Next Step for PUSD is Meeting with Teachers’ Union

Although the current COVID-19 case rate would allow Pasadena Unified School District schools to reopen by meeting certain requirements, Board of Education President Scott Phelps said the district would talk to United Teachers of Pasadena (UTP) before making any decisions. 

“The next step is to discuss [things] with our labor partners,” Phelps told Pasadena Now on Wednesday. “We already have language in the memoranda of understandings (MOUs) that we and UTP have agreed to that would allow us to re-open, but we will attempt to get them to agree that we can re-open safely in the near future.”

PUSD administrators will meet with UTP representatives on Feb. 24 to discuss conditions for a three-phase reopening, beginning with grades K-2, with grades 3-6 and 7-12 to follow.

The district met the state’s guidelines after local cases fell below 25 per 100,000 residents for five days. 

So far, there is no set date for reopening PUSD schools, according to Superintendent Brian McDonald. 

Twelve Pasadena private schools have received waivers and were moving toward reopening.

According to an email by the district’s education lobbyist, the chair of the Assembly Education Budget Subcommittee, Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), said on Tuesday that the Legislature is ready to put their plan “in print,” but said that Gov. Gavin Newsom is still not on board. 

The plan supposedly leans toward school labor groups who insist that vaccination be a prerequisite to reopening schools, along with other demands. 

Although most experts say that students can safely return to schools, many teachers’ unions have said teachers won’t return to the classroom until they receive a full round of the COVID-19 vaccine.

PUSD has vaccinated about 10 percent of its 2,400 employees. The district did not respond to an email last week when asked how many teachers have been vaccinated.

The district’s vaccination efforts have been hampered by the lack of vaccines across the state.

Last week, the district did not vaccinate any district employees.

“Due to vaccine supply, PUSD is not operating employee vaccine clinics this week, depending on whether PUSD receives a supply of vaccine doses, clinics will be held: February 18-19,” the district reported.

Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it was safe for students to return to school, and on Friday the agency released a roadmap that would allow that to happen.

The CDC recommends wearing masks, breaking students into smaller learning pods, staggering schedules, and installing physical barriers in tight spaces like reception areas. The guidelines also call for limiting school visitors, according to USA Today.

The guidelines do not include mandatory vaccinations and are described as recommendations, not mandates.

Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo said the issue would be discussed at a joint meeting between the City Council and the PUSD Board of Education on March 1.

Although meeting the threshold allows elementary schools to reopen, it does not require them to do so.