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Henrico Schools officials are expecting teachers who don’t receive accommodations (to continue teaching virtually) to begin working from their schools in person Nov. 30 – the first day that pre-kindergarten, first and second grade students return in person.
That message is being communicated by individual principals to their teachers this week, HCPS Chief of Communications and Community Engagement Andy Jenks told the Citizen Wednesday night.
Word of the plans began leaking out earlier Wednesday to teachers, many of whom – particularly those at the middle- and high-school levels – reacted on social media with surprise and confusion. The missive was not communicated to them during a 90-minute virtual forum hosted by school system administrators Tuesday nor mentioned during a subsequent meeting for families.
Though elementary school students whose families choose to send them back in person will return either Nov. 30 or (for third- through fifth-graders) Dec. 7, most secondary students who choose to return in person won’t come back until the beginning of the second semester, in early February.
So why require all teachers to be back Nov. 30?
“The staffing is necessary on multiple wavelengths, which includes an expansion of our ‘limited in-person’ options for middle and high school students, even before the second semester arrives,” Jenks told the Citizen.
Exceptional education students in grades 6-12 who receive integrated services will be able to return to school Dec. 7, officials said during Wednesday’s meetings.
And although school system officials expect teachers back Nov. 30, there are likely to be some exceptions, Jenks said, suggesting that the system has a “collective desire to employ some flexibility, understanding and compassion.
“Sure, it’s all hands on deck as we expand in-person learning, but that doesn’t take away from the school system’s ability to be flexible on a case-by-case basis.”
School officials are expected to distribute a binding survey Thursday to all families of HCPS students and to all HCPS employees, asking their intentions for the remainder of the school year.
Families will be asked whether they plan to send their children back in person or not, while employees will be asked whether they intend to return, resign, retire, take some form of leave or request accommodations to continue working virtually – either because of their own health conditions or those of someone in their household, or simply because they don’t feel safe returning.
The school system’s human resources department will prioritize such requests in that order, Human Resources Specialist Seza Aldrich told employees during Wednesday’s meeting.
Central Office staff members, Jenks said, “will be afforded the same accommodations and flexibility extended to school-based employees,” and some also may provide direct day-to-day support in schools, he said.
As for the survey, school system officials are still determining what to do in the event some families don’t return them by the anticipated deadline of late next week, Jenks said. The immediate plan is for administrators from individual schools to reach out to families directly to ensure they have a response from every student.
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