Negotiators add phone expectation for after‑hours emergency communication
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Parties agreed to language that student‑safety or building‑safety after‑hours communications should be made by phone and that administrators will be trained to limit after‑hours calls to situations requiring teacher involvement.
Negotiators reviewed language about communications to teachers outside school hours and agreed to strengthen the standard for emergencies and student‑safety incidents. The revised text asks that, when student safety or building safety issues require teacher awareness or involvement, the district will contact the teacher by phone (cell or landline as available) rather than only by email.
Participants discussed practical limits: uneven cell coverage in parts of the district, the intrusion on off‑duty family time, and the reasonable expectation for a response — especially late at night. District negotiators said they would train administrators that after‑hours calls should be limited to scenarios involving students’ immediate safety or building security and that less urgent matters should use email or other non‑immediate channels.
The parties agreed to add “by phone” language to the contract section addressing out‑of‑hours communication and to emphasize humane, narrowly tailored use for safety incidents.