District refutes bonus, Hawaii vacation rumors
Union says social media post taken out of context
The Dublin Unified School District wants to clear the air on a rumor that has made its way to national news: Dublin teachers are not getting a trip to Hawaii as an incentive to return to the classroom.
What started off as a “playful comment” in an internal email by the Dublin Teachers Association, turned sour when it was circulated through social media. The email suggests teachers receive a $2,500 bonus using state and federal COVID-19 relief money, which could go toward “An airplane trip to Hawaii when this is all over?”
Reopen California Schools, a group advocating for students to return to the classroom full time, saw the email and posted on Twitter that the district was giving teachers the $2,500 bonus, which could be used for a Hawaiian vacation. The district says this is not true.
The teachers union responded, saying it was taken out of context “for someone’s political agenda.”
“That twisting of the truth does nothing to promote safe and healthy schools for our students. … and is simply a diversion from what matters. It was quite clear that we are bargaining for a stipend (to be paid from one-time funds designated for a safe return to campus),” read a teachers union statement.
The union was asking for funds to be used for overtime to prepare classrooms for a safe return to school; paying for additional furniture, technology or safety equipment; and help
ing to cover the costs of unexpected childcare for union member’s children who have not yet returned to campus.
The comments on social media ranged from disbelief to even stating that Dublin Unified teachers wouldn’t be welcome in Hawaii. The topic made national headlines, including
on political commentary TV shows.
Interim Superintendent Daniel Moirao also issued a statement Monday addressing the rumor as not true, noting the memo did not come from the district.
“This unfortunate incident, which has painted our community in a negative light, is an example of the downside of social media,” Moirao said.
He encouraged residents to verify information before posting it and spreading
misinformation.
“We know there is frustration among some in our community that the process of return to in-person instruction hasn’t gone in the direction in which some hoped. While we understand this frustration, we also know that there is no one solution that will make everyone happy, other than our doors being fully reopened, and all our lives returning to normal,” he said.
The district is planning on returning students to the classroom on Thursday in an in-person hybrid model, with transitional kindergarten to kindergarten children. On Monday, first through third grades will return to the classroom followed by grades fourth and fifth on March 25. Middle and high school students are expected to return March 29. Families had an option to return their children to in-person learning, or stay in remote learning.
After a prolonged standoff, the Mount Diablo Unified School District and its teachers union have reached a tentative compromise to reopen classrooms in a hybrid learning format.
If both sides ratify the agreement, campuses will open on March 25 for pre-school through second grade, as well as special education classes. All other grade levels will open for hybrid instruction on March 29.
Families may choose to keep their students home in distance learning, while teachers represented by the Mount Diablo Education Association will work in their own hybrid model — some returning to campus on certain days and others instructing students remotely.
Teachers will send the district detailed explanations of their preferences between the two models. The district will then assign teachers to one of the two.
If teachers do not agree with their assignment, they will have the option of going on unpaid leave until full in-person learning returns.
Students who return to class will attend in divided blocks of a few hours on certain days of the week. A weeklong spring break will still begin April 2, but both sides expect to ride out the agreed-upon format for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year.
The district will ensure that students remain with their current teachers for at least part of the time. A teacher who sticks with distance learning will educate hybrid-learning students remotely during morning hours before those students head to campus to complete their school day.
The district’s school board was scheduled to vote on reopening plans, including the union agreement, Tuesday after press deadline.
The agreement announcement follows a marathon bargaining session between the district and union that lasted 80 hours over five days, including 19 consecutive hours that led to a tentative compromise at 5 a.m. Tuesday.
“In the end, the parties agreed to a 61-page document to ensure a return to campus for those who choose it, and supporting the safety of students and (Mount Diablo Education Association) members,” the district’s head of human resources John Rubio and union president Anita Johnson said in a joint statement.
By ratifying the agreement, both the district and union would cap a contentious, often fraught, negotiation process. Even as coronavirus case numbers declined in Contra Costa County and the district met regional standards for reopening, union leaders maintained they would not budge until COVID-19 numbers improved in the county’s hardest-hit cities.
In the tentative agreement announced Tuesday, the district will stock campuses in Bay Point, Pittsburg and Concord — areas recording far higher case rates than other cities in the district — with HEPA air filters to further protect classrooms from COVID-19.
Tensions during negotiations reached a climax this month after Superintendent Adam Clark proposed a reopening timeline for the school board to potentially approve without the union’s consent. Johnson said at the time that the union would consider filing for an injunction in court or going on strike if the board moved forward.
But at a meeting last week, the board did not vote to approve Clark’s plan, instead setting a target reopening date and directing staff to resume negotiations ahead of Tuesday’s special board meeting.
The conflict has extended to families in the district. Agitated parents have called in to every school board meeting, railing against union officials and teachers for denying their children in-person instruction.
Around 1,100 students have left Mount Diablo Unified for other districts during the coronavirus pandemic, prompting talk of layoffs. At a meeting last week, the school board approved eliminating certain positions but saved others.