MEMORANDUM
Memo To: All Buffalo Teachers
From: Philip Rumore, President, BTF
Date: April 8, 2020
Subject: Updates
Spring Break -- There should be a decision made at tonight’s School Board meeting.
To clarify – The school calendar we approved contained the 188 days of teacher attendance. Friday,
April 10 and Monday, April 13 – 17 are not part of the 188 days of teacher attendance.
If we must work them or some of them, that will exceed our contract maximum.
Whether the school year will end early in June, as there are no Regents exams, is not known.
Any change in our contract would have to be approved by you, the teachers. As stated previously, our position is any such additional time would have to be voluntary on the part of each teacher.
Will Districts try to use the courts to override contracts, hopefully not. If they do, we are ready for the fight.
Gr. 7 – 12 Teachers -- Attached is all the information we have on the cancellation of the Regents exams. There will still be many questions e.g., How do I pass/fail a student? If I use previous grades and fail a student, who had trauma in his/her life in the first semester but would have possibly passed by including his/her marks/work in the second semester, how would it be fair?
This is but one of the questions teachers, who will be blamed no matter what they do, may have to confront. Some have suggested that all students receive credit for the course. There is still much more to be decided.
Click Here for the FAQs. If the link is not clickable, please copy and paste it into your web browser.
http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/programs/coronavirus/nysed-covid-19-regents-grad-req-faq.pdf
Other Concerns -- We will be sending a copy of the latest concerns you have raised. We will also be demanding answers.
Funding -- We will be calling on the Federal government to allow school Districts to use any unused Federal funds. It usually must be returned to the Government.
Stay tuned.