We hope that you all are gearing up for a restorative April break! Please note that the BTU office will be open, and staff will be available Tuesday – Friday. There will be no regularly scheduled bulletin next week, but we will send special bulletins if needed.
Thank you to the 5,500+ BTU educators who signed our petition in just a few short weeks and thank you to everyone who came out for our petition delivery watch party! We had a great time together as we watched BTU members, staff, and students testify live before School Committee to underscore the need for a new contract. After two years of working in extremely difficult conditions, we’re entering our eighth month without a contract or consistent negotiations. We only have two more days scheduled and should be meeting weekly at this point.
Unfortunately, most of the proposals presented at last Tuesday’s and last night’s negotiating sessions do not support educators or students. Check out our latest bargaining session summary, and learn more about what Boston students and educators really deserve at btu.org/engage. Last night, BPS rejected our ABA proposal on limiting groupings. We also discussed religious holidays and leaves but did not come to any resolution on any of these issues. We were disappointed that the district continues to ignore Lunar New Year as an observance day despite major cities, including New York City and San Francisco, as well as local districts like Brookline having done so for years.
Our next membership meeting is TOMORROW, April 13 at 4:30 p.m. It will be an in-person meeting with the option to view-only on Zoom. If you will be joining in-person, you do not need to register, though, as always, you should bring your BTU card for admittance. (We will have a problem-solving table for those who do not have their card, but you must bring a photo ID or BPS pay stub.)
If you will be joining via Zoom, registration in advance is required to verify BTU membership. We will not be accepting any registrations submitted after 3:30 p.m. as we are navigating this new hybrid model and will not have the bandwidth to support late registrations beyond that time. Additionally, tech support for those who are having trouble joining the meeting will only be available until 5:00 p.m. If you registered before the 3:30 p.m. cut off and are having issues joining the meeting, please email zoom@btu.org and we will assist you in joining.
Please note: ONLY THOSE IN PERSON WILL BE ABLE TO VOTE AND SPEAK and Building Reps must be in-person for the meeting to “count.” Those who are observing the meeting from home will not have access to the Q&A and the chat will not be monitored.
The Executive Board has approved of the attached protocols and rules of order for the April In-Person Membership. Upon entering the meeting hall, members will be asked to attest that they do not have COVID-19 symptoms by initialing an official BTU sign-in sheet. Masks are required and there will protocols in place to provide varying levels of comfort, including a masks-only area and mask-break/eating only area. Trespassing is prohibited and in the event that a member becomes unruly during the course of a meeting, Robert’s Rules Section 61 will govern.
We are continuing to advocate for the UP Holland and Dever School staff who are under state receivership and are not being compensated for their extra hours of work. 100% of BTU educators at all three UP network schools and the Dever have signed onto a letter calling for Equal Pay for Equal Work. We will continue to advocate with them to help retain their educators and improve their working conditions as we continue to also fight for any additional receivership or top-down intervention from the state.
The Superintendent Search committee continues to meet weekly, and the job description is being finalized. If you missed the community listening sessions, there is still an opportunity to share your thoughts at the weekly Tuesday meetings during public comment period.
Building Reps: If you have not done so already, please remember to submit your W-9to Nichole Staude in order to receive the 2021-2022 BR stipend.