Checking-In/Important Information and Updates

Greetings NEA-Jurupa Family,

I hope that you and your loved ones continue to stay safe and well. It’s so weird that today is Friday the 13^th and that the last Friday the 13^th in March is when we closed our schools. Eight months of what feels like a perpetual Groundhog Day. On a positive note, only one week to go until a much needed week off!

My apologies in advance for the long email, but there are several things important pieces of information to share.

• Attached above are the meeting notes from Tuesday’s Rep Council.

• Please take the time to complete this “Return to School” Survey. At this time, there is no set date to return to in-person instruction, however, we want to get your feedback in the event that we begin to have discussions with the District. The survey will be open until November 20^th (next Friday).

A few points:

Any return to school must be approved by the School Board. During their October 19^th meeting, the board voted that we would remain in Distance Learning until January. Given the increase of COVID-19 cases at both the National, State, and County levels, it is very likely that we will remain in Distance Learning well into 2021. Riverside County is still in the Purple (most restrictive) Tier and the numbers don’t look encouraging.
The MOU that was agreed upon during the summer extends for the entire 20-21 school year.
The District and Association continue to monitor all pertinent National, State, and County public health guidance.

• NEA-Jurupa’s Executive Board unanimously approved the attached Small Cohorts MOU. It aligns with all state guidance and safety measures. In order for the MOU to go into effect, it must be approved by the school board. The District will only consider the most at-risk students/groups and the District/Association must approve a Side Letter of Understanding. Here is the guidance referred to in the MOU: Small Cohorts and Industry Guidance.

• Annual Notification to Employees: All employees usually receive a paper copy and have to sign that they have received this. This year, it will be sent electronically and you will receive an email from Keenan with a prompt to check a box that it was received. Please be on the lookout for this email. Follow-up emails will be sent to employees who haven’t acknowledged receipt.

• All Certificated Staff will be receiving an email from Shannon Nelson asking for confirmation of credentials, units, etc. The district is in the process of ensuring all of their records are updated. You will need to respond by December 4^th either via email, mail, or dropping off in person.

• Catastrophic Leave Bank: If you were in the bank prior to this year, a day was deducted from your sick time at the beginning of the school year. 20-21 begins the five-year cycle. Currently, we have 499.5 days in the bank and 229 people are enrolled. Please reach out to me to verify if you are in the bank. Attached above is the enrollment form which should be emailed to your payroll specialist or to Cindy Garcia. In order to enroll, you must have 11 banked days.

• Virtual Paint Night: We are planning on hosting an event in December and are confirming the date. We will be working with Purple Easel at Ontario Mills. Once details have been finalized, an Eventbrite Link will be sent out to RSVP.

Thank you for all that you do! Please remember to extend yourselves the same empathy, grace, kindness, patience, and understanding that you extend to others. Self-care is key! Check out CTA’s next Mindful Monday!