PERTH AMBOY – Lynn Audet, Perth Amboy resident, 30-year teacher, taxpayer, and voter. I am also the District Representative for the Perth Amboy Federation.
I have been asked to speak this evening on behalf of many different component groups on many different topics, so please bear with me as I attempt to express to you everyone’s concerns. Please know that Pat Paradiso and I have reached out to supervisors and/or central administrators about these concerns, and there was no communication back to us, so I am led to believe that these problems are still happening.
On behalf of our CST workers who are currently testing students in some of the buildings: We were told that there are parents showing up at sites with no masks. There have been children with no masks coming into very close contact, and in some cases climbing on the CST member testing them, no disinfecting after parents or students are using the bathroom, some testing being done in rooms with no open windows, and there is a building that is using a shower curtain not plexiglass as a divider. There is also testing happening in a building where the YMCA is housed, where we are being told children are not always wearing their masks or practicing social distancing. These practices are putting our CST members at risk.
On behalf of our Food Service workers: There are still sites where it is being reported that parents are showing up without masks to pick up lunches, and there are still sites with no plexiglass dividers. It has been reported to me that there are sites where parents are coming inside the building to pick up lunches. Also, I understand that food service workers sometimes need to cover other schools if there are entire teams in quarantine or they are short-handed. There have been times, however, that food service workers from a school are on their “remote day” and then another food service worker from another school is sent to cover that school. This seems unnecessary. Traveling from building to building increases the chance of exposure to Covid 19 for our Food Service workers. I ask that Food Service workers only be sent to other buildings in absolute emergencies.
I am also requesting that you have our Food Service workers go back to reporting on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday like we did in the Spring and to stagger their work day to minimize exposure. They can give out multiple breakfasts and lunches on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Parents have been requesting at the schools more than one breakfast/lunch when they come to pick up, so they don’t have to come back every day. This is bound to increase as the weather begins to get colder. I would hate to see a parent not come out to get food for their child(ren) because the weather is too cold for them to walk to school.
On behalf of our Food Service workers and our SLEOs,: We have heard that there have been food service workers and SLEOs that are being sent emails after hours that they will have a remote day the following day, but then they are showing up to work because the email was sent after hours. Staff members are not required to check their emails at home during non-contractual hours.
On behalf of our custodians: I was informed yesterday that custodians were given facemasks that require disposable filters, and they were told to purchase coffee filters, in lieu of being provided with replacement filters. I am also concerned that our custodians are tasked
with cleaning the building after the children leave from the YMCA program. This concerns me since I am hearing that not all protocols have been followed in the YMCA program.
On behalf of the entire staff of the PAPS: People want to know in writing what the protocol is if a worker tests positive for Covid 19.
In conclusion, as I said at last month’s Board of Education meeting, I am asking for you to please include the AFT in the decision-making process, and communicate back to us when we address concerns. We are not you enemy. We want to work collaboratively to help move this district forward, and to keep our members safe. We are the people working in the trenches. AFT leadership should not have to file grievances to be heard. We shouldn’t have to have to fight for safety, fairness, and respect for our dedicated, amazing staff members. But you know we will.
