COVID-19 RELIEF FUNDING

Louisiana school districts are poised to receive nearly 4x more COVID-19 relief funding under the latest federal relief plan. This aid does come with restrictions in how districts may allocate the funds, but it is a much needed and long overdue step towards a reprieve for our educators and students who have been ‘making it work’ for far too long. We are excited about the possibilities this funding presents, but it is vital that teachers

This week we conclude the second week in the ongoing Special Legislative Session, bringing us to nearly the half way point. Due to the oncoming Hurricane Delta, some meetings were moved up until earlier in the week, most notably both the House Education and Senate Education Committees conducted their weekly meetings at the same time on Wednesday morning. They both considered important legislation, but here are some of the highlights:

One of the most important bills that we will hear in this abbreviated legislation is Senate Bill 31 by Senator Cleo Fields. If passed, this bill would prohibit the use of statewide student assessments conducted during the 2020-2021 school year from being used to evaluate teacher performance. Essentially, schools could (and likely would) still have testing this year, but the scores couldn't count against a teacher's performance evaluation.

Immediate Release: August 4, 2020

Contact: President Dina Esquinance: tangitft@gmail.com

The Tangipahoa Federation of Teachers and School Employees has been working with our members, as well as parents and other community members, to consider the impact of reopening schools in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. All stakeholders want students to be able to safely return to school, but the ramifications of an unsafe reopening could be catastrophic. To better evaluate the opinions of Tangipahoa’s teachers and school employees, we have conducted a survey of our over 900 members on the reopening of schools in our parish.

To Superintendent Stilley and Board Members:

My team and I had a meeting with Mr. Genco on Thursday morning. We appreciated the opportunity to meet with him and share our survey results and some of our concerns about the Covid-19 safety measures for our schools.

It is my understanding that this information was shared with Ms. Stilley who is going ahead with the soft start on August 12 as planned. We, however, respectfully disagree with that decision to move forward with the plan. Our disagreement is based on our concern for the safety and health of our students, employees, families, and our communities.

We made a commitment to our members to share the collected data with you. Attached is the survey results with comments

To Superintendent Stilley and Board Members:

The following are questions and concerns that our members have expressed to us. From over 150 questions collected we have selected the top 12 for your consideration. You may or may not have been presented these already, but we find these to be extremely important to be considered before children arrive in the buildings.

1. Are all classrooms and school areas of every school fully ventilated? Before schools open, will the school district obtain certification from a company that they are properly ventilated? Mold and dust accumulate on ceiling vents in offices and classrooms. Will the AC vents be cleaned to remove dust and mold and possible trapped Covid virus particles on a regular basis?
2. Do all classrooms allow for proper safe social distancing? Are the classrooms big enough to accommodate 6ft? How are guidelines going to be handled for social distancing in hallways during transitions (For example- in hallways will tape be used to mark pathways and in classrooms will 6 feet areas be marked off as well.)
3. Due to excessive and ongoing student abuse of bathroom facilities our school bathrooms have