SEATTLE — Back to class! All Seattle Public Schools employees are being asked to return to the office five days a week this summer.
The official announcement came out Sunday in Superintendent Ben Shuldiner’s weekly newsletter.
“Nothing will ever replace being together, working together, organically meeting and talking, finding those five minutes to chat about a project you are working on, or a student assignment, or a great lesson plan idea you have,” the superintendent wrote. He went on to note that teachers have been back in the building for years now and he believes it is time that other administrators join them.
“For us to be a team, we all need to present. And when we are able, we should be in schools, supporting what is happening. I appreciate that we were able to afford hundreds of staff members the opportunity to work remote and continued to do so years after we started, but for the good of the organization it is time for all of us to come back to work, face-to-face.”
According to the Seattle Times, about 330 employees currently work in a hybrid or fully remote capacity. The list includes staff responsible for curriculum development and implementation, managers of staffing and labor relations who support schools and staff with workforce matters, and communication and customer service specialists who interact regularly with families, community members, and the public.
“I appreciate that this will impact many people,” Shuldiner said in his letter. “It will create a commute. It will adjust childcare. And yes, you might have to smell Lisa from accounting’s lunch in the staff break room. But there is a reason why we worked in person, and that remote work was temporary.”
The superintendent noted that medical and legal accommodations will be respected and supported.
The deadline to return to the office full-time is July 1.
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