PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Members of the Philadelphia teachers union aren’t convinced that school buildings are safe enough to reopen for hybrid in-person instruction later this month.
Teachers are scheduled to return to school buildings on Monday for training, ahead of the return of 9,000 pre-K through second-grade students on Feb. 22.
However, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers is taking advantage of a provision in its one-year contract that allows the union to submit disputes over building safety to an independent third party.
Superintendent William Hite said he was expecting the move by the union, but it should not affect the expected return of 2,000 teachers next week.
“Mediation will not delay the return of teachers on Monday,” he said. “It could possibly delay the return of students later, but it will not delay our expectations for teachers to be in classrooms.”
The district said airflow in school buildings has been assessed. It started installing window fans to improve the air quality even more, along with other COVID-19 safety precautions.
Many teachers have said they do not want to return to schools until they are vaccinated. But on Wednesday, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said teachers do not need to be vaccinated in order for schools to reopen safely.
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Even if a classroom falls below ventilation guidelines, Hite said teachers will be alone in the room during training and will not be sharing air with anyone else.
“One individual can be in a space, even if that space is a zero on ventilation, because you’re not sharing air with anyone else,” he added.
Hite believes the district has met all of the environmental standards spelled out in its Memorandum of Agreement with the union, and he expects a third party would agree. But if not, he said the district would work to fulfill any recommendations by the third-party expert.
In a statement, union President Jerry Jordan said data from the district has been “missing and incomplete,” and the information the union does have is “troubling.”
“Entire schools have a maximum occupancy of zero, according to air balancing reports,” he said. “We have repeatedly asked for real, concrete solutions, and instead have been presented with a dangerous window-fan installation program that further jeopardizes the health and safety of our educators and young people. This ‘solution’ is offensive, and it speaks volumes about the overall approach to reopening buildings at all costs. There’s nothing ‘good faith’ about this.”