Washington District Education Association

On July 9, the WESD school board voted 3-2 to accept the district's plan for a virtual reopening on August 10 with an option of either virtual or in person classes beginning on August 17.   The two nay votes; against the district plan as is were School Board Members: Nikkie Whaley and Larry Herrera.  The School Board Members that voted to pass the plan were Tee Lambert, Bill Adams and Aarron Jahneke.  Nikkie Whaley made a proposed motion for the district to go online until Labor Day which did not receive a seconded needed to move on to a board member vote.  This was very disappointing! The board meeting went well into the late night ending around midnight with the approval of the plan.  There were close to 400 questions that were asked from teachers, parents, and community members.  At one point there were over 600 people watching the live feed of the meeting.  WESD Task Force committees will be following up with the questions that were asked duri...

AEA Vice President Marisol Garcia, AEA President Joe Thomas and WDEA President Sarah Bennett NOW ONWARD TO NOVEMBER Keep the conversations going because in 122 days voters will #vote to put this ongoing sustainable funding into action.   So many thanks are due to all who signed, stood holding a sign, sent texts, emailed, shared on social media and volunteered.  What a successful grassroots effort during a pandemic no less...IMPRESSIVE!  

Governor Ducey declared the in-person delay of Arizona schools on June 29th.  This declaration and the most recent release of the AZ Cares Act prompted AEA President Thomas to send a letter to Superintendent Kathy Hoffman concerning the budget challenges districts will face heading into the new school year.  Most specifically is the statements made by Ducey at the press conference about teacher pay, as well as, suggestions on the use of ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funding under the AZ Cares Act.   Some Arizona school districts have issued plans already while Washington Elementary School District is planning on releasing information at the Governing Board Meeting on July 9.  Click HERE next Thursday to read the agenda and watch the meeting live.