Thread by @MOREcaucusUFT

@UFT Town Hall call is about to start. There's going to be a lot packed into this call, including 1. yesterday's Memorandum of Agreement that we covered here yesterday night and 2. the (very weak) safety conditions for schools this coming year #UFTTownHall

https://twitter.com/MOREcaucusUFT/status/1433247939346980872?s=20

@UFT Town Hall is starting now with Mulgrew mentioning the storms of last night and helping one another. Too bad @UFTUnity's negotiations with @NYCSchools safety conditions/protocols aren't as protective: here's the layout of it

https://twitter.com/MOREcaucusUFT/status/1430986945111470093?s=20

#UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew's agenda: safety, MOA, other things that might come, and the vaccine mandate on this #UFTTownHall Call now.

Mulgrew's asking us to take a deep breath even though we & students are about to go into overcrowded unventilated school conditions w/ an airborne pathogen.

@UFT Mulgrew: "we will handle this." Who is "we"? #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew: "we are ahead of where we were last year" WE HOPE SO IT'S BEEN A YEAR

Trained 1100 Building Response Teams across schools; 280 to train. "They were the key to safety last yr, protocols followed, testing happening properly, & to tell us so we could respond rapidly."

@UFT Mulgrew: there's a number of schools overcrowded, so we'll have rental vehicles/spaces to alleviate overcrowding. #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew: 3 ft distancing in cafeteria (don't unmasked people eating/drinking need 2b 6 ft?), added air flow/ventilation: "will feel a breeze in the cafeteria." Have larger air purifiers in the cafeteria. Trained 100 staff w/ CO2 monitors to measure air exchanges #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew: Test & Trace sez adults can ask to be tested. 10% of students tested every other week.
-Middle/HS we have high vax rates and so that amount of testing is appropriate (UH NO)
-for unvaxxed elementary we need more testing (YES DUH) #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew: elementary class all quarantine; vaccinated students who are exposed but no symptoms go to school; anyone w/ symptoms do 10-day quarantine; need to get tested 3-5 days into quarantine & will be able to return (it may take up to 2 wks tho to incubate 🤮) #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew talking about how much he's traveling around the country and not considering all our students, staff, and families will have traveled around too. We need baseline testing BEFORE school starts so that we catch cases immediately. #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew on instructional plan: "we pushed for this, this was part of our 5-pt plan" academic (9/27 K-10 literacy/numeracy; staff will be trained) & social diagnostic/screening

So our union is all about the standardized testing taking away time from teaching #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew: staff will be trained on K-2 paper diagnostics; 3-10 will be computer; all info pre-loaded; everything goes into database (how will we protect student data privacy?); logistics still working out but school will figure out how to get it done #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew: based on academic diagnostics our students will be tiered into 1, 2, and 3; some students will be on grade level and not be leveled. There will be a menu of interventions based on levels.

So many issues with this; many implications for instruction #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew: social diagnostic given later this fall to help acclimate students. Staff decide who has relationship to give diagnostic; 5-min screen; child won't be there; levels 1/2/3 (wait so it's a staff assessment of each kid without asking the kid questions?) #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew on social diagnostic:
-students can get counseling
-every school will have access to a social worker (BIG WIN IF TRUE) to get students what they need
-students may be referred to a more intense clinical setting (again, lots of Qs about this) #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew: social diagnostic/screening will be done in November. Still working on special ed services since there will be temporary needs for students (assuming w/ counselor, etc.) which means: SPED students may not have certain services in the beginning of year? #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew: anyone supplying remote services gets 4 hours for setting up their platforms (or $225); if class is fully remote you'll teach from home. Middle/HS with some unvaxxed students quarantining & vaxxed in-person will get stipend for extra work teaching both #UFTTownHall

Here's our thread and explanation on those middle/HS office hours that @UFT Mulgrew is talking about now: you'd get 2 hours of pay for when kids are mixed quarantined/in-person from our MOA shared last night:

https://twitter.com/MOREcaucusUFT/status/1433255410534948864?s=20

@UFT Mulgrew now on vaccine mandate: telling members not to fight over the vaccine question. "I hope everyone will get vaccinated but I know this won't be the case." "These mandates always came from a nat'l level" Cont'd #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew put out a statement saying @NYCMayor & vaccine mandate likely had precedent but as a union (& MLC) would see legally what could be done & went into impact bargaining (members were upset by this). #UFTTownHall

@UFT @NYCMayor @UFT filed impasse on @NYCschools' position which is if a teacher has a medical exemption there's a med. reason why they can't take a vaccine. For both med. & religious exemptions @NYCSchools wud allow staff to use their CAR days then remove them frm payroll WOW #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew: it is not okay for @NYCMayor @NYCschools to not allow staff with valid medical exemptions from taking the vaccine to be pushed out of payroll due to something that is not their choice #UFTTownHall

This is a big deal that @NYCschools would take staff who aren't able to take the vaccine for medical reasons off payroll. @UFT will be fighting the whole court order on the vaccine mandate accordingly and test it. Honestly did not expect NYC DOE to do that. #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew will continue impact bargaining; going to arbitration; we will get processed for real reasons why members can't take the vaccine. We will not let that go where it is now. Full NYC MLC (group of unions) will vote on this. #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew, after this update, now going back and telling members not to fight over this vaccine mandate and split the union #UFTTownHall

And of course @UFT Mulgrew did his diatribe of how we were the ones to keep schools safe. Uh we can't make overcrowded underventilated classrooms safe esp. w/o the screening that actually matters this year to keep us safe: weekly 100% student/staff COVID testing! #UFTTownHall

@UFT Q: 26 students & 3 adults. How is that setup going to work? Principal's gonna say 3 ft "where possible"?
@UFT Mulgrew: go to your Building Response Team, they'll do sq ft analysis; see CO2 monitors, take from there. @NYCschools designated rooms overcrowded or not. #UFTTownHall

But 100 CO2 monitors is not a lot for 1,800 schools and dozens and dozens of classrooms in each building. It could take an entire day to monitor all the classrooms especially in some of our biggest schools, @UFT @NYCschools #UFTTownHall

@UFT @NYCSchools Q: What's the threshold for closing?
@UFT Mulgrew: doctors: if you're vaccinated, you have a much lower chance of catching it even w/ ppl who are unvaxxed & have it. Vaxxed ppl usu are asymptomatic and only a few really get sick. (SO WHAT ABOUT OUR UNVAXXED STUDENTS) #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew: people have highly compromised immune systems, that's why we have to have a medical accommodation process and exemption. #UFTTownHall

(Did we mishear the question? Did he answer it?)

@UFT why am I being forced to vaccinate if it's not my choice to do so?
Mulgrew sharing facts on vaccination now. Health Dept can force a mandate. Some ppl have natural immunity but vaccine is better. Can't combat all the "crazy info out there" #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew reiterates what he said earlier around the vaccine mandate and that our union will legally test the mandate shortly (here's that thread) #UFTTownHall

https://twitter.com/MOREcaucusUFT/status/1433501468179550214?s=20

@UFT Mulgrew: all classrooms will have PPE, universal masking, electrostatic cleaners, hand sanitizer, all the protocols from last year still in play including if ppl get COVID sick days won't come out of CAR. #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew: @GovKathyHochul state dept of health is not mandating vaccines for state employees but city health dept has more authority & can go further than the state w/ a staff vaccine mandate. BUT only state can mandate children get vaccinated. #UFTTownHall #TheMoreYouKnow

FINALLY SOMEONE ASKS A TESTING Q: @UFT Mulgrew on consent forms: we might have a problem in some areas getting consent forms; if the virus is in the building as long as they can get some kind of 10% they should be able to find if there's some virus at the school (NO) #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew: the city does not have the legal authority to mandate consent forms for COVID testing; we have to ask the state around mandating consent forms to allow kids to test, we cannot do that directly with the city. #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew: we don't have a plan yet for when kids don't wear masks. We will inform you on this policy before we return to schools; still negotiating this with @NYCschools. We can't just file a report/suspend & have kids return in a few days w/o masks. #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew: no official isolation rooms but child will be taken to room near the nurse (effectively isolation room) and this should be a part of the school setup plan. BRT teams got trained. #UFTTownHall

@UFT Q: partial classroom closure: will we be forced to do the extra work required to put up work, etc. during duty-free lunch?
Mulgrew: have to make yourself available for at least an hour for office hours; can use prep/afterschool time to put up work; you figure it out. #UFTTownHall

It's so funny that @UFT Mulgrew says he's a HS teacher and tells a teacher how he might do extra overtime in-person and remote work because HE'S NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE #UFTTownHall

Many families want a remote option & stay linked w/ our school which would be better than medically fragile home instruction:
@UFT Mulgrew: no way we weren't going to have remote learning. Putting it on staff to figure out remote. "Tell me" what it'll look like 😡 #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew didn't answer the question on remote options for parents. Went on a huge tangent. Gee, it looks like they didn't want to fight for one even though so many families have asked for one ESP for safety reasons. #UFTTownHall

@UFT @UFT Mulgrew explaining again this CONFUSING remote/in-person plan to another member who asked the Q. Here's info from an earlier question:

https://twitter.com/MOREcaucusUFT/status/1433510700610199557?s=20

And here's more on what it'll look like from our thread yesterday:

https://twitter.com/MOREcaucusUFT/status/1433252364304195584?s=20

@UFT is STILL working on our Spring Break 2020 money; arbitration will be argued in next months. Watch this money come in a retro check which will be delayed many years to make staff stay in the system for more years for money we're owed for work we did. #UFTTownHall

Didn't follow the last question but it seems @UFT Mulgrew is saying he's ashamed the state isn't providing the PPE and resources needed for our classrooms...? Mulgrew didn't answer a lot of questions on remote options, etc. #UFTTownHall

@UFT Mulgrew is about to have a 3:45pm press conference immediately after #UFTTownHall on the vaccine mandate. This is the biggest news in the call today, but wonder if there's any legal ground to fight the mandate, even for ppl w/ medical exemptions and can't take the vaccine.

Here's the recording of today's @UFT call w/ President Mulgrew for you to listen to: #ufttownhall m.soundcloud.com/user-543532507…