CTU members have bravely stood up for security because the pandemic started, together with this January, and that effort has reaped advantages. Amongst these advantages is a significant improve in touch tracing, vaccination occasions and outreach to households about opting in to COVID testing. Previous to our taking motion and at last successful a security settlement, CPS had failed to rent the employees essential to carry out the work wanted to carry protected ranges of vaccination and testing to our colleges. Due to the January settlement, CPS educators can select to work after faculty and be paid to assist fill that hole. It’s unlucky that lecturers, clinicians and PSRPs should step in and put in further time in order that CPS can fulfill the guarantees they made, however CTU members have all the time gone above and past.
Thanks to those new guidelines, some 315 colleges now have at the very least one individual assigned to their contact tracing group and, of these, greater than 230 have multiple contact tracer. This work is sorely wanted as a result of greater than two-thirds of these colleges have vaccinations charges beneath 50 p.c. The same quantity have lower than half their scholar inhabitants opted in to testing. Whereas this new staffing holds promise for improved security, it nonetheless leaves greater than 200 colleges with no contact tracers in any respect. The Union has plans to observe up about what’s holding these colleges again and what we are able to do to help better security there.
That is solely one of many provisions that continues to enhance security for our educators, our college students and their households. You will notice extra info beneath about masks, testing and vaccination captains and cellphone banking. Full COVID security info continues to be compiled at ctulocal1.org/security and you may get updates on security bargaining at ctulocal1.org/chart.
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Contact tracer coaching, positions and fee
As shared above, greater than 300 colleges have had principals choose employees to be on faculty contact tracing groups and that work needs to be occurring. CPS says extra payroll steerage is coming to assist College Clerks guarantee these group members are paid.
As we knowledgeable members beforehand, CPS is paying members to take the contact tracer coaching. They are going to be paid even when they don’t seem to be in the end provided the positions or select to do that after-hours work. At this level, CPS has closed the trainings for contact tracing, which had 4 components: HIPAA and FERPA (1 hour, mixed), OSHW (1 hour) and Johns Hopkins (6 hours). Those that accomplished any a part of the coaching will probably be paid for the hours accomplished, even when all weren’t accomplished, on the non-instructional charge of $44.69 on their paycheck for April 8. The fee will come from the central CPS funds, not faculty budgets.
Masks
CPS says they’ve loads of pediatric and grownup KN95 masks within the “warehouse” and all that principals should do is request them. Please report back to the district security committee in case your faculty security committee is being instructed there aren’t any extra. That’s unacceptable.
We now have requested a full accounting of what number of KN95s stay and the way they are going to be distributed to colleges who need them. We’ve additionally requested that CPS make N95s out there to essentially the most weak members.
Testing/Vaccination Captains
Faculties that don’t have a captain, can nonetheless get one.
CPS says that there are practically 270 Testing/Vaccinatino Captains in 240 colleges. Captains obtained a considerably skinny set of steerage however ought to do your finest to coordinate cellphone banks and different outreach to households to get them signed up for COVID testing and join them to vaccination alternatives. Principals can request vaccination occasions at https://chicagopsprod.service-now.com/sp?id=sc_cat_item&sys_id=3d6824b41bb5859c5b162f82b24bcb44
Cellphone Banking
Clerks ought to have the ability to enroll members to be paid to cellphone financial institution for testing. We all know that greater than 100 people have been or are being processed for fee. Members who cellphone banked in January needs to be enrolled to be paid and cellphone banks needs to be ongoing. If clerks want the payroll steerage, they’ll ask their principal or you possibly can contact your discipline rep for steerage.