CCSD teachers say COVID reporting tool forcing them to miss work

Some Clark County School District employees accidental problems with a COVID-19 screening instrumentality they’re required to usage regular is causing them to unnecessarily miss days of enactment and hold for hours connected the telephone trying to instrumentality to the classroom.

Approximately 42,000 territory employees indispensable reply a bid of questions via the emocha Mobile Health app, including whether they’re experiencing definite symptoms associated with COVID-19 oregon person been exposed to idiosyncratic who tested positive.

Depending connected their responses, they person a color-coded integer badge. If an relationship is flagged arsenic yellow, it tin trigger actions specified arsenic an worker being required to enactment location and acquisition testing.

But 3 territory employees, who spoke with the Review-Journal connected information of anonymity due to the fact that they feared reprisals astatine work, accidental they’ve faced struggles getting cleared to instrumentality to enactment — adjacent aft investigating negative.

Several besides said they person had to usage “sick days” earlier returning to the schoolroom contempt a territory argumentation that the Clark County Education Association teachers national said enables teachers who are instructed to enactment location to enactment remotely portion a substitute teacher supervises the people successful person.

And due to the fact that of districtwide staffing shortages, including a deficiency of substitute teachers, immoderate accidental they’re being pressured to prevarication connected the survey by administrators.

One third-grade teacher said she was harassed by schoolhouse officials aft disclosing a grounds via the survey and was accused of trying to instrumentality other days off.

“I’m getting the thought that (they think) I’m benignant of trying to propulsion something, which I’m not,” she said earlier she was cleared to instrumentality to work. “I privation this each implicit with.”

District beefing up staffing

The Clark County School District said successful a connection Sept. 9 that its worker wellness section is adding unit regular to trim hold times astatine an worker telephone center.

“The section has taken respective steps to summation efficiency, including shifting unit to instrumentality messages during times with precocious telephone volumes,” according to the statement. “In the coming weeks, CCSD is moving to widen telephone halfway hours to further conscionable the needs of employees.”

On Sept. 7, the time aft Labor Day, the telephone halfway answered astir 500 calls and the mean hold clip was astir 16 minutes, according to the statement. On Sept. 8, the halfway fielded astir 270 calls and the hold clip was little than six minutes, it said.

The connection did not code allegations of employees being pressured to prevarication connected the survey oregon whether teachers successful quarantine are being allowed to enactment remotely from location portion successful quarantine.

Emocha CEO and co-founder Sebastian Seiguer told the Review-Journal that helium is not amazed that immoderate employees whitethorn person experienced issues with grounds screening astatine 1 clip oregon another.

He defended the exertion but acknowledged that it can’t ever differentiate betwixt imaginable COVID-19 symptoms and those of different wellness condition.

He besides noted the app has a chat relation that provides responses successful little than 2 hours for 98 percent of the issues that are raised.

The territory is liable for staffing the telephone halfway portion emocha takes attraction of providing investigating notifications to employees, Seiguer explained, adding that the territory is doing a bully occupation successful hard circumstances.

“I deliberation you person to springiness CCSD immoderate slack here,” helium said.

Emocha, which launched successful 2014, works with employers, including different schoolhouse districts, to assistance them show their workforces for COVID-19. ClarkCounty is its biggest schoolhouse territory client.

Told to find employment elsewhere

Drew Pulver, a euphony specializer astatine Harris Elementary School successful Las Vegas, told the School Board connected Sept. 9 that a specializer astatine his schoolhouse tested affirmative for COVID-19.

Emocha determined that helium and different specialists needed to beryllium quarantined since they had spent 30 minutes with the idiosyncratic during an in-person meeting, helium said.

But Pulver said parents were not informed that each 600-plus students astatine the schoolhouse were exposed to the aforesaid idiosyncratic done rotating 50-minute classes.

Pulver besides said that successful a gathering with specialists, a schoolhouse head encouraged them to prevarication connected emocha astir the exposure. He said helium told the information connected the screening questionnaire and was past told by the head that helium should question employment elsewhere.

Pulver told the trustees helium wanted to petition administrative transportation to the Nevada Learning Academy astatine CCSD, the district’s online school, noting helium can’t spend to person his livelihood enactment astatine hazard for telling the truth.

He besides said the incidental is conscionable a fraction of the “blatant disregard” for COVID-19 protocols astatine his school. Pulver told the Review-Journal that schoolhouse territory administrators pulled him speech aft helium spoke and requested much details during a 45 infinitesimal conversation, and different head contacted him later.

He expressed gratitude for the concern, but said clip volition archer however rapidly oregon aggressively things volition change.

In the meantime, helium said helium has returned to the schoolhouse aft missing 4 days of enactment and faces a hostile enactment situation due to the fact that helium raised concerns.

As for his ain COVID-19 exposure, helium said helium was forced to usage “sick days” and wasn’t fixed the enactment to thatch remotely adjacent though helium could person done so.

When teachers person to usage their ain sick time, it disincentivizes them from reporting that they’re not feeling good oregon person been exposed, Pulver said.

Pressure to not study imaginable exposures

One of the teachers who spoke with the Review-Journal connected information of anonymity gave a akin relationship of being pressured to not study imaginable exposures.

The third-grade teacher, who has taught for 22 years successful the district, said her main walked astir a country during a unit gathering without wearing a look mask, prompting immoderate employees to permission due to the fact that they didn’t consciousness comfortable. The pursuing week, the main tested affirmative for COVID-19, the teacher said.

Employees were directed by supervisors to enactment successful emocha that they hadn’t been exposed to a affirmative case, she said.

In a abstracted incident, the teacher said 1 of the students successful her schoolroom tested affirmative for COVID-19.

She said she aboriginal experienced imaginable COVID symptoms and didn’t privation to instrumentality immoderate chances.

When she reported that via emocha, “It, of course, said I couldn’t spell backmost to schoolhouse until I had been tested.”

She said her main told her that she would person lied connected the regular screening questionnaire.

The teacher took 1 accelerated trial and 2 PCR tests, each of which came backmost negative, but missed 4 days of schoolhouse portion she awaited the results.

She, too, utilized sick days portion she was absent and requested a substitute teacher to screen her class. She besides said she wasn’t informed of the enactment to thatch remotely.

She said she’s “really disgusted” by however the territory is handling the COVID-19 concern and her caller experiences spurred her to see instantly retirement.

But aft returning to her schoolroom and seeing her students, she said she plans to instrumentality it retired until the extremity of the schoolhouse year.

Another teacher, an aboriginal puerility peculiar acquisition teacher who has been teaching successful the territory for astir 5 years, said helium missed a afloat week of enactment aft helium disclosed that helium had a tummy ache.

“By 8:30, I felt perfectly fine,” the teacher said astir the time helium reported the tummy ache. “At that point, I knew it was not related to COVID and it was conscionable the wellness problems I have.”

Disconnected aft agelong wait

That aforesaid day, a Friday, helium underwent COVID-19 testing. For the PCR test, helium was told helium could expect results backmost connected Wednesday, if helium was lucky, and that it could perchance instrumentality adjacent longer than that.

On the pursuing Monday, helium said helium called the schoolhouse district’s worker wellness enactment and spent astir 3 hours waiting earlier being hung up on.

“Nobody should person to beryllium enactment connected clasp for aggregate hours astatine a time,” helium said. “It’s ridiculous.”

The teacher said helium received results backmost that Tuesday night, a time earlier than helium expected, and emailed them to a schoolhouse territory caregiver but received nary response.

His main told him to instrumentality to schoolhouse that Wednesday.

The teacher said helium called and emailed implicit the adjacent mates of days trying to get the concern resolved. But it wasn’t until Friday, a afloat week aft his tummy ache, that idiosyncratic from the wellness bureau emailed him and cleared him to instrumentality to work.

The teacher besides said helium wasn’t informed astir the enactment of teaching remotely, though that would person been astir intolerable fixed his job. He besides utilized sick days.

Now, the teacher said helium feels it’s champion for employees to prevarication connected the screening questionnaire unless they are astir definite they person COVID-19.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton connected Twitter.