Duval, St. Johns teachers push for COVID leave as school year begins

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Last year, if teachers had to miss enactment to get a coronavirus trial oregon were forced to quarantine owed to imaginable exposure, their wage was covered by backing from the national government’s Families First Coronavirus Response Act. But since that expired, districts person been near to fig things retired connected their own.

Now, arsenic the caller schoolhouse twelvemonth begins with much cases and less investigating options, teacher unions successful St. Johns and Duval counties are moving to marque definite teachers don’t person to usage their ain paid clip disconnected to screen coronavirus-related absences.

“Currently, the district’s argumentation is that if a teacher has to quarantine, they person to usage their ain sick leave. There isn’t thing successful spot arsenic determination was past twelvemonth with the national dollars,” Michelle Dillon, caput of the St. Johns Education Association (SJEA), said Monday. “Let’s not unit our employees to beryllium adjacent much stressed out, much anxious utilizing their ain sick time.”

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With national assistance past year, teachers were allowed 2 weeks of paid permission for coronavirus-related absences.

Dillon said the national and the St. Johns County School District volition spell to the negotiating array connected Thursday to effort and enactment retired a deal. The territory said Monday it was waiting to remark until the meeting.

“The information that radical that bash person vaccinations are getting sick, the hold times conscionable trying to find appointments,” Dillon said. “I person acquaintances who came down with COVID and conscionable trying to get an assignment to get tested was frustrating and took longer than expected.”

Dillon said she hopes it volition beryllium akin to the woody the 2 sides worked retired past year wherever teachers tin instrumentality up to 8 days of paid leave.

The schoolhouse territory successful Clay County is having akin negotiations.

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In Duval County, the teachers national and the territory are besides successful the process of moving retired a deal.

Terrie Brady, president of Duval Teachers United (DTU), said the national and territory person already travel to an statement that if idiosyncratic was believed to person adjacent interaction with a case, oregon they had to get tested oregon showed symptoms, they tin get 2 paid days disconnected — 1 time to get tested and different to hold for results. But Brady said DTU is looking for thing much substantial.

“So we’re inching closer, but we’re not determination yet, due to the fact that it costs wealth and the districts haven’t got wealth to bash that,” Brady said connected “The Morning Show.”

The St. Johns County School District and SJEA are gathering Thursday astatine 5:30 p.m. to speech astir a woody and the gathering volition beryllium livestreamed.

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