Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1419056
"We are working after school to offer support and/or reteach content [to quarantining students]. We are also attempting to have the normalcy of in-person instruction." —Temisha Brame Carter, president of Centinela Valley Secondary Teachers Association MOUs ensure safety A memorandum of understanding between a union and a school district is the best way to ensure safety measures are enforced. But it's not always easy. "Our MOU is in progress," says Brame Carter of Centinela. "Our challenges have stemmed from delays in communication and/or effective interpretation of communication pertaining to COVID." Finco says her chapter's MOU with the district has a provision for extended COVID sick leave to be paid by the district to any fully vaccinated educator who has had to take leave due to COVID exposure or illness. "Last year we had some of the most amazing MOUs in place," says Schnapper. "We worked long and hard to make sure our teachers were protected, and we provided many options for them to teach in a variety of ways." " Yes, we agreed on a safety MOU," says Berlin. "It is important that we Centinela Valley Secondary TA leaders, left to right: Daniel Swearigen, Phyliss Buchanan, Temisha Brame Carter, Crystal Thayer, Lorraine Parsons, Jennifer Llanares, Race Headen, Eric Sanders, Ruth Cebreros. COVID vaccine mandate for California students O N O C T . 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to require the COVID-19 vaccine for students to attend in-person public and private schools, at the start of the term after the FDA fully approves the vaccine for their grade span (K-6 and 7-12). The California Department of Public Health (cdph.org) will seek public comment before setting rules for exemptions. Prior to the announcement, Newsom had left the deci- sion on student vaccine mandates to local school districts. Newsom's plan does not override districts' decisions; it allows districts to "accelerate" the requirements. In August, Culver City Unified School District became the first in the nation to require eligible students, 12 and older, to receive vaccinations. Eligible students in Los Angeles Unified must be vaccinated by the end of October. In Oakland Unified, students 12 and up must soon receive vaccinations, though they can be exempted for medical or religious reasons. In nearby Piedmont, begin- ning Nov. 17, eligible students must be vaccinated, with no religious exemptions. Students in Hayward must be vacci- nated by Dec. 17 or face weekly testing. Newsom also announced plans to add COVID-19 to the list of infectious diseases the state requires students to be vaccinated against. For more information, go to cdph.org. At press time, Pfizer had asked the FDA to authorize its COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11. follow the current state guidelines. We have cleaning protocols, ventilation and air filtration protocols, limit visitors on campus, and limit in-person staff meetings to 1.5 hours per month with the rest virtual." School is back in session, but it's hardly busi- ness as usual, says Berlin, with masking, testing, monitoring students for symptoms, reporting COVID cases, and making sure quarantined stu- dents don't fall behind. "It isn't the back-to-school that some of us imagined," says Berlin. "COVID is ever-present and looming. It's taking a toll on all of us, phys- ically, mentally and emotionally. But educators continue teaching, counseling, having meet- ings and grading. Just how much have we been affected? We won't know until we can finally put some distance between us and the virus." 32 cta.org Feature