Staff Support
Staff members have gone through a lot of changes during the pandemic. School leaders will need to provide support to help their staff manage these changes effectively and meet their professional and social-emotional needs.
Key Recommendations
Identify staff that are high-risk for severe illness due to COVID-19. Additionally, create a process for staff to self-identify as high-risk and have a plan in place to address requests for alternative teaching environments or work reassignments if possible.
Offer, as feasible, options that limit exposure risk for high-risk staff.
Be aware that staff may need to stay home when they are sick, have been exposed to someone in quarantine, or are caring for someone who is sick.
Staff age 65 or older, or with serious underlying health conditions that put them at high risk of illness due to COVID-19, should be encouraged to talk to their health care providers to assess their risk and to determine if they should avoid in-person contact.
Ensure the district has data infrastructure and tools in place to support remote work for staff members
Develop a staff training schedule on COVID-19 protocols and select a method for training (e.g., in-person, livestream, recorded video, etc.).
Reflection Points for Teams
Given local context and plans, what are the options for staff who identify as high-risk to engage in work and teaching?
How will we ensure that training supports transferring knowledge and skills to practice, particularly given some of these skills will need to be learned remotely?
How will we work with staff unions to find additional time to provide these training sessions around teaching schedules?
Ideas
Identify building or cohort-based substitutes who can step in for staff needing to take leave.
Meaningfully engage and consult with local bargaining units regarding high-risk staff and teachers.
Maintain (do not cut) support for school counselors.
Provide asynchronous options for staff training:
Record video tutorials explaining each topic.
Develop online courses (could be housed on a learning management system such as Schoology) that staff can complete asynchronously during the summer as required professional development.
Starting Point Tools
The following resources offer starting points for school administrators to support their staff and rethink work assignments. These comprise of national guidance, articles, documents, and more to provide actionable next steps.
(We will continue to update these as we continue to learn about additional tools)
Strategies for Protecting K-12 School Staff from COVID-19
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has provided strategies to provide workplace safety and health information for school staff members. These strategies apply whether staff are working in-person, virtually, or in a hybrid model.
Reopening Schools: Ideas Across Scenarios (Read “How might we use staff differently?” in each scenario)
Source: Highlander Institute
