Welcome Back!

Welcome Back!

I want to take this opportunity to welcome everyone back to the first official week of school. We appreciate everyone stepping up and doing their part to familiarize their students with the new safety routines, while also supporting them with their academic and emotional needs.
We will continue to keep the membership informed of any important changes or announcements as they are revealed to us. I hope you find some time for yourself this weekend to relax and unwind.

Sincerest regards,
Colleen
President
EAA

Rosh HaShana is the Jewish New Year

Rosh HaShana is the Jewish New Year and it begins tonight (Sept 18)! It is celebrated for two nights and days everywhere, except in Israel (just one night and day). Jewish holidays are riddled with tons of traditions, rituals, foods, and customs. During this time, we eat apples dipped in honey, we make our challahs into round loaves, and enjoy large dinners with our family and friends. We go to synagogue to pray, worship, and hear the shofar. A shofar is an ancient instrument that when sounded is supposed to awaken each of us. Rosh HaShana is the first of the two High Holidays that is followed by a period called the Days of Awe, and ends with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This year, due to the pandemic, our celebrations will be vastly different, yet still beautiful. I would like to wish everyone a beautiful, joyful, and sweet New Year!

שנה טובה ומתוקה
(Shanah tovah um’tukah)
May you have a good and sweet New Year!

Lisa Cornish
EA Representative

*Important*

If you are considering taking a leave from your position we strongly suggest you reach out to the office before submitting the paperwork. There are several types of leaves and we want to ensure you have all of the information available.
vicepresident@wrdsbeaa.com
president@wrdsbeaa.com

ATTENTION:

Perm and Term Employees who worked in excess of their normal working hours on September 1, 2020 in order to complete their mandatory COVID-19 training. Please click on the link to get to the document you need to fill out in order to be compensated for those additional hours.

Please Note: This document is not to be filled out by Supply Members as Supply Members had a separate form to fill out. This document is not to be filled out by those Perm and Term Members that have already filled out the document provided for hours worked above regular working hours due to the BMS Training.

The deadline for this to be remitted is Thursday, September 24, 2020 @ 4:00 pm. The target payment date for this is October 9, 2020.

For anyone who has been on Short Term Disability leave for more than three weeks and is unsure when they will be well enough to return to work, reach out to Lisa Weiler Haskins lisa_weilerhaskins@wrdsb.ca to discuss your options and possible LTD.

Health and Safety Update

I just wanted to share a couple of Health and Safety items with you as we get into this atypical school year.

If you have any safety concerns the very first step to take is to talk to your Administrators. Many of the concerns that we have are around new protocols. We are all learning how to manage these situations for the first time. Talking things over with your Admin will give everyone a chance to look at the situations and come up with solutions together.

There have been a few of you who have reached out with concerns around the face shields you have been supplied. I wanted to let you all know that the Health and Safety department is looking into ordering safety glasses/ goggles for our members. We get all of our PPE from the Ministry of Education supply depot. This means that different brands of shields, masks and gloves will end up at schools. These brands are interchangeable and you may see staff using PPE that looks different to yours.

The Covid-19 Health, Safety and Wellness Handbook is a live document that is continually being updated. Please check back if you have a concern, the answer may be in there.

If you have a concern and cannot get an answer please feel free to reach out to the Association and we will help you out. If your concern is a Health & Safety matter please email me at lwilsoneea@gmail.com

Stay Safe,

Lynn Wilson
Health & Safety Officer

Access wrdsb e-base here using your board email and PAL password.

On the e-base website you will find:
Employee/Incident Accident Form
Safe School Reporting Form
COVID Reporting Forms

Wednesday, September 30, 2020 WRDSB will acknowledge Orange Shirt Day
Please tag images of how you are honouring Orange Shirt Day by mentioning @wrdsb and @wrdsbeaa on Twitter or @wr_dsb and eaa_of_wrdsb on Instagram and using the hashtag #IndigenousWRDSB.

To find out more visit: