SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Teachers are heading back to the classrooms on Monday – some uncomfortable with the fact that an agreement on COVID safety precautions has still not been reached.
The San Francisco Unified School District teacher’s union tweeted on Sunday:
“We received many reports today that SFUSD ran out of tests. Educators are being placed in impossible situations. @SFUnified needs to prioritize finalizing an agreement around masks, testing, and sick leave now. Our students, families, and staff can’t wait till Thursday or later.”
@UESF via Twitter
However, the district superintendent posted photos showing a testing site open over the weekend at the district office on Franklin Street.
SFUSD spokesperson Laura Dudnik also gave the following statement:
“SFUSD has made reliable testing regularly available to students and staff since last spring. Since last Sunday we have distributed nearly 58,000 tests at our testing locations. We are and have been working closely with the SF Department of Public Health with implementing all protocols they recommend.”
This Thursday, the school district is set to meet with the teacher’s union again at the bargaining table. The union says that’s too late because teachers have to continue working now and need an agreement.
The teacher’s union is asking for:
- Ten paid sick days for all COVID-19 related reasons (district offering five days)
- School district provides two N95 or KN95 masks for every student and employee each day
SFUSD says they have been providing masks and will continue to provide them but only for employees. They are starting to get KN95 masks out too.
The district and the union have agreed that weekly COVID-19 testing needs to be at every district site for all students and staff. This has already started with the district getting a shipment of rapid tests from the state.
However, the union still says teachers are having a hard time getting their hands on a test.