In the past, the APEA has declined to respond directly to School Committee statements in the press, as we believe that our work as educators is to serve our students and that our time is best spent there. In that spirit, APEA reached out to the School Committee on December 17, 2020 in the hopes that we could launch communication that was direct and collaborative with the goal of resolving the challenges of both remote and in-person education during a pandemic.
In December, we surveyed our membership to hear their experiences on teaching and learning during this pandemic and their thoughts on what steps to take next to move us safely to in-person learning. The deadline for survey responses was December 22, 2020. On December 23, we received the School Committee’s request for renegotiation. Their deadline to respond to this request was Tuesday, January 5, 2021. They then made this request public to the media on December 30. During this school vacation, APEA members are reviewing the data analysis and the APEA Survey Committee will be sharing the results with our Representative Council and Executive Board at our scheduled member meeting on January 11, 2021. Following that discussion, open to all APEA members, we will respond to the School Committee and inform the community by January 12 about how our membership would like us to move forward.
The APEA is committed to respectful communications, trust, and transparency, and will actively work towards this goal for the common good.