HIDOE’s own guidance says virtual meetings should be held when possible
Posted: July 29, 2021
Educators who reported back to work for the new school year this week said that some principals are insisting on holding in-person meetings with large numbers of staff in libraries and other school facilities, risky behavior with growing COVID-19 variant numbers spreading throughout the state.
That’s also contrary to the guidance provided in the Hawaii State Department of Education’s School Reopening Plan Health & Safety Handbook (on page 11) that said, “When possible, staff meetings should be held virtually.” After HSTA complained about the situation in Thursday’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser and posted this web story Thursday, the HIDOE Friday pulled the 35-page handbook from its website, replacing it with a three-word update: “New guidance coming.”
HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr. said, “Teachers are worried as the (virus) numbers go up, and to cram faculty in libraries and other spaces where the windows don’t open doesn’t make sense.”
“When we have these faculty meetings where teachers are going to be in rooms together, what we don’t want is for there to be a COVID outbreak among the teachers, and then effectively having to quarantine all of our teachers at a school. That is absolutely not going to work,” Tui said.
If there are similar concerns at your school, consult your school-level leaders who can have discussions with your administrators and point out the guidance that is currently in place.
During an HSTA news briefing Monday, Julie Reyes Oda, a math teacher at Nanakuli High and Intermediate School on Oahu, who also serves as HSTA’s Leeward Chapter president, said many teachers in her chapter were concerned about large in-person meetings.
“I’ve been getting calls about teachers who are worried about faculty meetings,” she said. “We have the largest schools in the state, and some schools have faculty meetings of over 200 people in one place. Everyone works so hard to get kids on campus. We want everyone to be safe, students and teachers.”
Reyes Oda says teachers should have the option to access these meetings virtually. “It worked last year,” she said. “We don’t want outbreaks amongst faculty and staff.”