3/15/20 Update: Letter to SAUSD Staff
(Click HERE to access a PDF copy of this letter)
March 15, 2020
Dear Santa Ana Unified School District Staff,
On Friday, March 13, 2020 Superintendent Jerry Almendarez sent notice to staff that school would be closed for students beginning on Monday, March 16 with a current anticipated return date of Monday, April 13, 2020.
This email is intended to address questions you may have as an employee in Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD). It is intended for all employees; certificated, classified, and management staff.
At this time, all staff are expected to report to work as usual on Monday, March 16, 2020 and follow their regular schedule until further notice. For now, we are planning a regular week of work so employees should keep their regular work plans, as well as any prior scheduled leave or vacation. Our planned spring break during the week of April 6th - 10th will be observed.
We will continue to monitor this situation closely and will advise staff, if there is any change. All staff will remain in paid status.
Instructional Planning
In anticipation of the immediate closure, district educational services specialists have prepared 2-week curriculum packets for every grade level in ELA, Math, and Science. Those packets will be distributed to sites beginning Monday and throughout the week for the site administrative team to coordinate distribution to students and families. We will work diligently to provide universal internet access for students to facilitate online learning via distribution of hotspots and chromebooks. After the initial 2-week period, we plan to continue to produce packets for our elementary grade levels to supplement digital delivery of learning opportunities, while secondary classrooms will be expected to go fully digital. These materials are intended for enrichment purposes to support parents with learning activities at home.
Professional Development
To support the transition to online learning, we will be working next week to provide professional development opportunities for staff in a wide-range of digital platforms to ensure that all students have various enrichment opportunities. We will communicate those offerings as soon as possible.
Guidelines for Employees
Employees who are considered high risk by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) for COVID-19 (older adults, people who have serious chronic medical conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease) must request permission to work remotely from their immediate supervisor.
Our goal is to maintain a safe environment on all campuses and offices for all employees. As a district, we are implementing social distancing and other best practices as prescribed by local and state health officials. For employees working from home meeting criteria defined above, time will be reported as Regular Duty. Temporary arrangements may be made for those employees whose job duties do not readily lend themselves to work from home.
For all other employees, we continue to observe regular working schedules. Please continue to work as you would on any regular work day. Employees who are experiencing any symptoms such as fever, cough, vomiting or diarrhea, should not report to work.
Please continue to report and record your absences in Oracle. All staff who do not normally require a substitute will report the absence as usual. For staff who normally require a substitute, report the absence and do not request a substitute. Certificated staff on long-term leave will remain on that leave and their long-term substitute should report to work on Monday. Teachers who have release days planned for this closure period should cancel them and report to work as usual.
Ongoing Communication
During this school closure period, please check your email throughout the day for information from SAUSD about the latest news for your school and the SAUSD community overall. All resources can also be found on our District’s website Coronavirus Updates, Resources and links. To ensure timely communication, please check the Oracle portal to ensure that SAUSD has your most up to date emergency contact information.
We are thankful that we have such outstanding employees at all of our schools and district facilities. We appreciate your patience as we try to serve our students in challenging and unprecedented circumstances.
