Today, Gov. David Ige held a news conference to announce his third emergency proclamation, establishing a statewide order to complement county mayors’ recent stay-at-home, work-at-home orders.
Hawaii State Department of Education Superintendent Christina Kishimoto also spoke during the news conference. Her statements triggered a number of questions related to our members and public schools. Here are a couple of FAQs to clarify a few of those issues:
Will I have to report back to school on April 6 and will schools reopen on April 7?
As of this writing, the superintendent has not formally announced any closure of schools beyond April 6. The HSTA is scheduled to meet with the HIDOE throughout this week and we continue to advocate that any reopening of schools on April 7 is unsafe. We continue to pursue legal action including asking the Hawaii Labor Relations Boards to rule that schools not be reopened until it is safe to do so.
The superintendent mentioned that the school year might be extended. Will that happen?
Any extension of the school year would require negotiations and as Kishimoto stated, “each day that we add to the school year has cost implications to the school system and to the state of Hawaii if we were to extend the year.” Any extension could also negatively impact students, especially seniors, and there is no realistic way to extend multi-track schools as they have no extra days in the school calendar.
The mayors’ and governor’s announcements mention that essential workers can continue to go to work. Their announcements also mentioned public school employees as being essential. Does that affect teachers?
For purposes of the governor’s proclamations, essential workers are generally those who must be out in the community and report to a worksite. For the HIDOE, this includes employees such as administrators, school custodians, and some cafeteria workers. The HIDOE has told HSTA that teachers are not considered essential employees who have to report to a worksite. All Bargaining Unit 05 members are working remotely starting March 23. Therefore, teachers are in compliance with the “stay-at-home, work-at-home” orders.
During today’s briefing, Kishimoto said she anticipated releasing new developments and plans by this Friday, March 27. We continue to monitor the situation and will update members when new information becomes available. Stay tuned to our COVID-19 webpage, Member Matters email, and social media channels for the latest confirmed details.
If you have specific concerns related to your school, please reach out to your HSTA school level leaders for help. Our HSTA offices across the state were closed as of Monday, March 23, however, your UniServ staff, specialists, and managers continue to work from home. You can reach them via email or call (808) 833-2711. Follow the prompts to be connected directly to them.
We realize this is a stressful time for you, and we will continue to do our best to keep you updated with as clear and accurate information as possible.