MEMORANDUM

Memo To:   All Buffalo Teachers

From:         Philip Rumore, President, BTF

Date:          November 12, 2020

Subject:     A Trust for Teachers Who Have Lost All Income

There is an external trust fund available to Buffalo teachers who exhaust their sick days and who have exhausted all paid District benefits. It is called The Richmond Fund.

The Richmond Fund was established in the will of Henry A. Richmond who died in 1913. Any interest generated by the “principal sum” is to be:

“Paid to such deserving teachers in the public schools of the City of Buffalo as may be temporarily incapacitated from discharging their duties as such teachers by reason of ill health and are in need of rest and recuperation in order to properly resume their duties. It being my purpose to create a fund the income whereof shall be devoted to aiding and assisting such teachers to regain their health and take needed rest.”

This year, however, the Trust has money leftover that it has to spend before the end of the year (December 31, 2020) or it will be taken in taxes.

As a result, the BTF has worked with the Trust and District. The conditions to get an award have therefore been relaxed. A qualifying teacher can get an award of up to six weeks of gross pay. If a teacher already received an award, they can obtain another as long as it is not more than the six weeks.

A teacher can apply if they have exhausted paid leave as a result of: (1) personal illness or disability; (2) sick or disabled child (biological, adopted or step-child) in need of care; (3) a sick or disabled parent; and (4) a sick or disabled parent of a spouse in need of care.

An application must be made as soon as possible but in any event before December 15. The applicant must submit to the District’s Benefit Office (see below web address). An applicant will need a physician’s certification attesting to the medical condition of the sick individual. Please note that the qualifications have been relaxed this year so disregard any contrary instructions on the District website.

We do not believe that “the unpaid period must exceed two weeks” as is currently stated. When in doubt, apply.

Please act promptly and advise any teacher who might miss this correspondence so any deserving teachers do not miss out.

If you wish to apply go to www.buffaloschools.org/leaveofabsence, click on “BTF”.

PR:su

MEMORANDUM

Memo To:   All Buffalo Teachers

From:         Philip Rumore, President, BTF

Date:          November 10, 2020

Subject:     School Reopening Plans

More Information on Yellow Zones
Here is the New York State Department of Health Information referred to on yesterday’s email. (Click Here)

Note: “Schools open to in-person instruction in yellow zones are required to test 20% of in-person students, teachers and staff at least once a week starting Friday, October 16, 2020 for as long as the school remains in a designated yellow zone.” (emphasis added) We are checking to see if this has changed or applies to Buffalo. We are probably one of the few Districts fully remote with teachers in schools/sites.

We are also checking with NYSUT to see if the “25 people maximum indoors and outdoors for “non-essential gatherings” referred to in yesterday’s email applies to schools; thereby, limiting the number of teachers in a school/site (Click Here). NYSUT doesn’t believe it applies to schools.

The yellow designation will obviously impact the District’s reopening plans.

We will keep you advised as information is received. Stay tuned.

School Reopening Plans
We continue to receive concerns from teachers relating to the reopening plans submitted by the principal for their school.

Please remember that our position is that the “plan” must be approved by the site-based team.

As per the site-based document approved by the Board:

Mandated Members:

• One (1) Administrator (Principal or Assistant Principal)
• Five (5) Teachers (One the Delegate Chairperson or Building Committee Member)
• Five (5) Teacher Alternates
• Five (5) Parents
  • Parent members of SBMT’s will be chosen by the parent organization at each school. At least five parents will be chosen, one of whom will be a District Parent Coordinating Council (DPCC) representative. One will be the president of the Parent Organization, who may choose a proxy at will. One will be the Parent Facilitator at the school. There will be an alternate for each of these members in the event of unavailability.
    • Definition of “Parent”
      • Be a parent/guardian, legal guardian or person acting “in loco parentis” (as per CR 100.1) regarding all aspects of a child’s education
      • Must have a child or children enrolled currently at the school, and be a non-employee

Recommended Members:

• One (1) Teacher Aide
• Three (3) Students (Grade 5 and Above)
• School Staff and Community Members as Invited by “Consensus”

How Decision Are Made:

“SBMTs will make all decisions based on consensus.

Simply defined, consensus means that all members “can live with” the decision. Consensus ensures that all parties have involvement in the decision. Consensus is not synonymous with unanimous agreement. When decisions are reached by a consensus it is not necessary that all members completely agree. It is only necessary that they minimally agree. Before consensus can be reached, each member of the SBMT has the right and the obligation to express any disagreement, and to propose a compromise. Through such discussion, team members develop a sense of ownership in the decision, because all parties have had a say in the decision.”

You should note: If one person refuses to agree, there is no consensus until all can “minimally agree”.

What is a Quorum:
The presence of at least one member from each mandated group will constitute a quorum (Teacher/Administrator/Parent). All SBMTs will have one from each of its mandated constituted groups before matters can be discussed.

When a Plan is Submitted:
As per our October 27, 2020 email, teachers, while looking forward to being with their students in person, have expressed concerns relating to the District’s “Reopening Plan – Phase I”, due Wednesday, October 28, 2020 that is being completed by the principals.

They are being unreasonably asked for a possible commitment without being provided with critical information.

We advise teachers to indicate that before being able to answer questions relating to their willingness to work in person with students, at a minimum, the following should be provided to them for a tentative response:

• Written copies of the sanitization procedures/schedules in their building.
• Written copies of the entry testing procedures for all entering and also procedures for those, e.g. students exiting the buildings.
• Written copies of the procedures relating to suspected/confirmed cases of COVID-19.
• Written copies of their schedules, i.e. subject/grade level, reporting times, class size, room assignments, movement of students, i.e. schedules provided and posted as is done currently.
• Copies of Reopening Plan(s) for building(s) to which they are assigned that have been agreed to by each site-based team, the District and the BTF.

PR:su

MEMORANDUM

Memo To:   All Buffalo Teachers

From:         Philip Rumore, President, BTF

Date:          November 9, 2020

Subject:     Yellow Designation – BPS

Yellow Cluster Designation
Governor Cuomo today, designated Buffalo, along with other locations, as a “yellow cluster”.

Attached, please find New York State documents relating to Cluster Restrictions (Click Here).

District actions relating to this designation will be forthcoming.

PR:su

MEMORANDUM

Memo To:   All Buffalo Teachers

From:         Philip Rumore, President, BTF

Date:          November 18, 2020

Subject:     Update COVID -19

COVID-19 Testing in Schools
An answer to the question we have been raising –

We just heard from Albany that it has been decided that the 20% testing in schools in the yellow zones applies to adults in the school/site even if there are no students.

Buffalo is apparently one of the few where staff must report and there are no students.

Apparently, this will be coming in writing soon. We shall see.

There will obviously be greater changes if (when) we go to orange and/or red.

Advising Teachers of COVID-19 Incidents
Claudine Ewing called me this morning, November 18, 2020, to set up a zoom interview regarding teachers concerns about not being informed of COVID-19 instances in their school/site.

I told her yes.

She was (is) going to set it up later.

At about 12:15 Darren Brown-Hall, Chief of Staff called to advise us that they were setting up a notification template to advise teachers/staff of COVID-19 issues in their school/site.

Hmmm…. A coincidence?

It only took many letters and a press release to obtain transparency and important safety information for teachers/staff. What else is new?

Thank you to all those who kept us informed. You made this happen.

PR:su

MEMORANDUM

Memo To:   All Buffalo Teachers

From:         Philip Rumore, President, BTF

Date:          November 23, 2020

Subject:     Superintendent and Board of Education Grading Correspondence

Attached (Click Here), please find a copy of grading correspondence sent to the Superintendent and members of the Board.

Thank you.

PR:su

MEMORANDUM

Memo To:   All Buffalo Teachers

From:         Philip Rumore, President, BTF

Date:          November 24, 2020

Subject:     Updates

First, on behalf of the BTF Officers and staff, may your Thanksgiving be one that will, despite all obstacles, provide you with the opportunity to remember that for which you are thankful.

Notice of COVID Issues
In response to our concerns, the District has begun to notify staff of incidents of COVID-19 at their school/site.
If this does not occur, please advise us, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and/or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Grading/Hot Spot Issues
While in response to your concerns relating to the late, confusing and problematic grading changes, the District has extended the date for recording student grades to December 2, 2020, the problems were not solved. “Hot Spot” issues were also include. We have sent the attached to the Superintendent and Board for further action (Click Here).

Once again, please stay safe. Take no chances.

Have a “full-filling” Thanksgiving. I know, “Phil, you will starve as a comedian”.

PR:su