PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Dozens of teachers at Olney Charter High School in North Philadelphia called out Monday, forcing a shift to virtual instruction at the school where a student last week died of COVID-19.
The charter operator said the “mass call-out” of 40 teachers violated its contract with the teachers union, but the union denied any orchestrated action.
Olney students and staff gathered Friday to mourn the death of 17-year-old senior Alayna Thach from COVID-19.
At the time, the teachers union, the Alliance of Charter School Employees AFT Local 6056, called on charter operator ASPIRA to provide greater COVID-19 protections at the school.
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ASPIRA said it had evidence the teachers staged an intentional call-out in violation of their contract.
AFT Pennsylvania President Arthur Steinberg, in a statement, accused ASPIRA of shifting blame.
“ASPIRA’s dishonest reaction to pleas for safety in the wake of the death of a 12th grader just last week from COVID-19 clearly illustrates their depraved priorities — more concerned with their public image than with the safety of students and staff,” Steinberg said.
“When many students are already learning virtually due to quarantine, it is disingenuous to place blame on our dedicated educators who demand and deserve a safe teaching environment for them and their students. The union hopes that teaching remains virtual only as long as it takes to slow the spread of the virus and perform quick and thorough contact tracing.”
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Thompson says he heard that teachers would be demanding better safety protocols following Thach's death.
“I received notification on Thursday of last week that there were going to be some teachers that were not going to be feeling well on Monday," said Thompson to KYW Newsradio.
Thompson said the administration believes its COVID protocols are working, and that he’s “100 percent” sure Alayna did not contract COVID at school.
“Every single COVID case that we’ve had, we’ve been able to trace to something outside of the building," he said.
Thompson said the week after winter break, Jan. 10 to 14, would also be virtual at Olney to allow for post-holiday COVID testing before in-person instruction resumed.
Thompson, in a letter to parents, said creating a safe environment for education is Olney’s top priority.
“Our union unequivocally did not organize what management are labeling a ‘mass call out,'" Sarah Kenney, a 10th Grade African American History teacher at Olney Charter High School, and vice president of AFT Local 6056, said.
"However, in the aftermath of a student death, dozens of students learning virtually due to quarantine, and the surging Delta and Omicron variants, Olney’s management should have been more proactive in moving to fully virtual learning before late last night."
The following is Olney Charter High School administration's letter to the student body about the call out.
I am writing to inform you that Olney will be instituting virtual learning for students tomorrow, Monday, December 20, 2021. All Olney staff are directed to report to the school and will be teaching virtually from the classroom. We apologize for the great inconvenience that this last-minute notice causes for our students and their families.
Olney’s Administration decided to implement virtual learning after it was informed today that at least 26 Olney staff members have called out from work tomorrow, December 20, 2021. The Administration has evidence supporting that the staff members who have called out are engaging in an intentional call-out based upon a labor dispute in violation of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The CBA specifically states:
The Union and the Employer agree that it is absolutely essential that all work performed during the term of this Agreement be performed without delays, slow-downs, work stoppages or interruptions of work due to any labor disputes, whether or not arising under this Agreement. The Union agrees, therefore, that during the life of this Agreement or any written extension thereof, neither it nor its officers, agents, representatives, employees, members, and individuals represented by the Union will, for any reasons whatsoever, directly or indirectly, call, sanction, participate or engage in any work stoppage, strike, sympathy strike, boycott, picketing, slow-down, leafletting, sit-down, at the Employer's location or refuse to perform assigned work, or partake in any other form of hindrance of work or interruptions of work at the Employer or its affiliated business entities.
The Administration condemns any action by employees in violation of the CBA, especially this action which disrupts Olney’s ability to provide in-person education to our students and the lives of their families who now must make alternative plans for their children. We will be requesting that the Union publicly disavows the conduct of the participating staff and instructs these employees to return to work immediately. We will inform you immediately when in-person instruction will resume.
To the extent that the participating staff members may claim that their conduct was due to concerns for the safety of students and staff, we would like our students, families, and the community to know that creating a safe environment for in-person education is Olney’s top priority. Also, we believe that the numerous preventative measures that Olney has implemented to keep our students and staff safe and to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at the school are working. The preventative measures include:
· Mandatory vaccination policy for Olney staff.
· On-Site Rapid testing for students and staff implicated by contact tracing and by request.
· Pooled Sample testing was implemented Dec 1, 2021. 10% of the Olney student population (participating students are those whose parents have given rapid testing consent) are tested on a biweekly basis. Staff pooled testing will begin January 10th.
· Vaccination clinics have been hosted by Olney and will continue in collaboration with CHOP/City of Philadelphia, Sunray Drugs, and Education Plus Health. Olney also promotes and is attempting to ensure that all 6 to 21-year-old students have access to vaccinations at each of our school sites.
· Contact Tracing is thoroughly conducted with every positive COVID-19 report regarding Olney students and staff. Olney has two dedicated contact tracing staff (that were newly hired for the 21-22 school year) that are fully charged with staff contact and student outreach to determine contacts and possible origin of exposure. Additionally, rapid testing is available immediately and free of charge to all students and staff implicated in a contact trace.
· Additional nursing (5 full-time nursing staff in comparison to two staff pre-pandemic) and supplemental testing staff has been added to facilitate the intake screening and isolation process as well as the assurance and pooled testing initiatives. Quarantine guidelines at Olney are the most stringent that can be implemented in a school setting and have remained so to protect staff and students.
· Communication with Philadelphia Department of Public Health (“PDPH”) is thorough and consistent. Each case and suspected case of COVID-19 is reported to PDPH with all tracing and demographic data. That entity is the sole entity that makes the closure recommendations. Olney is in constant communication with its liaison there and they have yet to recommend building closure or a shift to virtual learning for Olney in the 4 months that it has been open for in-person instruction.
· Social Distancing is implemented as best as possible. Classrooms are arranged to allow for the maximum social distance that can be created in each classroom space.
· PPE is required. Masks have been and will continue to be required in all areas of the school setting, except when the student is eating or drinking. Gloves and disinfectant wipes have been provided to every staff member.
· COVID health screening is required of all staff and students prior to entry into Olney.
· Daily temperature checks at intake are required of all staff and students upon entry into Olney. Students or staff that fail the check or report symptoms are rapid tested and isolated prior to building entry.
· Hand Sanitizer dispensing stations have been added inside the classrooms, as well as in the hallways and common areas. - New water fountains with anti-microbial surfaces and no touch capacity were installed.
· Plexiglas barriers were installed in lobbies, common areas, and main offices,
· Disinfecting equipment, including hydrostatic disinfecting sprayers are used daily on all surfaces and high-touch areas throughout every building.
· An upgraded air filtration system was installed at Olney consistent with the CDC-recommended 4-6 air exchanges per hour or the Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) filtration rating of 13. In addition, Olney conducts air quality testing on an ongoing basis.
· Thorough cleaning protocols have been established and implemented. For any instance of a reported positive case of COVID-19 at Olney, our current cleaning protocols require quarantining of the impacted area, and the Custodial Team responding with thorough cleaning and disinfecting of any impacted areas within 24 hours of a known case of COVID-19.
· Sending frequent reminders and communication (an example is the staff nursing letter ) of safety guidance and resources prior to holidays, long weekends, and travel. It is just another layer of prevention and intervention that the administration believes is important.
Olney has implemented several preventative measures that are not used by other local schools because again its goal to provide the safest school environment possible during the pandemic.
Finally, Olney has planned to implement, in the week immediately following the upcoming holiday break, a full week of virtual learning. Due to the significant uptick in cases found in the 12 days following the Thanksgiving break, we are seeking an additional intervention to allow time and for a measure of prevention to mitigate spread and the need for quarantine. The week of January 10th to 14th immediately following break will be conducted through fully virtual learning for all students. This will allow us time to complete a scheduled COVID-19 testing cycle that permits all parties (staff mandated and students optional) to be rapid-tested at our school buildings free of charge prior to full, on-site, reopening. We believe that this is an important preventative measure with respect to minimizing spread and allowing appropriate time for symptoms to develop (or not) following holiday gatherings and travel.