Multiple unions representing workers in San Francisco’s school district Friday announced their terms for school reopening.
They’ll need a combination of COVID-19 vaccines and lower community spread — namely, for San Francisco to enter the state's red tier — before they return to in-person learning.
The unions represent teachers, administrators, custodians and others who are in negotiations with the San Francisco Unified School District. Susan Solomon, president of the United Educators of San Francisco, says slower COVID-19 transmission rates are key to getting everyone back to class.
“Today we will be putting a proposal across the virtual bargaining table that will allow for a return to in-person instruction, in the red tier, if vaccines are made available to all staff who will be working in school district buildings,” Solomon said.
Solomon says if vaccines are not available, the unions would return once San Francisco enters the less restrictive orange tier. San Francisco is currently in the purple tier, the most restrictive level.
She also says educators and other school staff want updated ventilation systems in schools and more access to personal protective equipment.
"All of these safety standards and guidelines are closely aligned with what state and county officials recently released," Solomon says.
Rafael Picazo, an SEIU 1021 chapter president representing school custodians and other staff, said, "We must remember COVID-19 is a deadly virus that has already infected so many families and communities. In particular, communities of color have been hit twice as hard."
On Thursday, a group of parents from a group called Decreasing the Distance revealed a petition and signature drive to reopen SFUSD schools for in-person instruction.
Cliff Yee, a parent organizing the effort, who is himself an SFUSD graduate, said school children are "suffering academic loss and emotional trauma" while parents also forgo "critical income to support distance learning."
On Saturday, San Francisco parents marched to City Hall to call for schools to reopen.
This is a news brief. For the full story on the debate for school reopenings in San Francisco and the lawsuit to compel it, click here.