8/29/22
Dear Members,
Like so many of you, I still wake up on the first day back to school with excitement and anticipation--and today was no different! I was delighted to join two fantastic celebrations of the return to school; Councilmember Helen Gym and I joined staff, students, parents, and community partners to kick the day off at Dobbins CTE and Duckrey Elementary. The enthusiasm was contagious.
I hope you'll take a moment to watch this quick video of the morning.
In it, you'll hear from Councilmember Gym and me about the year ahead, and you will also hear really great remarks from Dobbins Building Rep teacher Harris Daniels and Duckrey teacher Kireema Sprowal.
As always, I was so moved to see and feel the sense of community at both schools. Students and educators were eager to meet one another, and just like I saw last week at Olney & Stetson, the sense of pride in the community that each school has built was so powerful.
Across the city, I saw and heard similar stories--even despite the heat. As you heard in the video, Dobbins has a fully air conditioned building for the first time--and I feel like that is so emblematic of the work we are doing. We are making gains, but we are not where we need to be--yet. I want to reiterate to you: we cannot and will not rest until every school community has what they need to thrive. And YES, that means air conditioning for every building.
While that doesn't make today's heat any easier to endure, I also want to reiterate that my team has been in frequent contact with District officials, making countless reports to the command center that is addressing heat emergencies. District officials informed us that they were monitoring each building with frequent checks by the building engineers. This evening, the district announced early dismissal on Tuesday and Wednesday for 100 schools. Find out more and read the list of schools here.
I am so impressed by your tireless commitment, by the joy you exude each day, and by the loving support you provide every day for our young people.
And lastly, but not least, a reminder that you can view your payscale at pft.org/payscales. The 3.25% increase to salary schedules is now visible in your payroll portal and reflected in the 9/2 paycheck.
In Solidarity and Always Grateful,
Jerry