Union backs off online-only classes
Little Rock Education Association votes again after public reaction
LITTLE ROCK — The union representing more than 60% of Little Rock School District’s 1,850 teachers voted Monday night to discontinue an action calling for faculty to cease face-to-face instruction and teach students through virtual instruction only due to safety concerns because of the pandemic.
The Little Rock Education Association met Monday evening to vote on whether to continue to support teachers in virtual instruction only after informing the school district over the weekend of a vote Thursday in support of such a transition. In a news release issued Sunday, the union said the move was not a strike or a work stoppage but rather a shift to only virtual instruction “in a manner that keeps everyone safe and alive.”
“We are extremely concerned about the safety risk that our workplaces pose to the health and wellbeing of all who enter the premises,” the news release said. “The lives of our students and our educators are too valuable to risk.”
Teresa Knapp Gordon, LREA president, said the decision to hold another vote stemmed from blowback that teachers have received for opting to teach only online rather than serve the roughly 50% of the district’s approximately 23,000 students who have chosen some form of face-to-face learning option this fall.
“Our members have reached out today and asked for reconsideration, so we are working to put that together,” Gordon said in an online news conference Monday afternoon. “I think the public response has really hurt a lot of teachers, and that is unfortunate.”
In an email sent Monday night, Gordon said the 69 teachers who sent notices to the district that they would not conduct face-to-face classes on Monday would face disciplinary action.
“Just wanted to give a brief update,” Gordon said in an email. “The 69 members that took action have received notices of disciplinary action for tomorrow, and the members voted to call off the action tonight.”
Gordon declined further comment.
Superintendent Mike Poore also declined to comment on Monday night’s vote. “I need to see what their [the union’s] statement is,” Poore said.
During a news conference Monday afternoon, Poore said he was “disappointed” by the union’s actions and the fact that the district was only notified of the vote Sunday, with some teachers submitting letters in support of the action after 10 p.m. that night.
“I am disappointed by the steps by some of our Little Rock Education Association members,” Poore said. “It came to my attention that they had a vote that took place on Thursday. I did not know that.”
Gordon said that she speaks to the superintendent “at least once a day, if not numerous times a day” and that while she said she is not obligated to disclose such an action she said she does not believe administrators were not aware of the vote.
“I don’t believe that for a minute,” Gordon said. “I don’t believe that he did not know anything. Did I communicate with him? No, that goes against my job as president. I am not supposed to tell him what we are doing, but I don’t believe for a minute that he did not know something was coming.”
About 91% of faculty members worked Monday, Poore said. On a normal day, roughly 94% of faculty members report to work, he said.
As of Monday afternoon, the district could not confirm whether there was a substantial impact on students. “We did have a slightly lower attendance rate for students, which we can’t quantify yet,” Poore said.
The superintendent said the teachers who submitted letters supporting the action would be disciplined.
“There will be a form of discipline,” he said, adding that the late notice from some teachers made it difficult for some principals to “get the appropriate level of support.”
Over 200 LRSD staff as well as about a dozen members from the Arkansas Department of Education were dispatched to campuses to help cover classes, Poore said.
In August, the union opposed returning to in-class instruction, but later said they would give face-to-face instruction a chance to see how the district handled the blended learning environment. Among the union’s complaints are lack of social distancing in some classrooms, inconsistent compliance with the wearing of masks and inadequate cleaning of facilities.
“I think some of our concerns were answered, but a lot of them were discounted,” Gordon said.
As of Monday afternoon, LRSD reported seven positive cases and 19 individuals quarantined. On Friday, the district reported the same number of positive cases and 58 individuals quarantined.
Little Rock Southwest and Parkview high schools, as well as Gibbs Magnet Elementary
School, have online learning through Friday due to faculty shortages because of quarantines and a high number of covid cases, according to the district.
On Monday evening, Stephens Elementary School announced it would shift to online instruction for the remainder of the week because of a new covid case resulting in quarantines.
Poore said the district has been working to ensure that everyone is following guidelines, such as wearing masks and ensuring buildings are properly sanitized. He said the district is working on a plan to have one early-release day weekly so that teachers have additional time to prepare for both in-class and virtual learning.
“We have as a district been both proactive and reactive,” Poore said during the news conference.
State officials condemned the union’s actions.
“We have had a good start to this school year and we have handled the expected challenges with the well-being of our students and teachers as the highest priority,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Sunday night.
“With a declining positivity rate in Pulaski County and with the safety measures in place, it is difficult to understand the resistance to teaching in the classroom,” Hutchinson said. “The Little Rock School District should not be deprived of the success that is occurring for our students across the state just because the union objects.”
Education Secretary Johnny Key called Sunday’s announcement of a shift to online-only teaching an “absurd, eleventh-hour scheme” by leadership of the Little Rock Education Association.
“During the first five weeks of school, LRSD administrators, educators, and staff have done a tremendous job of providing onsite and virtual instruction to meet the needs of students. Most importantly, they have responded promptly and effectively to the occurrences of covid infections and adjusted schedules and operations as necessary to mitigate risk,” Key said Sunday night.
He added: “Now the union leadership has concocted this absurd, eleventh-hour scheme to create even more disruption for LRSD students and families. It is wrong, it does not serve students, and I am confident the union’s scheming will be soundly rejected by truly student-focused educators.”
Gordon, the teacher union president, said Key’s statement illustrates his “disdain” for LRSD teachers.
“His disdain for the teachers of the LRSD came across loud and clear in his message as it does when he talks about the LRSD generally,” Gordon said. “The argument that teachers who care will be there for their students is the gaslighting that is going to get someone killed by this coronavirus.”
Some parents said that while they support teachers’ safety concerns, they were disappointed with the last-minute nature of the announcement.
“I wish that parents had been given more notice because this puts working families in a bind,” Ali Noland, a parent who is running for district School Board, zone 5, said in an email. “The last thing we need right now is to pit desperate parents against terrified teachers.”
She added: “There’s clearly a problem, though, when entire LRSD schools are being shut down due to covid outbreaks, and teachers are quitting or retiring rather than remain in the classroom. Instead of vilifying the union for their reaction to that problem, I’d suggest we get to work addressing the safety concerns that our teachers are raising.”
Parris Davis said when both of her children logged on for virtual classes on Monday, some teachers were not online for real-time instruction.
“It is really nerve-wracking,” Davis said. “It feels like the kids are a bargaining chip and are being held hostage until they can figure everything out.”
Last November, teachers went on strike for a day to show their support for an autonomous local school board and a full recognized teachers union. The state, which has overseen the Little Rock district since January 2015, is allowing a locally elected school board this November but will still maintain some oversight.