Maria Barroso, president of the Evanston/Skokie District 65 Educators’ Council (DEC), sent emails to the union’s members Thursday and Friday, November 18 and 19, about taking sick days the week of Thanksgiving.
Here is the text of the Thursday email (some type bolded as in original):
Dear DEC members,
Next week we have two (2) days of work, and the report card window will open. Also, COVID cases are starting to increase. This along with other issues are creating stress and taking a toll on our mental health. If you are having a difficult time and are feeling overwhelmed, please take a sick day or two next week. You are human and need to take care of yourself.
There is a substitute crisis, but there is a need to be able to have a day to just breathe. If you need to take a day or two off next week, you should put in for a sick day in AESOP soon (today). If you are considering it, please put it in because we want to be respectful of families too. By providing notice, educators are being professional and responsible, so that Administration is aware and can plan accordingly.
If there are not enough subs, the district will have to make a decision about next week. Just in case we are forced to go remote or have e-learning days, educators should have their Seesaw or Google Classroom up and running. Also, it would be wise to practice a zoom meeting with your students in case we have to work remotely due to a high number of COVID cases and quarantine mandates.
Taking a day off is a good thing,
Maria Barroso
DEC President
A shorter email was sent Friday. Here is the text of that message:
Dear DEC Members,
If you are going to take days off next week, please do so ASAP, so the district may plan accordingly. DEC is not mandating you take a day but asking that you put in the days very soon.
Sincerely,
Maria Barroso
I don’t have a dog in this fight, and I have no current connection to District 75 except as a taxpayer and longtime supporter of equitable, accessible public education for all Evanston kids. Reading between the lines of the Rountable’s coverage, I come away with the view that this incident reveals some kind of power struggle between the union and the superintendent. And I have to ask, where is the board of education that we elected to manage the district in fraught times? I don’t know what the union thinks they may win from this, but what is clear, as has been eloquently pointed out by in parents’ comments, is that kids and parents are once again on the losing side.
This is a union boss email if I’ve ever seen one. Really gotta read between the lines here. Sad that the district has come to this.
“…educators are being professional and responsible…”? No they’re not. Professional and responsible conduct does not include calling in sick when you are not sick. It doesn’t include calling in sick for two days prior to an extended holiday break. Five days off in a row is not enough time for a “mental health” break? Professional and responsible conduct does not include causing the district to cancel in person learning for two days and disrupting the lives of parents and families. What a mess. Is there any wonder why enrollment is down significantly?