A local union representing Pittsburgh Public Schools teachers said they've had productive conversations with the district over its return to school plan announced Monday.
Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers President Nina Esposito-Visgitis says she was initially surprised by the school's plan Monday, which starts bringing kids back to school in phases starting April 6.
"We knew we were going back on April 6," she said. "That wasn't the surprise, but the plan itself was because we weren't part of the planning nor did we know about it beforehand."
Esposito-Visgitis says teachers would have preferred to be included in discussions about the plan.
"I would have really loved teachers that are in there doing it to have input," she said.
Since the plan was released Monday night, Esposito-Visgitis says the union has met with the district three times. Two of the meetings are reoccurring weekly, including one with Superintendent Anthony Hamlet.
Esposito-Visgitis says those meetings have been productive and included discussions about how the district would bring teachers back to school.
"I did appreciate [Hamlet] bringing up some ideas for bringing back teachers," she said. "I really appreciate when there's a spirit of collaboration. I think that makes things so much better."
She says some of those topics included PPE, contact tracing and proper ventilation.
The Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto have been vocal about wanting teachers to be a higher priority in the COVID-19 vaccine process. In Pennsylvania, education workers are currently in Phase 1B of the state's vaccine rollout plan.
