In an agreement reached on Feb. 22, San Diego Education Association (SDEA) and San Diego Unified School District established safety measures to facilitate a safe and sustainable return to school. In the negotiations, SDEA bargaining members and district officials agreed at the outset to work toward a solution that avoids the “yo-yo effect” of starting and stopping school openings when outbreaks necessitate quarantining and closures.

Teams established three criteria for a return to in-person instruction:

• On-site mitigation factors will follow health and safety guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), and recommendations and mitigation factors from the UC San Diego summary report.
• County risk levels will be adhered to; a move from the purple tier to the red tier will be defined by CDPH. The parties will return to the bargaining table if the CDPH criteria for risk level tiers change.
• Staff vaccinations will be prioritized. Before reporting for in-person instruction, members will be provided access and time to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The district will actively support and assist the San Diego County Department of Public Health to ensure the vaccine is widely available and easily accessible to school staff. Members will be provided two-hour personal business time to be vaccinated during work hours without loss of pay.

SDEA President Kisha Borden and her team are preparing to meet the challenges of reopening this spring. “We are hopeful for a combination of vaccinations for school employees, on-site mitigation (such as surveillance testing, ventilation, social distancing and masks), and community case rates that allow San Diego County to return to the red tier for the first time since the fall,” Borden said.

“This will allow us to offer in-person opportunities to all students while still allowing online opportunities for students whose families do not feel comfortable returning in person.”