HDTA

Good evening board members, President Storli, and staff. Thank you as usual for providing time for me to speak

Tonight, as we all anxiously await the decisions made in the 2020 election, I want to first recognize the service of Mrs. Storli and Mr. Sturgeon for their tireless support of the Hart District and wish them the best. These two board members have been committed to the oversight of our students, staff, and district as a whole. Thank you.

In terms of our current situation, I want to reiterate the association’s deep concern for the safety of all as we begin to return to campus. As word of mouth is an unstoppable force, I continue to ask for a transparent communication of information in regard to cases of covid on our campus’.  As numbers of reported Covid continue to rise, I have become aware of multiple cases throughout our schools that are not widely known. This is why HDTA has asked for the adoption of the standards in AB685 prior to its implementation which would require notification to all employees on a campus where a case has been documented.  Not that we don’t want to come back, but of a concern for safety. Please take these concerns in serious consideration. A colleague of mine reminded me of a phrase, FUD, Fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Teachers are fearful of the disease. They are uncertain of what the return will look like, and they are doubtful it can be a safe and pedagogically efficient return for all. Don’t get me wrong, teachers want to be back in the classroom. 

In addition, there is very little clarity to the requests of teachers who submitted letters, including from physicians,  in regard to teaching from off site as we return to a blended model.  Once again fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

On another note, the consent calendar tonight has a listing of costs for students for whom we are paying outside agencies enormous fees. I would think this would be a discussion among our board members who are the fiduciaries of our district. There is between 2-3 million dollars being appropriated for these outside services which does NOT include legal fees incurred during the process. Our teachers are tired of hearing there is no money, the sky is falling, we’re going bankrupt. We have continued to keep up our part of the contract, reinventing the wheel to support our students, but have not seen anything in return. We are all in this together, let’s keep it that way.

J

11/4/2020 School Board Agenda:https://williamshart.agendaonline.net/public/Meeting.aspx?AgencyID=159&MeetingID=80472&AgencyTypeID=1&IsArchived=False