning that they have to follow policy in building. No report in skyward, no suspensions. The district has refused to “go there.” and the amount of students impacted is rising, as are staff instances.
They had the ability to take care of this.
When students refused to follow the up only and down only stair signs, they didn’t enforce it, they took the signs down. Now students do not social distance on those stairs, or in the hallways, or at the bus lot where up to 600 students are out there with masks off most faces.
It’s all about enforcement of policies that this district knows protect people.
It’s not happening. That’s why I put my name out there and why I’ve been vocal.
All of my e mails are public record, but I’ll share them with anyone who wants to see them. I’ve been asking for help since September. I’ve been disregarded, as have the enforcement of policies for social distancing and masks.
I hope parents and community members address this with the district, because a teacher’s voice is powerless. They do not listen to or ask teachers what we are facing or how we are feeling. Hopefully they will listen to families, parents and community stakeholders.
Wal-mart closed down? How many people have students in CPSD schools and got it from their child? So much to wonder about and so simple of a solution.
Take care
Laurie