Letter to all WTEA members from our President, Patti Ressland
Good Day! I hope you are all well and have been enjoying your weekend. It has been awhile since I have sent a correspondence, sorry but I am sure you understand with everything going on in your own lives why I haven’t communicated to you sooner.
I know many of you had questions about Spring Break and travel. I say-GO! if that is something you want to do. Let your principal know that you will be traveling. The district just wants to be sure we have enough staff to staff the buildings. You can just state that you will be traveling to a place on the quarantine list and the date you can return. You do not have to go into specifics.
I know how hard you are all working to meet the needs of your students while trying to balance work, your children, your health and your family’s health. I know that many of you are suffering your own social and emotional issues. Emotions are all over the place. Some are fearful and others are not. This has been a year from HELL! I do not think any of us could ever imagine that this was something we would have to live through. I want to say THANK YOU for all the help and support you have provided one another. YOU ARE THE BEST!! I am in awe of everything you are doing to juggle work, family, friends, basically your LIFE. You are amazing!!! Many of you may not feel that way but YOU ARE!! What we are doing is not easy. It is a lot of damn work!
I have been receiving emails, text messages and phone calls from many of you about your thoughts, concerns and ideas regarding this school year. I have tried to express those things to Jeff and the board. I know that we all do not agree and are not on the same page about re-opening. We have some members that are ready to have the students back 100%, some that feel we should stay the course, and others that are still fearful of the virus. I respect all your feeling regarding re-opening of schools.
There is a group of parents that have been very vocal about their ideas for reopening schools, Jeff Mohre, the Board, and the Union, especially the leadership. We are not all going to agree about the re-opening of schools not matter what the decision will be but we CAN agree the personal attacks are not acceptable. An attack on our superintendent, board, and union is an attack on ALL teachers, every single one of us. This is straight up shock doctrine union busting tactics.
We may not agree with all of Jeff’s or the board’s decisions but they have generally been supportive of staff and students. We have a working, respectful relationship with them. We can approach them and not be fearful of losing our jobs or positions. If there was another superintendent or board that may not be the case. These personal attacks are out of line and malicious. They have been made against us all. Here are a few Facebook examples just within the past month:
· “We deserve a tax credit”.
· “He is more concerned about appeasing the UNION. I didn’t say the TEACHERS, for all who like to peg me for a teacher hater. This is about their good buddy union president, who Morhe and our board president joyfully cheer for and thank when she’s done speaking at the meetings”. (FYI, they thank everyone for their comments and if they applauded me at the last meeting it was because I called out a few of them for saying the teachers would take advantage of them extending the FFCRA-Family First Corona Relief Act.)
· “Those damn unions”.
· “The disrespect that has taken place at some of the boe meetings is very upsetting”. (Some of these parents think that they were being disrespected.)
· “While collecting full pay and benefits with a product that would receive an F.”
· “It is absolutely time to open back up and I would even be in favor of no masks, but I know that’s far off. And honestly the people that don’t want to send their kids in can be remote”.
We all have our own thoughts, concerns, and ideas about reopening schools 100%. Studies show this…, President Biden says that…, CDC says…, Doctors say that…. Can it be done safely? Again, many of us have different thoughts on that question. As of right now, the CDC says that schools can open 100% for in-person safely IF these five things are being done in the districts:
1. Mask and face coverings are being worn at all times.
2. Keeping a physical distance of six feet and using cohorting.
3. Having a healthy school: proper ventilation, cleaning and disinfecting.
4. Good hygiene practices.
5. Contact tracing and quarantining.
Facts are facts. We follow the CDC guidelines for the safety or staff AND students. We are restricted by the 4 walls in each classroom. Maybe administration can stage a photo/video of what the school day looks like. (ex: 11 kids in one room, generally 6ft apart, computers open, masks on, seated, for 6 hours, while the teachers are tied to the computer at the front of the room). Perhaps the results of the latest survey will offer numbers to cite. Maybe the vaccines will bring an end to this.
“This small group of parents are fringe maniacs. They deserve no more attention than the REST of the township families we serve. They are just loud and disrespectful. What are the sentiments of the rest of LV families? You know, the quiet ones, who are happy with the way things are running, comfortable with the current guidelines, busy working, and appreciative of all we’ve done, DESPITE living through a pandemic ourselves with our own families and sacrifices. It seems they are just a loud, mostly clueless minority. I’ve read their bogus petition. It cites a debunked “doctor” and has signatures from all over the US and beyond with comments unrelated to LV schools. In short, it’s bullshit”. I stole that quote from one of our colleagues.
These parents think we are “in bed” with the board and we, the Union, is the reason why we are not bringing everyone back. That is just not the case! There is a witch hunt out there for Jeff, the BOE and the union. We are not always going to see eye to eye with Jeff and the board but we CAN work with them.
Please attend the board meeting Tuesday to show that we are United and support our union members. We need to show this group of parents that we are one and have been giving our all to educate and support their children during this difficult time. The meeting starts at 7:30 but we will need to get there earlier to guarantee seating. If you plan to attend, please let me know, I was thinking about getting a box or two of Joe from Dunkin.
If you cannot make the meeting, please send a letter to the board to be read at the meeting about your experiences this year.
P.S. Please do not forget to check our website at: washingtontwpea.org for your contract, coid-19 updates, and other information you may need.
Patti
WTEA President
