May 6
TEA Revises Flu Advice: New federal guidance on the current flu outbreak has led the Texas Education Agency to urge school districts to reopen schools. The new guidelines from federal health officials state that "most U.S. cases have not been severe and are comparable in severity to seasonal influenza." In response, state Commissioner of Education Robert Scott today said, "In the early phase of this outbreak, it was appropriate for schools and health officials to act cautiously. Within the last 24 hours, the new information made it clear that we can follow standard procedures for dealing with the flu." TEA said schools that reopen this week should plan to begin missed Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills testing on Monday.
April 29:
The recent H1N1 influenza outbreak has had a significant impact on districts across the state as they try to contain confirmed and suspected cases of the flu. Several districts--including Fort Worth ISD, Comal ISD and Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD--have closed down completely for at least a week, while more than a dozen others--including Dallas ISD and Austin ISD--have closed individual campuses. Currently no exact guidelines exist for decisions on whether to close campuses or entire districts, with the state and county health departments often being the deciding factor on those decisions. However, the Texas Education Agency reportedly is working on guidelines, or at least recommendations for districts to follow. (You can monitor closings and other developing information from TEA at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/swineflu.)
Texas AFT members have two causes for concern with the outbreak: to maintain healthy practices to protect themselves and their students from being infected, and to ensure that if closures are mandated that employees are compensated and treated fairly with regard to sick leave and other work issues.
The Health and Safety Division of Texas AFT's national affiliate--the American Federation of Teachers--has been monitoring the situation and offers the following recommendations for school employees.
-- Learn the facts about H1N1 influenza (swine flu), including how it's transmitted and what you can do to protect yourself and your students at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu.
-- Read the U.S. Department of Education's Frequently Asked Questions regarding how districts and school employees should address the outbreak.
-- If you are concerned about how closings might affect employee pay and other workplace issues, the first step is to educate yourself about what policies the district might already have in place in its policy manuals for school closings related to sickness or natural disasters. Those policies may guide the district with flu-related closings. Additionally, with concern over avian flu outbreaks several years ago, districts were asked to prepare a Pandemic Influenza Plan.
Ask your district for a copy of the plan, which should outline how to address pay, sick leave and employees working in affected areas. If your district does not have a plan, or if you can't access the plan, you can use the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Pandemic Influenza Plan checklist for school districts at http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/school/schoolchecklist.html. This document is an excellent resource for asking the right questions.
Finally, if you are member with concerns about your district's response to workplace issues, please contact your local union or our state office at 800-222-3827 or info@texasaft.org. Please note, however, that local and state health agencies are best equipped to deal with questions about the virus, its transmission and other health-related issues.
