TVEA Spotlight December 15th TVUSD Governing Board Meeting

Good Evening Everyone and Happy Holidays from TVEA,

Congratulations and Welcome to Board Members Loner and Schwartz and Welcome Back to Board Member Skumawitz. In addition, I would like to offer Board President Brosch the same wishes I share with every fellow elected President: A heartfelt congratulations, and my condolences as well on both the expectations and responsibilities which come with the role. TVEA and our members are confident THIS TVUSD Governing Board will provide the representation and leadership TVUSD needs at this challenging and unprecedented time. Collectively as a board you will play a critical role in steering TVUSD ahead in these uncharted waters and we trust you will do so by collaborating and cooperating with stakeholders, while also displaying strong leadership and decisiveness when called for.

At TVEA, we continue to confer with the TVUSD Cabinet and seek to ensure the health and welfare of our teachers and specialists are a priority in TVUSD direction and policy. Last Friday, I met with Human Resources and Student Support Services leads Mr. Arce and Ms. Velez, and there has been consistent communication between Superintendent McClay and I. Committing to and building on this practice of ongoing TVEA communication with Both TVUSD Leadership and Governing Board Members is paramount and is welcomed after having lacked consistency in previous years.

As we reach the halfway point in a school year which feels like it will exceed a full marathon, a recent TVEA Member Pulse Check Survey last month demonstrated many are feeling Concerned, Fatigued, and Frustrated. I trust that those emotions likely mirror other TVUSD cohorts and the greater Temecula community.

For the record, our association of more than thirteen hundred (1300) teachers and specialists has not taken a firm up or down position on School Reopening. Yes, we did survey elementary members twice to gauge support for an Elementary Waiver and neither query provided majority consent to provide association support.

My central message to the newly composed Board tonight is that moving forward you must carefully weigh potential costs versus benefits of any Waiver or Hybrid/Cohort reopening. We at TVEA believe it is our mission to provide the highest quality education we can for our students. None of our members committed to a public education career for the purpose of working with students in a virtual or distance learning setting.

Yet as COVID case numbers continue to escalate and with TVUSD Special Education Learning HUBS closing last week due to report exposure risk, it is essential that there be a careful examination of the risks versus rewards of returning staff and hundreds of students to each of our school campuses.

Thank you.