On September 30, 2021, our supplemental paid sick leave for Covid-19-related absences expired. This means that in most California districts, when teachers have to quarantine or stay home to take care of themselves or family members due to Covid, they need to use their own sick leave. If a teacher contracts Covid themself, they may submit a Workers Comp claim to argue to receive compensation for days missed beyond their annual allotted sick days, but this is a process and not guaranteed.

If your county has adopted the new CDC guidelines, a teacher who tests positive for Covid will potentially miss a full work week (5 days), depending on when in the week their symptoms began/when they got a positive test result if they have no symptoms – and longer, per the guidelines, if symptoms persist. In my district, FT teachers get 10 normal sick leave days each year. This means that when a teacher has Covid they will likely use at least half of their allotted sick days. This does not take into account, of course, how many days we may need to quarantine after an exposure or stay home to take care of a child who has to stay home from their school – all of which could happen multiple times throughout the year. Suffice it to say that many of us will be going through our yearly allotted 10 sick days much faster than before. Additional days taken after that will be deducted from our paychecks. 

Teachers should not have to pay in this way for taking care of ourselves, our families, and our communities during a global pandemic. We should not be penalized for following rules created for everyone’s safety. We are essential workers who do not get hazard pay. At the least, we need paid leave for whenever we need to stay home due to Covid, just like all workers in California should have during the pandemic. 

If you have a Covid-related absence, don’t forget to clearly note “COVID” when you file or report your absence. If your district doesn’t currently have Covid paid leave, there is a possibility that you will be reimbursed for these days at some point. 

Some districts, including Oakland and San Francisco, have successfully negotiated MOU’s to keep the additional 10 days of Covid-related paid leave. And CTA has recently asked members to call their state senators to urge an extension of Covid-19 supplemental paid sick leave for all California workers. 

But the extension of this protection won’t happen by itself, and we can’t wait for our state legislators to act. We can and must keep pushing in our locals to fight to preserve our benefits during a pandemic. And also, this is yet another situation that inspires us to imagine the power of educators across districts coming together in united action. When it comes to this issues, we are all in the same boat across the state, more or less – how much more powerful and efficacious would a statewide action of educators united to fight back at this time? 

by Stephane Barile, NHTA

On September 30, 2021, our supplemental paid sick leave for Covid-19-related absences expired. This means that in most California districts, when teachers have to quarantine or stay home to take care of themselves or family members due to Covid, they need to use their own sick leave. If a teacher contracts Covid themself, they may submit a Workers Comp claim to argue to receive compensation for days missed beyond their annual allotted sick days, but this is a process and not guaranteed.

If your county has adopted the new CDC guidelines, a teacher who tests positive for Covid will potentially miss a full work week (5 days), depending on when in the week their symptoms began/when they got a positive test result if they have no symptoms – and longer, per the guidelines, if symptoms persist. In my district, FT teachers get 10 normal sick leave days each year. This means that when a teacher has Covid they will likely use at least half of their allotted sick days. This does not take into account, of course, how many days we may need to quarantine after an exposure or stay home to take care of a child who has to stay home from their school – all of which could happen multiple times throughout the year. Suffice it to say that many of us will be going through our yearly allotted 10 sick days much faster than before. Additional days taken after that will be deducted from our paychecks. 

Teachers should not have to pay in this way for taking care of ourselves, our families, and our communities during a global pandemic. We should not be penalized for following rules created for everyone’s safety. We are essential workers who do not get hazard pay. At the least, we need paid leave for whenever we need to stay home due to Covid, just like all workers in California should have during the pandemic. 

If you have a Covid-related absence, don’t forget to clearly note “COVID” when you file or report your absence. If your district doesn’t currently have Covid paid leave, there is a possibility that you will be reimbursed for these days at some point. 

Some districts, including Oakland and San Francisco, have successfully negotiated MOU’s to keep the additional 10 days of Covid-related paid leave. And CTA has recently asked members to call their state senators to urge an extension of Covid-19 supplemental paid sick leave for all California workers. 

But the extension of this protection won’t happen by itself, and we can’t wait for our state legislators to act. We can and must keep pushing in our locals to fight to preserve our benefits during a pandemic. And also, this is yet another situation that inspires us to imagine the power of educators across districts coming together in united action. When it comes to this issues, we are all in the same boat across the state, more or less – how much more powerful and efficacious would a statewide action of educators united to fight back at this time? 

by Stephane Barile, NHTA