After having spoken with the Minister and both Deputies of Education and Early Childhood Development yesterday regarding the numerous concerns that have been brought forth by members about the “Year-End Family Survey”, I am sorry to say that they have not yet indicated a willingness to delay the survey nor have they provided any alternative as to how the data can be collected.
The Minister of Education had indicated that this week would be used by members for professional learning, report cards, graduation ceremonies, preparation of course work for fall, getting your classroom ready for summer cleaning, and all other tasks associated with the end of the school year. The completion of this survey is another task that has been assigned to you by your employer. Simply ignoring it is not an option, and could result in disciplinary actions.
While the NBTF is not in a position to advise you not to complete the survey, we can provide the parameters around how this work is to be done:
- Members are not required to work over the weekends or during the evenings,
- Members are not required to use their own phone or cellular plans to call parents, and
- Any work requested of members after June 23, 2020, is voluntary.
I understand that the request for data from parents creates a significant increase in the workload of teachers and school administrators. I am confident that members will try their best to complete what is being asked of them, but as you are aware there are only so many hours during the day. Should you be unable to complete this survey or other work by June 23, 2020, I would encourage you to speak to your supervisor as to know how they would like to see the work prioritized.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the NBTF representative for your district or by calling 1-888-679-7044.
Sincerely,
Kerry L Leopkey
NBTF Executive Director