CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – The Clarksville-Montgomery County Education Association (CMCEA) has submitted a letter urging Schools Director Millard House to move the district to remote learning for the weeks before and after winter break.
The request comes after concerns arose during the Thanksgiving holiday, in which the association claims many teachers and school employees had to forego the celebrations because there was not enough time to properly quarantine.
CMCEA demands
To avoid this situation around the Christmas and New Year holiday season, the association’s requested solution is for the district to move to remote learning for the weeks of Dec. 14 through Dec. 19 and Jan. 4 through Jan. 8.
“It is unrealistic to expect students and their families to not visit friends and relatives over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Transitioning to remote learning the week we return to school will relieve the burden of an already unstable situation,” the letter says.
Here is the full text of the letter from group’s Facebook page.
The letter, signed by nine members of the CMCEA Executive Board, also accuses the school district of negligence if they are unwilling to grant the request.
“By not granting this request, we feel the school district would be negligent in this charge by unnecessarily exposing both students and teachers to an even higher risk of COVID-19 after the winter break,” the letter reads.
Furthermore, the letter adds that “Teachers are tired and overworked,” noting that widespread fatigue – and the mental health challenges fatigue can create – results in a lowering of the immune system, adding to virus susceptibility for both teachers and faculty.
CMCEA members were unavailable for additional comment.
School district responds
When Clarksville Now reached out to CMCSS for comment, Chief Communications Officer Anthony Johnson said that despite CMCEA’s claim in their Facebook post of sending the letter to Director House, ‘Mr. House was blind copied in this email that was directly sent to one of the seven School Board members on Monday, Nov. 23 at 9:47 p.m. To my knowledge, it was only sent to that one board member.”
The school system maintains that it will continue communicating with CMCEA regarding their concerns, and Johnson said House invited CMCEA this morning to schedule a meeting to further discuss the concerns in the letter:
“Open communication is important to Mr. House, which is why he has continuously met with the presidents of both CMCEA and PET on a consistent basis since his arrival. During the height of the pandemic, he or a member of his team met weekly with the CMCEA president to ensure that the district listened to and shared updates, questions, and concerns. This morning, he welcomed CMCEA leadership to schedule a time to meet with him to discuss the letter further.
“Mr. House values all perspectives, and has received hundreds of communications from employees, parents, students, community members, politicians, etc. this school year regarding the pandemic. There are strong opinions for and against in-person learning. There is no doubt that the pandemic has presented challenges for everyone, and according to some national reports I have read, has caused an increase in stress, anxiety, exhaustion and other mental health concerns experienced by Americans. Our faculty, staff, and administrators continue to go above and beyond to adapt to the ever-changing circumstances to provide the best education and services possible for our students.”
Johnson added that data from the Montgomery County Health Department and the CMCSS Communicable Disease Team shows that less than 1% of CMCSS’ positive student and employee cases originate from spread in schools.
Currently, Johnson said, there is no intention for CMCSS to transition to districtwide remote learning, other than the pre-planned remote learning day on Dec. 21.
Parents’ concerns
One CMCSS parent, Carrie Singer, enrolled her daughter in traditional learning for the fall. However, as case numbers in Montgomery County have risen to their highest points yet, the family’s fear of contracting and spreading the virus has also risen.
On Tuesday morning, Singer sent a request form for remote learning, only to be denied by the vice principal of the school.
“I’m extremely frustrated,” said Singer.
When she tried to appeal the denial, she was told that the principal had the final word.
“When I questioned my daughter’s safety, the principal informed me that ‘I’m here daily.’ Good for her, but the difference between her and my daughter and other students in the school, they do not have the luxury of sitting behind a desk in an office of their own.”
Singer was informed that her daughter, a senior at West Creek High School, would not be permitted an excused absence unless it was a 14-day quarantine related to COVID-19 exposure.
Angela Peterson contributed to this report.
The Link LonkDecember 02, 2020 at 03:43AM
https://clarksvillenow.com/local/teacher-association-urges-cmcss-switch-to-remote-learning-for-the-weeks-before-and-after-winter-break/
Teacher's group urges CMCSS to send kids home before and after winter break - Clarksville Now
https://news.google.com/search?q=Send&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
No comments:
Post a Comment