Thank you to all who attended our membership meeting last night. After the meeting, we worked late into the night with BPS and the School Committee to reach an agreement (subject to the vote of the School Committee) on health and safety plans before the first day of school today. Below you can find a summary of the agreement and a link to the finalized, signed version.
Please see a summary of the agreement toplines:
- BPS will provide six (6) feet of socially-distanced isolation space or room in each school for testing and isolating students who are symptomatic with COVID-19 symptoms and awaiting test results, or those who have tested positive for COVID-19. If there are concerns about the isolation space, the nurse should let us know and a team of BTU and BPS representatives will visit the school to find a solution.
- BPS will provide masks to staff if members forget to bring their mask or it is damaged throughout the day. BPS will also have a supply of various types of masks in various sizes (including clear masks), eye protection, nitrite powder-free, latex-free gloves, and gowns as needed for staff, upon request.
- Specialized groups of employees will also be able to request relevant PD.
- Each nurse will be provided five (5) N95 masks and more as needed.
- BPS will install and maintain Indoor Air Quality data loggers in classrooms to monitor air quality. The data will be shared with the BTU.
- All BTU members will have the opportunity to participate in weekly pool surveillance testing. BTU educators who become symptomatic during the work day will be able to get access to self-administered rapid result tests.
- BTU members who are identified as close contacts of a positive COVID-19 case and are asymptomatic must participate in Test and Stay for 7 days. This entails staff being tested each day for 7 days and, so long as they are negative, stay at work. Anyone who is found to be positive must stay home.
- BPS will continue to report positive COVID-19 cases by school weekly on the BPS website.
- All employees are required to verify their vaccination status, and any employee who does not verify full vaccination will be required to submit proof every seven (7) calendar days of a negative COVID-19 test.
- Educators will NOT be required to “simultaneously” teach.
- Educators will provide relevant coursework that can be accessed virtually for students who are absent. Students can then get additional help to complete that work through the online 24/7 tutoring via Paper. For example, if the standard for the week is multiplication and division, a teacher can share online resources for multiplication practice and then the student can get help with it from the Paper tutor. The coursework does not need to uploaded daily, but it needs to be accessible daily.
- The city will re-establish a balance of ten (10) workdays of COVID-19 sick leave to each employee for each school year, so long as the policy is in effect. Vaccinated educators who need additional paid leave due to COVID-19 contraction beyond those 10 days will be eligible for 10 additional paid leave days.
- In addition, BPS has informed the BTU that tents have been procured, 5 additional contact tracers have been hired, and they will continue several other health and safety protocols from the previous year.
We encourage all members to please read the agreement in full. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this agreement, please contact your Field Representative.
While we are glad to have come to agreements on health and safety protocols for this school year, we will continue to meet, discuss and negotiate additional details with the district regarding continuity of student instruction and to ensure that there are plans in place if DESE changes course and allows for virtual instruction.
We will also resume master contract negotiations shortly, as well.
We hope you all had a great first day of school, and, as always, we are here for you.
In solidarity,
BTU Officers and Staff