Karl Kurt, Assistant Chief Administrator/Director of HR
Thank you for taking the time to complete our recent staff survey and provide feedback and suggestions regarding returning to work. Your input allows us to address areas of need/concern and will make us better prepared for when we physically return to work. Here is a recap of your feedback:
The data from the survey shows that a large majority of our staff members are feeling “Comfortable” or “Very Comfortable” with our Return to Work plan and their discipline specific plans (if applicable).
River Hills staff is looking forward to receiving more information on the Return to Work plan that will be put in place specifically for their building. This protocol is continuing to be developed and will be shared in the near future.
A suggestion was made to make sure that Superintendents and LEA Building Administrators are aware of the guidance we are giving our direct-service providers for safety and service. We are asking our Regional Administrators to make contact, as a result of this request, so there is clear understanding about our safety and service expectations.
We tried to respond to a number of specific staff who had comments/questions/concerns as part of the survey. Moving forward, please don’t hesitate to make contact and ask if you need anything.
A couple common themes were that our staff is appreciative of the agency’s efforts to mitigate risks and try to balance personal and professional obligations, and that staff members were pledging flexibility as we enter into the 2020-21 school year.
A common question was around what the schools will require with their safety protocols. We will try and get that information into one document to share. Just know that since we require staff to follow the most rigorous protocol (AEA or LEA), you can plan on beginning the year with masks being required as outlined in our Return to Work parameters.
There were a number of “what if” questions. It is tough to answer these, but we will try and work with each specific situation. However, with that said we are working on a cheat sheet to share with staff that outlines some general steps to commonly asked questions, so you know where to start. We look forward to sharing this document before students return to school.
There were some discipline specific questions that were difficult to answer. These were often forwarded to the discipline liaison, so they could be addressed to the whole discipline in the afternoon of August 18th, when disciplines will be meeting as virtual groups.
On behalf of the full administrative team and board, we greatly appreciate the positive attitude that everyone is attacking this challenge with. We can’t control everything, but we can control our attitude, and can-do spirit.