Minnesota Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker and Deputy Commissioner Heather Mueller focused their communication to school leaders on Wednesday on how to handle teleworking.
The intent of the executive order is that all educators, licensed and non-licensed, are to report to work in this preparation period for extended distance learning.
If a school district moves to telecommuting, the Minnesota Department of Education offers this guidance on steps to take:
- The school district needs to bring all unions together to work out ground rules
- The superintendent is to represent those who do not have union representation.
- If tele commuting is to be allowed, it must be equitable across all job classifications licensed and non-licensed
- A rotating schedule of licensed and non-licensed staff supervising child care, packaging and preparing distribution of nutrition would be equitable
- Think about what an equitable distribution of teleworking and in-school work would look like for all employees. It is NOT one group telecommuting and another not.
Other Key Points
The Minnesota Department of Education continues to respond to questions from school superintendents and provide guidance during this planning period for distance learning.
Here are other key points:
- MDE is now requesting that school districts report key data points at the end of each day during this planning period for distance learning. Key data requested includes: meal counts, child care provided for Tier 1 and Tier 2, non-access to technology and non-access to Internet.
- A few districts are caring for so many children of health care workers that they do not have space for other staff to work safely.
- All staff should work where they are safe, keeping in mind social distancing and the needs of those with underlying health conditions.
- Schools need to continue to keep the public health conditions of their community in mind.
- They understand the tension around this issue.
- Use resources to get content for distance learning. Bring in your media specialists as they can make connections not only with your district media collections for support but also regional library systems and other sources. Look to other content organizations such as the Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics (MCTM).
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