State Teachers Union Decries Lack of Statewide COVID-19 Testing Plan in Schools

The California Teachers Association is demanding a statewide system for COVID-19 testing in schools before returning to in-person instruction.

Meanwhile, negotiations between the Pasadena Unified School District and the local union representing its teachers continue.

While state and Los Angeles County health officials cleared a path last week for schools to seek waivers to reopen for pre-kindergarten through second-grade students, a contract must be agreed to by the PUSD and the United Teachers of Pasadena before students will return to campus on a part-time basis under the district’s planned hybrid learning model.

A letter from the CTA to Gov. Gavin Newsom dated Sept. 16 outlines the concerns of the statewide union, which represents more than 300,000 educators, regarding safety at schools.

“Our concern for the safety and welfare of students and staff has been heightened by the fact that school doors are opening, or preparing to open, across the state through small cohorts, waivers, and as counties advance through the risk levels. Unfortunately, these schools are opening without the basic safety protections and testing required to prevent the further spread of COVID-19,” the letter stated.

“A state solution is needed for this statewide problem. It is unrealistic to expect over a thousand school districts or even 58 counties to take on this task individually. Educators and their districts don’t have the training, resources, or funding to do this work,” according to the letter.

“State guidance is not enough. Relying on individual school districts and local health officials (who have been retiring or resigning at a record pace) to coordinate what should be a statewide effort is woefully ineffective and leads to localized and politicized decision making that is damaging our public health, our public education, and our economy,” the CTA letter continued.

The CTA guidance appears to be slowing the progress of negotiations between the PUSD and the UTP, PUSD Board of Education Vice President Scott Phelps said.

“I’ve been a school board member for 15 years. It has always been the case that the local (unions) take direction from the state union,” he said.

That last round of negotiations between the PUSD and the local teachers’ union took place Sept. 22, he said. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday.

“I don’t think there’s anything unreasonable in the safety precautions. I think those are all natural concerns,” Phelps said. “It’s possible to do what they’re asking with enough collective will.”

At the same time, If a contract becomes dependent on the state taking action on implementing statewide safety protocols for schools, it could easily add weeks or months to the earliest date students might set foot on campuses in Pasadena, Phelps said.

But Phelps said he believes at this point, the detriment to students’ education and emotional wellbeing caused by ongoing campus closures outweighs the safety concerns.

To mitigate risk, schools could hold classes in reduced capacity and outdoors, taking advantage of the state’s weather, he said. Just like parents are to be offered the option to keep their children on a 100 percent online program if they don’t feel comfortable sending them back to school under the hybrid learning model, teachers, too, could be offered an option to continue working online only, should they wish.

“I have to make judgment calls all the time,” Phelps said. “So in the current environment: Yes, I think that my role is to push, to try to get us to try some things outdoors, because the kids are worse off. And that’s my number one concern.”

The letter sent by the CTA to Gov. Newsom can be found online at cta.org/press-release/educators-concerned-schools-are-being-allowed-to-reopen-without-basic-safety-protections-and-testing-in-place-to-prevent-further-spread-of-covid-19.