Many of you have noticed the tension that has developed between the understandable desire to have children return to school, and the sensible insistence on safe working environments under COVID-19 conditions. 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, health experts have advised that individuals avoid the “Three Cs” – Close Contact, Closed Spaces, Crowds. Thankfully, there is a way that some in-person instruction can still take place while meeting health and safety guidelines; ODE calls it LIPI (Limited In-Person Instruction).

According to the Oregon Department of Education, LIPI is when schools operating in the Comprehensive Distance Learning instructional model bring a limited number of students, for limited hours and with specific conditions, on-site. 

Per ODE Guidelines:

• LIPI cohort groups are limited to no more than 20 students.
• Students cannot be part of more than two cohorts (including transportation) in any given week. 
• Any one staff member (even in multiple roles) cannot interact with more than three cohorts in a given day and five in a week. 
• LIPI cannot take the place of any CDL instruction. 

You can read the full Guidance for Limited In-Person Instruction During CDL HERE. 

Your PAT bargaining team has worked over the last three sessions to negotiate the fine points of LIPI activities in PPS. Key to our conversation:

• LIPI instruction will be provided by educators on a voluntary basis. If the District cannot find a volunteer from the regularly employed PAT membership, PPS will open the positions to PAT substitute educators. 
• Volunteers who agree to provide LIPI during teacher-directed time in their regular schedule will be paid at their individual per-diem hourly rate for all lost teacher-directed time, plus for an additional hour per week for time spent planning LIPI sections.
• Educators who volunteer can rescind their volunteer offer if they do not feel safe once they inspect the space provided for LIPI.

We reached conceptual agreement on all points last week and you can look for the final copy of the language attached to the next Bargaining Brief.

For the third consecutive year, OEA will be hosting a Winter Recharge retreat for aspiring educators and early career educators. This is an event tailored to the needs of aspiring educators and professionals in the first few years of their career.  

This year, the event will be held virtually in a new, more flexible format on January 30th, 2021, with content offerings available from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.  

This is an opportunity to network with educators across the state in roles of mutual support, and delve into professional development opportunities which best suit your current role and goals for your career in education. This is one of many professional development supports that OEA offers its members. Please check out the OEA website for additional opportunities.  

For more information and to register for the Winter Retreat please click here. 

Sent to PAT Members 1/7/2021: See the PDF here.

Dear Educator,

First, I want to acknowledge that the violence and disruption of the peaceful transition of power in Washington DC yesterday has been rightfully pulling our attention away from "normalcy" this week. Educators play an important role in helping students process these events and helping students learn about this moment in our nation's history - thank you.

Meanwhile, conversations across the state continue about the appropriate timeline to safely open schools for in-person instruction. 

I wanted to share the attached letter, regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and returning to in-person instruction, from the presidents of the Portland Association of Teachers, the Beaverton Education Association, the Salem Keizer Education Association, the Hillsboro Education Association, and the Eugene Education Association. The text of the letter is below.

Elizabeth Thiel, PAT President
http://www.pdxteachers.org/

Donate up to 40 hours of your sick-leave to help a colleague in need.

Last school year, PAT members helped dozens of colleagues in need thanks to contributions to the PAT Sick Leave Bank.  These colleagues had exhausted their accumulated leave balances, but were unable to work due to extended or recurring personal illness. With the help of the Sick Leave Bank, they avoided the additional hardships of lost salary and lost insurance coverage.

Thanks to your generosity, last year we met our goal of collecting the maximum number of voluntarily donated hours allowed under our contract. Recent improvements in our contract (CBA Article 17.2.1.2.F) mean that we can now fulfill almost all applications for assistance prior to running out of Sick Leave Bank hours.  This shows the District that PAT members act on their belief that an injury to one is an injury to all.

It’s a new school year, with new needs, and a new Bank to fill. We can accept up to 4000 hours and have a long way to go to reach that goal. 

This year, it is easier than ever to donate hours: you can donate hours by filling out this online form! You will need to log in with your PPS email account and include your PPS employee ID number on the form.

Thank you for being part of this crucial program that allows us to support our colleagues through our union.