COVID-19 School Closure Information for Staff

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For the most up-to-date answers to your HR related questions during the time of school closures, see the HR & Staffing FAQs.

 

In light of residential stay-at-home orders, some of the guidance below was updated on Monday afternoon, March 16. See urgent message from Dr. Matthews re: remote work.

Original Message from Friday afternoon, March 13

As you know, we have decided to close schools to students for 3 weeks beginning Monday, March 16 through the end of regularly scheduled spring break (which ends Friday, April 3).  Schools are an essential service and crucial to our communities. We are facing an unprecedented health crisis in our community, and new information is surfacing rapidly. It is likely our community will be seeing many more cases of COVID-19 in the coming weeks and months and this will require a measured, sustained response. 

During the school closure period, staff will be working part of this time and using the time to prepare and train on how to educate and support community health during this pandemic. While we work together to support our community through this evolving crisis, we must also take care of ourselves. To that end, we have partnered with our Labor Partners to develop guidance around staff attendance, compensation, sick leave and more flexible working arrangements over the next three weeks. Please see below for detailed guidance:

Week of March 16th - School Sites Only 

  • Principals, assistant principals, custodians, houseparents and school secretaries/clerks are expected to report to work. If you have questions about reporting requirements, please contact your supervisor. 
  • Teachers and Paraeducators who regularly work at school sites must not report to their worksite but may be asked by their supervisors to perform other work related to their job duties remotely. Teachers and Paraeducators will receive full pay for the week.
  • Teachers on Special Assignment, Coaches, Content Specialists, School Psychologists, Social workers, Nurses, BCBA’s, Counselors, Paraeducators and Licensed Speech Pathologists who report to Central Offices are expected to report to work. If you have questions about reporting requirements, please contact your supervisor. For more information about sick leave and flexible working arrangements, please see below under “Sick Leave and Working Arrangements”. 
  • A limited number of teachers and paraeducators may be asked to staff childcare options in continued consultation with the United Educators of San Francisco. 
  • A limited number of school nutrition workers and school security aids may be asked to staff needs across the district in continued consultation with the United Educators of San Francisco and SEIU Local 1021. 

Week of March 23rd - School Sites Only 

  • All school site employees, including administrators, teachers, paraeducators, clerks, custodians and student nutrition workers are expected to report to work. 
  • The District has prepared resources to help teachers plan for continuous learning while students are not in school. Please visit https://www.sfusd.edu/continuouslearning. 
  • Teachers on Special Assignment, Coaches, Content Specialists, School Psychologists, Social workers, Nurses, BCBA’s, Counselors, Paraeducators and Licensed Speech Pathologists who report to Central Offices are expected to report to work. For more information about sick leave and flexible working arrangements, please see below under “School Closure Sick Leave and Working Arrangements - Central Offices”. 
  • A limited number of teachers and paraeducators may also be asked to staff childcare options in continued consultation with the United Educators of San Francisco. 
  • A limited number of school nutrition workers and school security aids may be also be asked to staff needs across the district in continued consultation with the United Educators of San Francisco and SEIU Local 1021. 

Week of March 30th - All School Sites Closed for Spring Break

School Closure Sick Leave and Working Arrangements - School Sites

  • During the week of March 16th and 23rd, school site employees who are sick, have COVID-19 symptoms, have been asked to self-quarantine or are a high risk population who do not feel comfortable coming to work should use sick leave. 
  • Doctor’s notes are not required to substantiate staff absences; all requests for sick leave will be honored. 
  • Restrictions have been relaxed around the use of sick leave:
    • Certificated employees who run out of accrued sick leave can immediately use extended sick leave without a doctor’s note. As schools are closed, there will be no deduction for substitute pay and extended sick leave will pay out at the same rate as regular sick leave. 
    • Classified employees who do not have paid leave available and cannot work due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 emergency may now receive an advance on their paid sick leave. 
    • Classified employees who do not have sufficient sick leave balances may use Vacation, Comp Days and Floating Holidays to cover absences during this time.

Week of March 16th, March 23rd and March 30th - Central Offices

  • Central Offices will remain open, but we have relaxed restrictions around sick leave and telecommuting. For more information, see below under “Sick Leave and Working Arrangements for Central Offices”. 
  • Divisions that perform critical public-facing functions must maintain staff in central office locations (for example, critical Human Resources staff at 555 Franklin). 
  • Staff who are sick, have COVID-19 symptoms, have been asked to self-quarantine or are a high risk population who do not feel comfortable coming to work should use sick leave. For more information, see below under “Sick Leave and Working Arrangements- Central Office”.

School Closure Sick Leave and Working Arrangements - Central Offices

  • Telecommuting will be permitted where possible and with approval by an employee’s supervisor and Division Chief. Employees who telecommute must work a full work day and be available via phone and email during regular working hours (minus lunchtime and breaks). 
  • Doctor’s notes are not required to substantiate staff absences; all requests for sick leave will be honored. 
  • We have relaxed policies around School closure sick leave policy: 
    • Certificated employees who run out of accrued sick leave can immediately use Extended Sick Leave without a doctor’s note. 
    • Classified employees who do not have paid leave available and cannot work due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 emergency may now receive an advance on their paid sick leave during the school closure period
    • Classified employees who do not have sufficient sick leave balances may use Vacation, Comp Days and Floating Holidays to cover absences during this time. 

If you have additional questions regarding staff expectations and policies over the next weeks, please contact your labor union or staffingquestions@sfusd.edu. Thank you for all you do to keep our students, schools and families safe and supported. 

 

Dr. Vincent Matthews

Superintendent