Union Making Plans for Employees to Return to Work in Phases Starting June 1

Posted Date: 05/20/2020

Message from the Superintendent

To All Union Employees:

As Oklahoma entered Phase 2 of the Open Up and Recover Safely (OURS) Plan on May 15, I wanted to provide Union employees with an update on where the district stands with regard to reopening. Download this letter here.

I have been in conversation with several outside agencies including health professionals and various city and state leaders. A district committee has been created and is working to prepare a district reopening plan. The committee will form guidelines for employee and student return based on the restrictions and recommendations for re-entry. Of course, there are many things that need to be taken into account before we begin to welcome students back on campus.

We anticipate phasing employees back to work beginning June 1, depending on the work of the committee. While we do not have answers to all questions yet, we want you to be prepared to return to work on June 1, in case you are asked to do so. We already have several staff members working onsite. Please be assured that this plan will be developed in accordance with all federal, state, and local guidelines for health and safety. We will share the plan with you as soon as possible.

A couple of other key things:

• Overtime pay for hourly support employees called in to work by their supervisors will end June 1. Once employees are back in the workplace, we will resume normal clocking in/out procedures. (More on this later).
• Given the huge disruption caused by Covid-19, the district will not be operating on summer hours as we have in the past.
• Vacation days: We are looking at a possible extension of the deadline for taking vacation days accrued for the 2019-2020 school year. We have not yet settled on an expiration date for using these days up. Please know this is something we are working on.

Again, we appreciate everyone being flexible. We will keep you informed as we get answers to the many outstanding questions.

Sincerely,

Kirt Hartzler, Ed.D.
Superintendent