SDEA 2022 Spring Elections Results
The SDEA Spring 2022 election is complete and election results have been posted here on the SDEA Internal Elections webpage. The Election Committee is proud to facilitate this process and thanks to all SDEA members who participated in their democratic right. Together We Are Stronger!
SDEA Scholarship Deadline
SDEA annually offers scholarships for members and members’ dependents. The Dependent Application is for graduating seniors and current college-enrolled students, who are dependents of a current SDEA member. The Member Application is for current SDEA members who wish to further their education. Applications can be found here on the SDEA website. The deadline to submit applications is Friday, May 6th at 5pm.
COVID Leave Win!!
After months of work to push the District on improving COVID leave, an agreement was reached this week. The new agreement expands the previous COVID leave benefits (Section 2.g) to include caring for yourself, caring for a family member and vaccine-related issues. The agreement requires the District to provide paid leave to SDEA members who fall into the aforementioned categories. This Know Your Rights (KYR) flyer gives an in-depth explanation of this agreement.
SDUSD Mask Mandate Decision
This past July, SDEA members overwhelmingly
approved a safety agreement that called for the District to follow state public
health directives and implement any changes in a timely fashion.
Effective March 14, the California Department
of Public Health (CDPH) has lifted the masking requirement in schools, but also
delegated decision-making authority around masks to local school districts.
SDUSD’s decision to plan to follow CDC COVID-19 Community Levels as its guide
for determining masking in schools is in line with the agreement approved by
educators back in July–and the updated state guidance from CDPH. Nevertheless, if
cases do increase it's going to be critically important that masks are
reincorporated to respond to those potential increases.
Starting on April 4, masks will not be
required in SDUSD schools, but will continue to be strongly encouraged for
staff, students and other visitors to our school campuses. Additionally, SDEA's
agreement with SDUSD continues to require improved ventilation and weekly
access to testing.
2022 SDEA On-line Spring Elections
SDEA is a member-run democratic organization which means YOU have the opportunity to be involved and run for a leadership position! Spring election nominations are now open for a variety of roles:
Be an influential voice and have a direct impact on thousands of your fellow union members by completing your nomination form(s) today!
View, complete and submit the necessary documents to the SDEA Election Committee at sdeaelections@sdea.net by 5pm on Wednesday, March 9th! Due to the ongoing pandemic, the 2022 SDEA Spring Elections will be online
Mask Mandate
On Monday, the state announced that we will move from required masking indoors in schools to strongly recommending masks indoors in schools as of March 11th.
Reaction to this announcement will be mixed. While some educators are ready to immediately remove their masks, others have remaining health concerns and are extremely cautious. Educators will be dealing with all reactions in their classrooms. We must also not forget the needs of students with disabilities or those who are medically fragile.
The state’s announcement also said that school districts have the authority to decide what the mask mandate should look like beyond March 11th within their districts. Also, our safety agreement with the District requires that the District apply the highest minimum standards in all matters related to our response to COVID-19. As they have throughout the pandemic, San Diego Unified has consulted with experts at UCSD on the indicators for a safe, science-based relaxation of masking indoors in schools and it’s important to do that now as well. Stay tuned for further updates.
Educators Applaud Supplemental COVID Sick Leave Agreement
BURLINGAME – California Teachers Association President E. Toby Boyd, a kindergarten educator, released the following statement applauding the agreement announced Tuesday that will provide much-needed supplemental paid COVID sick leave for California workers:
“We commend Governor Newsom, ProTem Toni Atkins and Speaker Anthony Rendon for hearing the pleas of workers throughout the state calling for much-needed supplemental paid sick leave. The fast-spreading Omicron COVID-19 variant has brought unprecedented challenges to our schools and colleges as thousands of students and educators have tested positive or fallen ill with COVID. This has put undue pressure on teachers and school employees faced with having to choose between going without pay or spreading the virus to their school communities. Most educators receive a finite number of sick days per school year. When those days are gone, they are gone. This leave will allow school employees to quarantine, recover, and return to their students and classrooms. The agreement announced today is the fruits of our collective labor as educators, labor partners and state leaders committed to the health and well-being of California workers.”
All Hands-on Deck and Elimination of Non-Essential Workload
Member leaders have asked the District to put in place a plan that ensures that all available staff, including administration, are deployed to cover classes and to minimize the warehousing of students in large groups or provide adequate supervision when there is no other option but to warehouse students.
Additionally,
SDEA member leaders met with District leadership about educator workload and
District initiatives that could be suspended this year, including:
- Non-essential assessments and professional development being eliminated for the remainder of this school year.
- All site pilot projects that were not approved by the SGT must either be stopped or reviewed for approval by the SGT.
- Any scheduled PLCs that are not teacher directed should cease.
Substitute Teacher Pay Improvements Won!
In order to improve Visiting Teacher staffing, we have just won the highest pay for substitute teachers in the whole county! These new rates are effective retroactive to January 3, 2022 and will be in place for the remainder of this school year.
Read the new substitute teacher
pay agreement here.
Also, if you know
someone wanting to work as a substitute teacher, send them this link so
they can apply.
Together We are Stronger!
We are able to win the
highest paid substitute rates, and other protections because we are a strong
union! Are you a member? If not, here is a membership
form link you can use to join.
COVID Testing
In addition to weekly school site testing, SDUSD employees and students are able to obtain a COVID test from the Ed Center Monday-Friday from 7am-7pm and on the weekends from 8am-5pm.
Members can also go to the UCSD Health Drive-Up testing centers. Info on the UCSD testing centers can be found here. Make sure to read the directions carefully to make your reservation. Other testing opportunities can be found here and here.
Members have reported long lines and unavailable testing windows at the district sites and through UCSD respectively. This is a result of the severe need for testing at this time due the surge in COVID cases. Increased testing capacity is an important element of addressing these issues with at least one new testing location coming online next week according to SDUSD Director of Nursing and Wellness.