The city teachers’ union that is criticizing the district's handling of testing for COVID-19.
Classes resumed this week at schools in San Francisco after the winter break, but more than 620 staff members were out on Tuesday alone, according to the teachers' union, United Educators of San Francisco. KTVU reported the total represents 20 percent of all teachers, or nearly double the pre-pandemic absentee rate.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that more than 100 staff employees were asked to fill in the classroom to make up for the shortage of teachers, as well as substitutes.
Union officials say the district did not develop an adequate plan to handle the latest surge of COVID-19 cases. Students and staff were not required to show a negative test result before returning to campus, as some other districts have done. The district has two COVID walk-in COVID testing sites, which will remain open through Monday.
The union also accuses the district of not having a plan to distribute a shipment of COVID tests set to arrive from the state later this week.
The union held a briefing earlier today (Wednesday) to discuss the issues related to the COVID surge and how they plan to help distribute the tests to students and staff.
