On Wednesday, March 18, the Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) issued the following information to its staff and the media:
“The Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) will close its offices except for essential functions effective Thursday, March 19. Schools will close March 30 following the extension of spring break. Employee return dates will be staggered. Students are anticipated to return to school April 7. HIDOE employees will be working remotely and those who need to perform duties at a campus or office during this period will be limited to those tasks before returning to their telework arrangement.
“The Department will be meeting internally and with key stakeholders today to finalize logistics. Additional details will be made public at a press conference Thursday, March 19, 2020, 3 p.m.”
We feel, as many of you do, that this announcement is incredibly vague. We do not know when you are supposed to report to work, nor when or how you could be working from home, and we have not received any clarification on these issues. We have not negotiated an agreement regarding the work of Bargaining Unit 05 teachers from March 23 on.
Some of the details we are also awaiting answers from the department relate to leave provisions, maintaining a clean and sanitary workplace, preparation for closing the schools, addressing student needs such as meals and special education, and other issues.
Furthermore, the HSTA believes that the ongoing emergency situation will not be resolved nor will the schools be safe learning environments by April 7. Today, we filed an amended prohibited practice complaint with the Hawaii Labor Relations Board requesting that Bargaining Unit 05 members not report to work until the COVID-19 pandemic is under control and it is safe to return. We will upload the amended complaint to our website once we receive it.
We also filed an emergency temporary interlocutory order, similar to a temporary restraining order, to keep the state from requiring our members to return to work until “such time that HSTA’s complaint has be adjudicated by the HLRB or the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) outbreak has ended or is controlled. The HSTA has no adequate remedy at law and immediate irreparable harm will occur if BU-5 members are forced to return to an unsafe and hazardous workplace.”
We have asked the HLRB to expedite this issue and rule on our temporary interlocutory order as quickly as possible. We do not have a timeframe for when this could happen.
Hawaii joins 39 states that have decided to close schools. Combined with district closures in other states, at least 91,000 U.S. public and private schools are closed, are scheduled to close, or were closed and later reopened, affecting at least 41.7 million school students.
We know many of you are anxious for answers. We will notify you as soon as we have an update, whether it’s a response from the HLRB, a negotiated resolution with the HIDOE, or any other developments.
As always, please check our COVID-19 web page for the latest official information. We appreciate your patience during this difficult time.