Following an order from Governor DeWine, the District has announced that schools will be closed starting Tuesday March 17th to avoid spread of the coronavirus. Schools will remain closed at least through Friday, April 3rd. Today several individual CPS schools were closed based on concerns about potential Coronavirus infections in those school communities. Monitor local media and your own in school communications systems to confirm whether your school will be open Monday morning.
During the closures, CPS intends to completely close schools. If you work at a school, whether as a teacher or in an administrative support role, you are not required to report to work at least through April 3rd. Teachers and CFOP members with ongoing assignments to schools will be paid throughout this emergency school cancellation. That includes teachers with annual contracts and long term substitute teachers in current assignments. CFOP school year employees will be paid accordingly per employment agreement, for the weeks of March 16 and March 30. It is unclear whether daily rate substitutes will be paid during this emergency closure, but CFT is advocating on their behalf. A limited number of employees assigned to the Education Center may be asked to report to work over this period of time. Your supervisor will be in contact concerning expectations if you work at the Education Center.
Under the CFT contract, quarterly grades are due by Thursday next week. We encourage you, to the extent possible, to do as much as you can to submit grades remotely if you are unable to submit grades before schools close in Monday.
CFT/CFOP offices will be closed during the school closure. If you need assistance from a CFT field representative while we are closed feel free to contact Karen Imbus (kimbus@cft-aft.org) or Don Mooney (dmooney@cft-aft.org).
This is an unprecedented health crisis for our City, State and Nation. We encourage all of our members to pay attention to updates and recommendations from our local, state and national health authorities. Avoiding large gatherings, regularly washing your hands, and avoiding unnecessary air travel is the best advice we have heard to avoid infection or spreading infection to others. We hope all of our members stay healthy while enjoying this time off with your families.