Dear UFT Member,
As this school year comes to an end, I know that you have many questions about returning to school buildings in September. As you know, the DOE is considering the option of a blended model of in-person instruction and remote learning.
We recognize that some UFT members will not be able to report to work in person due to medical conditions that put them at higher risk. The DOE is creating an online application for members to apply for medical accommodations that could allow them to work from home. You should expect to receive an email from the DOE to your DOE email address by July 15 with instructions about how to complete the application online and submit the required supporting documentation from a medical provider.
Here is the information that the DOE sent to principals regarding the application process. It is important to note that anyone seeking such an accommodation must apply on the electronic form once it is available, even if they have already applied on the paper form.
COVID-19 Reasonable Accommodations Process for Fall 2020
Employees who are at a heightened risk for severe illness if they contract COVID-19 may be eligible for a reasonable accommodation to work from home/remotely. The medical conditions as set forth by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are a guide to what will be considered a heightened risk. These conditions, while not exclusive, have been identified as high risk by the CDC as they relate to COVID-19.
DOE is modifying its reasonable accommodation request process and will be able to accept COVID-19-related reasonable accommodation requests electronically. By July 15, school-based staff will receive instructions at their DOE email address on how to complete the application online, as well as how to submit the required supporting documentation from a medical provider. The combined application and supporting documentation will be reviewed consistent with overall policies for reasonable accommodations, including informing the staff member’s principal of the general request. No accommodation request should be filed until this process is opened. Final determinations of an accommodation request may not be sent until later in August, but early completion of the application will help facilitate a faster review.
For more information about general accommodations, please email
RARequest@schools.nyc.gov.
Please be aware of the following:
Reasonable accommodations may only be granted for an employee's own disability. School staff who are unable to work at a school or DOE site for other non-disability reasons (e.g. child care, health of others in their household) may seek other options, such as leaves, but are not eligible for a reasonable accommodation to work remotely.
If you are not seeking an accommodation, but do not intend to return to your school for other reasons (e.g. resignation, retirement), we encourage you to let your principal know in a timely manner so appropriate planning can take place. This process is not for this purpose.
Any accommodation provided is subject to review and change.
We will continue to keep you updated with more information as it becomes available. Stay safe and healthy.
Sincerely,
Michael Mulgrew
Dear UFT Member,
As this difficult school year ends, I want to extend my heartfelt appreciation to each and every one of you for your devotion to your students in their time of need.
It’s at moments when we face the gravest challenge that we discover our true strength. We showed the power of the union in our successful campaign to close school buildings and then, with virtually no preparation and scarce resources, we kept the New York City public school system running in the heart of a frightening pandemic.
When our students’ lives were thrown into turmoil by the virus and its economic fallout, you showed extraordinary caring and compassion. You connected deeply with your students and their families even as you battled your own fears and took care of your own families. It truly was an act of love.
Our union family has suffered terrible losses. Sixty-seven in-service members, two family child-care providers and 61 retirees have died from coronavirus-related causes. We honor them and celebrate their life’s work on UFT Honors, our memorial website.
It’s going to be a long, hard summer. The Department of Education has begun to put together a plan to reopen school buildings with new safety protocols and social distancing measures in place in September. But a lot of questions still need to be answered.
The future is full of unknowns, but you have my solemn promise that I will do everything I can to protect your safety, your livelihood and your profession. We will get this done together, with the help and leadership of our amazing UFT chapter leaders.
I will be in touch with you through the summer with updates and information. I will also continue to hold telephone town halls where you’ll have a chance to ask questions.
UFT representatives will be available to assist you during the summer. Please contact the union at the numbers below:
In-service DOE members, call 212-331-6311
In-service DOE functional chapter members, call 212-331-6312
For the UFT Welfare Fund (health benefits), call 212-539-0500
The UFT Member Assistance Program will continue to support you throughout the summer with virtual support groups, bereavement groups, individual phone consultations with licensed clinicians and referrals to appropriate outside services.
Take a deep breath. You made it through this extraordinary school year. Whether you are going on to work in the summer school program or take time to recharge, I wish you all a safe and healthy summer.
Sincerely,
Michael Mulgrew
UFT President
Read the comments on the previous thread...And then opt out. They are never going to change. March 17-19 they stated in writing that they didn't want to lose money, so they sent us into infected buildings. Many died. We could literally die. So can out family members. Wait till about Sep 13, Mulgrew will make the same statement he makes every year..."Off to a good start." When are they joining us in those buildings, having students spit in our faces, refuse to wear masks, be cramped with hundreds or thousands of people, ride hours on the subway...And I thought science said that the people we teach were most likely to get the virus.
ReplyDeleteI may be out in on limb here. I have 3 children. Two are in school one is too young. I don’t know what I am going to do in September when all our rotating school schedules are figured out. But the one thing I know that my childcare is NOT my UNION’S business or who I live with. (My husband had kidney transplant) We are lucky to have a union and job stability. They can not answer everyone’s issue. Just like the rest of the world if you need to be paid you will have to figure it out. Sometimes I think we get confused to what is a union. A union is good for more favorable working conditions and other benefits through collective bargaining. Not for who is watching our children or figuring ways for us to stay home to benefit others. This is my two cents like it or leave it.
ReplyDeleteI respect your opinion 9:51. One of a union's primary responsibilities is to make sure workers have safe working conditions. This is why UFT chapters need to stick together to refuse to work when there are suspected COVID-19 cases in a building.
ReplyDeleteThis is the worst time to opt out and be a lone wolf. We need to be the union we need and want in the fall.
The union wont help in the fall, as they never have. They prefer siding with criminals and badmouthing cops. Yes, i will keep my $1600.
ReplyDeleteRead what I said sir or madam. Members have to stand together to be the union we want and need. Opting out won't help. We can get out ahead of the leadership as happened in March when so many people called out sick on March 15 for March 16 so the DOE had trouble staffing buildings. Chapters need to be united for this to succeed.
ReplyDelete9:51: Yes, but the Union was much stronger years ago. It weakened after Bloomberg took office and created smaller schools and hybrid high school/colleges with half doe faculty and half a college faculty plus charter schools. All this weakened the union. The ATR only began 15 years ago. It never existed before Bloomberg.
ReplyDeleteIf you believe your profession and or employer puts your life in danger and your safety at risk, then seek different profession/ employer it's that simple. Dont wait for your union to rescue you, they are a co managing tool of the DOE.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I know for sure is that schools will not be safe. Proper protocols will not be followed and the sheep will do nothing while the UFT collects dues and laughs their asses off at how meek and stupid its membership is.
ReplyDeletePray tell how can remote learning take place when both parents are teachers???
ReplyDeleteIt doesn’t matter if you opt out or stay - the UFT doesn’t care and UFT won’t change. They planned for a large drop out number after Janus and it didn’t materialize. They mortgaged their building, raised commercial rents and signed thousands of newbies that replaced ATRs which doubled that revenue stream. The UFT is wealthier than it has ever been. Actually, you need to recognize you may need the UFT when your colleagues are grieving excessing and layoffs based on time and try to you as a scapegoat because you opted out. It’s coming.
ReplyDeleteHere something to contemplate and start screaming about to the UFT
https://nypost.com/2020/06/27/doe-keeping-secret-the-number-of-school-staff-sickened-by-covid-19/?utm_campaign=iphone_nyp&utm_source=pasteboard_app
Opting out makes as much sense as living without electric because you don't like Con Ed. I'm not saying I liked Con Ed when I still lived in NY or that I like the UFT.
ReplyDeleteI agree with 9:51's comment too. I'll add that a school building is no less safe than ShopRite, Church, Home Depot, or anywhere else you're already going.
The Union's job is to be the force multiplier for the members. If we need childcare it's the Union's job, if we need rent reduction it's the Union's job, if we need to end abusive policing it's the Union's job. We make the Union's job description based on our needs-don't believe the it's your responsibility, get a different job people, use the union to make this job a better job.
ReplyDeleteBut if you could get Con Ed services for free, would you do it? If we all opted out, then there would be no electricity and we are all living in the 19th century. Not good.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lot easier to social distance in Home Depot or Shop write than an overcrowded school. Look at the bars where COVID-19 is spreading fast in Florida.
ReplyDeleteClassrooms with windows that don't open packed with 30+ kids are more dangerous then my local Shoprite. Being around kids in school all day is more dangerous than being around adults for 40 minutes inside Shoprite. I was sick every 6 weeks my first year of teaching..... catching everything one of my first graders had. Maybe it's different in high schools. Elementary schools are a petri dish of viruses and bacteria.
ReplyDeleteHigh schools are the same.
ReplyDeleteWell I agree with the 30 kids (need staggered schedules) and the ventilation. Lately out and about very few wear masks once they pass the front door if someone checks and most places no one checks for masks or tracks headcount at the entrance and exit.
ReplyDelete