Education boss sorry for accusing teachers of spreading Covid
Glasgow's director of education has apologised to teachers for any distress caused after accusing them of failing to social distance and spreading coronavirus among schools.
A letter issued by Maureen McKenna last week said that a “ridiculous number of teachers and support staff” were being sent home to self-isolate with staff rooms and meetings at the centre of the adult-to-adult spread of the virus.
Ms McKenna has been criticised by teaching union EIS who said the tone of the letter did little to display concern for staff who are working hard to deliver education during these trying times.
Susan Quinn, secretary of Glasgow EIS Local Association, said: “Following a number of concerns raised by members, Glasgow EIS Local Association contacted the director of education regarding the content and tone of last week’s communication to schools.
“There was an open and honest discussion, with agreement reached on the importance of maintaining positive working relationships within Glasgow Council.
“It is essential that teachers are able to raise concerns at school level, where they feel that sufficient safeguards are not in place in line with the risk assessment process.
“Protecting the health and wellbeing of pupils, staff and the wider community remains a top priority for the EIS, and we will continue to work constructively with Glasgow City Council to ensure that appropriate steps are taken to make our schools safe places to learn and to work.”
Ms McKenna wrote to the EIS apologising for any distress the email caused.
A City Council spokeswoman said: “Our executive director of education never has an issue with saying sorry – the apology was for any distress caused – it was not an apology for the content.
“We value the trusted partnership that the council has with the EIS and it was agreed that the apology for any distress caused was shared with union reps to illustrate the open and transparent relationship.
“The email in question was sent at the end of a very challenging week which saw a number of examples where school staff were having to self-isolate because they had not followed national guidance on physical distancing with their colleagues.
“In these cases, few, if any pupils needed to self-isolate so the staff absences impacted directly on our children’s learning.
“This exasperation is evident in the tone of the email and that’s what Maureen’s apologised to the EIS for.
“We will do everything in our power to minimise any further disruption to our children and young people’s education and by all working together and following the current advice and guidance, we will achieve this.”
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