Coronavirus Update – April 1st, 2020
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Coronavirus Update – April 1st, 2020

Wednesday, April 1, 2020 Update

Hello USEP members,

I hope this finds you and your families safe and healthy. Right now, everyone’s number one goal is to remain healthy regardless of other outcomes. USEP has worked hard to seek safety and wellness precautions be put in place and will continue to monitor employee safety concerns. Just today, I reiterated our concerns for employee safety because of a situation that happened yesterday and was reassured by the District that the situation will be addressed so employees are not put in harm’s way. We will continue to have conversations with District staff as necessary to maintain this priority.

Distance learning is up and running, or should I say up and ruuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnning. With the experience of an online student from home, I am in the middle of student, parent (“How do I get THAT to load?”) and employee frustrations with internet learning. We can only hope that the world wide web can deal with the enormous amount of traffic that has increased because of closed businesses and school children going virtual. I can’t imagine what would happen if…….

Many updates are being communicated to teachers, students and parents from District and school personnel to help with the issues that have been reported. It will take some time (we are only in day 2, remember) for the kinks to be worked out, but from what I have heard, and haven’t heard, Pasco is off to a better start than some of our surrounding districts in our distance learning. If you cannot, after a reasonable time, get results to your concerns, either educational, contractual or health and safety related, please contact your Building Rep to have them notify our staff of the issue.

As stated in earlier communications, please make every attempt to return student/parent concerns in a timely manner. eSchool has a 24-hour turnaround, which will work in our situation as well. If the effort to reach out is communicated no one will be disciplined.

There will be groups of people who will be asked to perform tasks that you may not have done before but are still in the realm of your job category. Please understand that in order to be paid you must be performing needed tasks for the district. Some flexibility will be necessary for work to be done and employees paid.

As we get ready to enter week 2 of this process, it is expected that all employees will be back to work – some virtually and some physically in a worksite, depending on your job category. Food service continues to grow with the anticipation of having “Food Bus” sites. Employees in the transportation department may be asked regarding helping with some of the 25 school lunch pick-up sites. It is USEP’s hope you will involve yourself in as much as possible to help others in the community who need this program to continue.

Remember, we are a family and need to support each other. Together, we are strong! USEP is here to help and protect our members. Know that all of you are being represented by us daily in action and conversation to help move Pasco education forward. We are all in this for our students, so let’s focus on making this transition as seamless as possible. Let us know how we can help!

Thank you for being USEP!

Don Peace, President

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If you are an employee of Pasco County Schools and not already a member of USEP, consider joining today! Members are eligible for a wide range of benefits through our affiliates and benefit partners. USEP also provides members with professional development opportunities and representation for member issues.