The union that represents more than 3,000 teachers in the Syracuse City School District wants to postpone live instruction until November 9th to ensure they can safely reopen for staff and students. The Syracuse Teachers Association delivered its resolution to the school board last evening, right on the heels of their decision to move back the first day of school by one week to September 14th.
STA President Bill Scott says it’s a step in the right direction given there are still health and safety protocols and procedures that have not been shared.
"There are literally hundreds of questions from the membership that have been submitted to the Teacher's Association that we're working on compiling and giving to the district. There are hundreds of questions that have been submitted directly to the school district via meetings the superintendent and leadership had with staff that have yet to be answered."
Questions include who will take the temperatures of students as they enter schools; what happens to a child who is identified with symptoms of COVID-19, and who sits in the isolation room with them; and who gets that student home. Scott says everything from busing to buildings is at risk.
"You're asking a school district to implement essentially hospital grade procedures and policies that they're not familiar with to a population who's unfamiliar with such protocols, and pull it off without a flaw. The whole thing is so fragile, if one thing goes wrong, it all falls like dominoes."
He says everyone has been meeting, planning, and coordinating for an eventual return to the classroom since March. But he says doing that for 36 buildings, 21,000 students, and 6,000 employees is no fast or easy task. Last week, the district settled on a hybrid learning model, with PreK-grade 8 students in buildings two days a week, and learning virtually three days a week. The school board could take up the union’s resolution to further postpone live instruction at a later date.
