SCHOOLS: District, teachers’ union announce a deal for some in-person learning, but have more talking to do

Just in, a joint announcement from Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Education Association, saying they’ve made a deal to get some students back into the classroom, four days after Gov. Inslee announced he would order schools to offer some in-person learning:

Throughout our joint response to the pandemic, the wellbeing of our students has always come first. On Tuesday March 16, Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Education Association came to a tentative agreement that facilitates the safe return to school buildings for preschool and elementary students and staff. The agreement focuses on creating safe learning environments and supports special education inclusion by keeping students with IEPs in class with their general education peers. This tentative agreement is being brought to the SEA membership to be ratified and to the SPS Board of Directors for approval next week….

The tentative agreement includes our joint commitment to bring all pre-kindergarten and elementary special education intensive services pathways students back into classrooms first on March 29. SEA and SPS recognize the unique challenges that remote learning has presented these students. All other elementary students whose families choose the in-person instructional model and secondary special education intensive pathway students will start on April 5.

Throughout bargaining the teams focused on meeting the needs of our entire school community whether in-person or remote. Additionally, to allow students more days of in-person interaction with classmates, the parties agreed on a hybrid (in person part-time and remote part-time) instructional model where students would attend either morning or afternoon in-person class four days a week, with remote teaching and learning on Wednesdays. All Families will also have the option of a 100% remote model. …

Kindergarten to 5th grade families will receive an Intent to Enroll Survey later this week and an opportunity to select the in-person instructional model or 100% remote.

Once the organizations ratify the tentative agreement next week, more details will be available.

Bargaining continues as SEA and SPS now focus on coming to an agreement to bring middle and high school students back to classrooms.

April 5th is the governor’s deadline for all students through elementary grades to be offered some in-person learning; for middle- and high-school students, he set April 19th. (His full proclamation is here.)

25 Replies to "SCHOOLS: District, teachers' union announce a deal for some in-person learning, but have more talking to do"

  • M March 16, 2021 (5:29 pm)

    The first line of the statement is a total insult…please don’t pretend this was always about the kids.  Nevertheless, slow clap for squeaking it in on the last possible day.

    • Anne March 17, 2021 (9:29 am)

      Having safe classrooms & healthy , protected teachers-IS about the kids. 

  • TJ March 16, 2021 (5:50 pm)

    7 more grades to get worked out in a month to meet Inslee’s demand. Don’t screw it up SEA. All eyes are watching. Hybrid schedules will be the norm for most the rest of the year. But in the fall hybrids will be out the door and regular 5 day schedules will be back, so prepare for that now 

    • JJ March 16, 2021 (7:24 pm)

      Yikes, TJ! Teachers are not your enemy! Believe me, we all want things to get back to normal as soon as possible. The status of COVID in the community will dictate whether we’re hybrid vs. back to normal next fall, not teachers. That’s on the public.

      • t3 March 16, 2021 (8:30 pm)

        kids are supposed to be vaccinated by the Fall, so I assume TJ is thinking that the virus will be more under control by then. 

        • Alki Dad March 17, 2021 (8:13 am)

          Not sure where that vaccination information is coming from but it is wrong. There are trials being done right now to extend the age range of Modern and Pfizer’s vaccine  down to 12, but I have not heard of any timeline for trials and approval for children younger than that. I believe JJ is right in their statement, and would caution TJ  against thinking that all parents are of the same mind with regard to returning to the classroom while some risks exists. I imagine just as much uproar over districts forcing kids to be in person as there is right now to offer a hybrid option.

        • Anne March 17, 2021 (9:27 am)

          Really-kids are supposed to be vaccinated by the Fall? I had only heard that vaccines were beginning to be tested on -younger kids. Think those 16+  are/will be eligible. Haven’t seen anything about whether vaccinations will be required. 

        • neighbor March 17, 2021 (9:48 am)

          @T3- Current estimates indicate that kids under 12 won’t be able to be vaccinated until mid-2022 or later. Vaccine safety testing on children has only just begun, and my understanding is that will take a full year or more.

    • Brian March 16, 2021 (9:04 pm)

      Imagine saddling the responsibility for safe reopening onto the teachers and NOT the administration. What is this thought process?

      • ST March 16, 2021 (9:31 pm)

        The district and teachers’ union negotiated for weeks and reached a tentative agreement on a deal that still has to be ratified by the teachers.  I’m not sure how this is “saddling the responsibility for safe reopening [solely] onto the teachers.”  I’m glad both sides worked together and found common ground.  

      • Anne March 17, 2021 (9:18 am)

        “Saddling”?? Since it’s the teachers that will be going into the classroom,teachers that will have daily exposure to students- it should definitely be up to the teachers to decide if they feel safe enough to do that-not the administration- nor anyone else.  Not “saddling” at all. 

  • proudpapa March 16, 2021 (6:43 pm)

    Local private schools have been using a hybrid in-person/remote model for months with great results – and since last March have been using a remote model that only saw one-week of downtime. It is too bad the union HASN’T put the children first. Nice attempt to claim that now. 

    • Goteachers March 17, 2021 (5:26 pm)

      Just a point of clarification-the union’s priority should be the welfare of teachers and the profession at large. Kids are a part of that but kids also have parents to advocate for them. Teachers seem to have the weight of the world on them and take a disproportionate amount of blame for so much.  Teachers need a union (clearly) to advocate for their protection, pay, and benefits. 

    • teacher March 17, 2021 (6:03 pm)

      I have been working my butt off learning and using a new platform all year to put children first. The district is the one that has not gotten organized to figure out how we can get back into the classrooms safely, equitably and quickly. 

    • Kim March 17, 2021 (6:09 pm)

      Stop comparing public schools to private schools they are different in the way they are run and the population of students that they have! Public schools have medically fragile students and students who are in behavioral disorders classes which most private schools don’t. Public schools also have large teachers unions.

      • duge March 18, 2021 (5:07 pm)

        exactly…  Private schools rarely work with kids who have IEPS. Let alone no how to write one.

  • Quarantine March 16, 2021 (7:29 pm)

    If kids travel out of state for spring break do they have to quarantine before returning to school? 

    • Nitro March 16, 2021 (7:59 pm)

      My kindergartner  is not at SPS, but has been going in person every day since the start of the school year. At his school, yes, if you travel for holidays/break (visiting/having close prolonged contact with others outside of immediate household) then the child quarantines for 2 weeks and does remote learning during that time. Not sure if SPS will have a similar policy. I hope so for the safety of the teachers and classmates. 

    • t3 March 16, 2021 (8:31 pm)

      good question!

  • hehafo March 16, 2021 (10:47 pm)

    Moderna announced testing today for children under 12.  According to the NY Times, “vaccine side effects.. can be more intense in children than adults.”  Testing is supposed to take a year or more.

    Based on that news article’s timeline, it seems it will be at least a year before 100% of kids are back in schools and we’re back to “normal” in schools.

  • Bell March 17, 2021 (8:40 am)

     Yes!! If ANYONE travels outside of the state they should quarantine when they come home. The traveling and people not adhering to CDC protocol is a big part of why we aren’t getting over this. It’s scary and frustrating that people still don’t know this and we’re a year into this mess!? So yes, your kids should quarantine and so should you if you were with them. 

    • Quarantine March 17, 2021 (12:14 pm)

      The CDC guidelines seem very ambiguous on travel. Is travel defined by traveling out of the country, out of the state, our just out of town within ones own state? Someone visiting Eastern WA is following guidelines, yet someone visiting the Oregon coast is not? 

  • David B March 17, 2021 (10:17 am)

    Glad to finally see some movement on this, after a full year of no school. We sent our young one to live with her grandparents so she could attend school last spring and this fall/winter. Will be great to be over having to run back and forth between states.

  • TM7302 March 18, 2021 (12:08 am)

    I hope the State does its assessments to gauge how well Seattle Public Schools have faired this past year.  The results should be interesting to say the least…

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