Several people have expressed concern about this letter from the STPSB to BESE regarding the mask mandate. Here are a few things to consider:

[TL;DR—The STPSB does not have the power to lift the mask mandate. It would take a court ruling for BESE to overrule the governor. In my view, that is unlikely.]

1. On Thursday, June 10, the STPSB voted to adopt a voluntary mask policy for the 2021-2022 school year with 11 Yeas, 0 Nays, and 1 abstaining.

2. On July 28, the union put out an online survey after the district released its back-to-school COVID protocols. Of the 258 employees who took the survey

Dear St. Tammany Parish Teachers and School Employees,

It’s the first day of school for the 2021-2022 school year!  We want to first thank you for doing the work that you do.  It takes an army of very special people to ensure that our students have the best education possible while maintaining a safe environment.  Therefore, we want to make sure you know that the hours of time you put into this system do not go unnoticed, and that you are valued and appreciated each and every day.

Next, we want you to know that we have been listening to your questions, comments, concerns, and suggestions.  Our

Please use this form to let us know if you run out of sick days due to quarantining or isolating. This will allow us to collect data to approach the issue of adding COVID days.

Dear STPSB Employees:

Today I met with Mr. Pete Jabbia and Mr. Cosse to discuss matters of immediate concern. Our first topic was building reps, who will be a vital part of our union this year as well as moving forward. Given that so many directives are left to individual schools to work out, our building reps will have the job of negotiating with administrators directly in order to service the contract and troubleshoot problems. We are in the process of getting out training materials and will post the list on our website. Each school will also have a union bulletin board that will be updated

Click here to see the meeting dates of the STPSB for 2021-2022 school year.  It was updated on 12/31/2021.