AACPS Reopening Talks Haven't Been Inclusive, Teachers Union Says

RIVA, MD — As Anne Arundel County Public Schools inches toward a coronavirus reopening plan, the teachers union wants a more powerful seat at the table. The Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County says the school system hasn't sufficiently included teachers during its ongoing reopening discussions.

Teachers union president Russell Leone claimed that he reached out to superintendent George Arlotto in June to open a line of communication. Leone wanted Arlotto to issue a formal plan to address the challenges caused by coronavirus.

The former teacher asked for a written agreement to solidify the school board's commitment to the safety of students and staff. Leone hopes the board will document its plans for providing personal protective equipment, decreasing class size and addressing poor building ventilation.

"Instead, Dr. Arlotto and the Board of Education decided it was best to address individual issues as they arose with no comprehensive plan," Leone said. "This has created an environment of anxiety and forces educators to operate in crisis mode."

Leone voiced his frustration at a Thursday afternoon press conference staged across the street from the board's Riva headquarters. He remains concerned that AACPS's communication has been too unilateral and hasty.

The union president said the board has sent "unexpected memos" and "quietly posted" updates to its website without first alerting teachers. Educators have put in "countless, extended hours" to keep up with these directives, Leone reported.

"This unpredictable trickle of information has created mistrust and confusion," Leone said.

Arlotto disagreed, asserting that teachers have been involved in the reopening plans all along. He said Leone meets with AACPS staff to discuss academic issues almost every week.

The superintendent added that teachers have served on reopening committees since schools closed in March. He further alleged that the union was invited to a meeting with Anne Arundel County health officials on Wednesday.

The union has met with the school board's director of employee relations at least a dozen times since the end of last school year, Arlotto claimed. The superintendent said he personally meets with Leone on a frequent basis.

"It is unfortunate that the leadership of the teacher’s association believes that teachers have not had a seat at the table," Arlotto said in a Thursday evening press release. "That is simply not true."

The Anne Arundel County Board of Education seconded Arlotto's response. It asserted that it has and will continue to include teachers in its reopening discussions.

The union's demand for a written agreement angered the school board, however. It said there is a formal process for handling contract disputes. The board refused to bypass that procedure with a battle in the media, it wrote in a Thursday evening response.

"Health and safety protocols are important to all of us and do not need to be negotiated," the Board of Education said. "Our school system is committed to having such measures in place when we bring students, teachers, and staff back into buildings."

The 2020-2021 school year started on Sept. 8 with online classes. Arlotto posts a video each week, updating the county on its progress toward reopening school buildings.

"We can disagree on how to handle issues, but we should not stray from the facts," Arlotto said.

Coronavirus Statistics Update

The most recent data clock Anne Arundel County's positivity rate at 3.26 percent, which is 0.69 percent higher than the statewide clip. The percent positivity has started to decline since it hit a recent spike of 4.45 percent on Sept. 7. That peak was nearly double the county's pandemic-low of 2.29 percent, which it registered on Aug. 16.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says municipalities should aim to keep their positivity rate below 5 percent. When counties hit this mark, Maryland health leaders say it is likely safe to return to schools for hybrid instruction.

Though Anne Arundel meets the positivity rate recommendation, school officials still started the fall semester with online classes. AACPS previously committed to distance learning for the first two marking periods.

The state has challenged AACPS's decision over the past month. Hogan recently urged schools to start considering a hybrid model. AACPS responded by reaffirming its immediate commitment to remote learning while also speeding up its plans for eventual hybrid classes.

As of now, school is online until at least the start of the third marking period, which begins on Feb. 2, 2021. Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman hopes to implement a hybrid strategy before then, however.

"My goal first and foremost in all of this is to save lives," Pittman said at the town hall on Sept. 15. "We’re still at-risk and we still have people that are likely to die from this. We want to save as many lives as we can."

Anne Arundel County has been under the 5 percent benchmark since June 22. The local positivity rate topped out at 28.24 percent on April 16.

While the jurisdiction meets the percent positive guideline, it does not meet the state's new infections-per-capita marker. State health officials say municipalities should aim for less than five new coronavirus cases-per-day per 100,000 people. When an area hits this case rate goal, the state says it is probably safe to reopen the district's schools for expanded in-person learning.

Anne Arundel County's case rate has aligned with Maryland's trends until the last week. It hit an initial peak of 13.84 on June 3 before receding to its minimum of 3.53 by June 26.

A second surge spiked Anne Arundel's case rate to its overall peak of 14.26 on Aug. 2. Infections quelled by Aug. 20, dropping the case rate to 6.93.

After a brief downturn, a third wave accelerated the county's infections once more. The case rate hiked to 12.78 by last Friday. By Wednesday, the case rate fell to 8.9, which is nearly double the requirement to return to expanded in-person instruction.

The county must average less than 28.96 new coronavirus infections-per-day over a rolling week to meet the state's per-capita suggestion. Anne Arundel County has averaged 51.29 new cases-per-day during the last seven days.

Anne Arundel County has the fifth most coronavirus infections in the state, with 9,812. The virus has killed 234 county residents.

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations have seen an uptick recently. The virus had 22 Anne Arundel County residents in the hospital on Aug. 26. That was the lowest since April 3 when 21 locals were hospitalized. Tuesday saw 32 hospitalizations.

Fewer than 50 coronavirus patients have been in the hospital at a time since June 14. The county's recent high of 49 hospitalizations came on July 24. More than 170 people were hospitalized in Anne Arundel County on the pandemic's April 21 peak.

"We’re all a little bit weary of this pandemic," Pittman said. "We all just wish it would go away."

RELATED:

• Anne Arundel Teases Hybrid School Plan At Coronavirus Town Hall
• Schools, Jobs: How Staying In Stage 2 Affects Anne Arundel County
• Movie Theaters, Concert venues Can Reopen: Hogan's Plan Explained
• ACCPS Works Toward Hybrid System; Here Are The Remaining Kinks
• AACPS Acts 'Aggressively But Prudently,' Remains Online This Fall
• Maryland Schools May Begin Safely Reopening: Governor Hogan

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