Happy Friday Sisters and Brothers!
I hope you all had a great end to your week. I know that I have been energized by last night’s ESP action before and during the School Committee meeting. To see the ESPs powerful statements in defense of a living wage for yourself, the entire meeting is posted on Haverhill Community Media’s web site now.
Prior to the School Committee meeting, and the vote to impose the Superintendent’s phased-in return to full-in person learning. I’m beyond disappointed that the School Committee has once again failed to bargain with the Association prior to making this decision. The Executive Committee and I are exploring every option available to protect and defend our bargaining rights from such unilateral action in addition to ensuring that any changes to our environmental health and safety conditions, which we hold can not be altered without our consent, are supported by the latest science and according to CDC guidelines.
Though Mayor Fiorentini pressed the District’s Director of Facilities Steve Dorrance and Assistant Superintendent Mike Pfifferling to state last night that air quality was no impediment to a safe return to full in-person learning, the Association only just received the full report this afternoon and has not yet had a chance to evaluate it for ourselves. We have also sent the report to an independent environmental health and safety analyst contracted by the MTA on our behalf. We will certainly share their analysis with you once it is available.
The good news is that the public health numbers continue to trend downward, and Haverhill has officially returned to the “yellow” zone according to Massachusetts’ Department of Public Health. This week Haverhill’s average daily incidence rate was 25.1 per 100,000 residents and the positivity rate is below 4% for the first time since November at 3.91%.
There were 7 staff members out as close contacts, 3 positive for coronavirus, and 3 presumed positive. 51 students were out as close contacts with 17 positive and 18 symptomatic (both hybrid and RLA combined). To date, 959 usable pools have been tested with 28 pools returning positive. These in turn led to 17 positive cases to be identified.
So far this year, 1,308 staff and students have been placed under quarantine as close contacts, 708 have contracted the coronavirus, and 748 more have been presumed positive due to their symptoms.
Fortunately, as vaccine distribution finally ramps up (thanks to Dr. Marotta’s tireless efforts), more and more educators who wish to be vaccinated are able to make appointments. We expect another 500 appointments to be made available exclusively for Haverhill school staff next week. Watch for the registration links being sent by Dr. Marotta for your opportunity to sign up.
Many have asked if they must get the vaccine, especially if they have pre-existing health conditions that they are concerned about. Thankfully, the MTA’s legal division has provided us some frequently asked questions to help members sort it out. If your situation is not addressed here, do not hesitate to reach out.
Our first bargaining session with the School Committee is on March 16th at 6:30. In addition to the Executive Committee, your negotiating team consists of Emily Boulger, Mandy Breton, Megan Duffy, Christine Hickey, Nancy Koorapaty, Cindy Langlois, Sue MacGregor, Irina Ostravskaya, and Nicole Sanchez. We would still like to add at least one more middle school and high school rank-and-file member. Please email me if you are interested.
In Solidarity,
Anthony
Anthony J. Parolisi
President
Haverhill Education Association