Recent editorials from Mississippi newspapers:
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Aug. 25
The Commercial Dispatch on school bus drivers in Mississippi who recently walked off the job:
For many reasons, most of them beyond our control, this school year promises to be a stressful one. The COVID-19 pandemic casts a frightful shadow of leaning. That’s true from top to bottom - students, parents, teachers, staff and administration.
Good faith efforts are being made to minimize the impact of the virus on both education and health, but even the best plans cannot account for all of the possible disruptions.
Yet for students and parents in the Columbus Municipal School Districts who rely on the district’s transportation system, a new stress emerged Monday, one that better communication would likely have resolved.
Monday afternoon, the majority of the district’s bus drivers walked off the job, leaving school administrators and parents scrambling to make sure children reached home safely Monday afternoon.
Drivers are expected to be at their designated schools for pick-up by 1:45 p.m. Yet on Monday, only 10 of 46 drivers had left for their routes as of 2 p.m.
Parents were notified of the walk-out by text and were forced to make immediate plans for returning their children home Monday.
CMSD superintendent Cheri Labat said arrangements for Tuesday pick-ups had been made.
The dispute emerged when drivers were notified they would not be paid for a five-day, six-hour-per day work week. Because the schools are not open on Wednesday, no bus routes are needed that day. Likewise, the work day was shortened to 4 ½ hours from 6 hours, again due to changes in the schools’ schedules, the district says. With 40 percent of the students attending virtual classes only and the other 60 percent attending classes on campus just two days a week, fewer students are riding the buses. As a result, routes are shorter, which accounts for the shorter work day, the district says.
Bus drivers who thought they would be paid for 30 hours a week are now being paid for 18 hours. That’s a 40 percent cut in pay; we can understand why drivers object.
The district maintains that, by law, it cannot pay hourly employees for hours not worked. That’s a valid point.
Where we fault the district is that it apparently failed to communicate that clearly to the bus drivers before the school year started. It wasn’t until a Monday morning meeting that bus drivers were told of the reduced hours, just days before the first monthly pay period is to end.
How the bus drivers would be paid should have been communicated before the first route was driven on Aug. 6.
While we understand the drivers’ frustration, we do not agree with their tactics. The decision to abruptly walk off the job put children and parents in a stressful situation.
It would have been far better to continue their routes Monday and Tuesday and use Wednesday, when no routes are being driven, to make their cases to the district. The bus drivers would have lost no leverage in doing that and no students or parents would have been left scrambling to make their own arrangements.
Because state law requires bus drivers to hold a Class B Commercial Driver’s License, there is no quick fix. Drivers are in short supply. If the district’s transportation system is to work, the best available option is to talk with drivers to see if the situation can be amicably resolved.
It seems to us a breakdown in communication created the problem. Better communication may solve it.
Online: https://www.cdispatch.com
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Aug. 23
The Daily Journal on coronavirus testing for teachers in Mississippi:
As school districts across the country and right here in Mississippi have reopened for classes, they have predictably become sites of COVID-19 transmission and even outbreaks. Identifying, controlling and limiting the presence of the novel coronavirus in our educational institutions is therefore of the most pressing need as we head into an uncertain fall.
We are therefore encouraged by the recent action of state government to ensure proactive testing of teachers. Early last week, Dr. Thomas Dobbs, who heads the State Health Department, announced that free COVID-19 testing will be widely available for teachers, even without any symptoms or known exposure to the virus.
Beginning this week, the Health Department will begin to operate mobile testing sites throughout the state for any K-12 teacher, staff member or administrator. In Northeast Mississippi, free testing for educators and school staff will be available at the following county health department offices on the days listed:
• On Monday, Alcorn and Chickasaw counties
• On Tuesday, Pontotoc County
• On Wednesday, Lafayette County
• On Thursday, Marshall and Oktibbeha counties
• On Friday, in Union County
No appointment is necessary for educators using these testing sites.
These measures are important. Aggressive action is needed to ensure that educational settings don’t turn into super spreader sites, and proactive steps must be part of the broader strategy. Transmission of COVID-19 by individuals who don’t feel sick or show any symptoms continues to be a significant problem. Because of this, testing and quarantining individuals known to be sick will always be an incomplete and insufficient strategy. In a school setting, one or two individuals who are sick with the virus but don’t know it could widely spread the disease, especially if social distancing is not rigorously observed.
Proactive testing is one way to stem this problem. We therefore encourage teachers and other school workers to take advantage of this opportunity. The sooner we find and quarantine infectious individuals, the more effective our mitigation efforts.
The Health Department should be commended for these first steps to make certain that educators can be easily tested, and we hope such testing will be widely and frequently available throughout the state.
Online: https://www.djournal.com/
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Aug. 21
The Vicksburg Post on an event scheduled to be held in Mississippi:
At a time when so many events that had usually filled Vicksburg’s social calendar continue to be canceled due to concerns with the COVID-19 virus, it was refreshing this week to hear organizers with Ritz on the River say the event will go on.
The annual event hosted by the Vicksburg Convention Center is sponsored by Mutual Credit Union and goes to support a local charity each year. It also, in the past, has served as a showcase to event organizers and state tourism officials what the Vicksburg Convention Center is capable of producing.
This year, though, in working under strict guidelines and social distancing measures - including an ongoing city and state-ordered mask mandate - the event will be different, but no less important. Not only will the money raised through sponsorships and ticket sales go to support this year’s charity, Good Shepherd Community Center, but it will give the community a shot in the arm, something to look forward to rather than another cancellation.
During the midst of the summer heat and still sluggish reopening, the city of Vicksburg moved ahead with plans for its annual Fourth of July fireworks show.
The show was spectacular, as was a literal and figurative breath of fresh air everyone felt by actually attending something, getting out and gathering - carefully of course.
As the Vicksburg Convention Center staff has said, Ritz on the River will give everyone a chance to party with “proper protocol,” but a chance nonetheless.
The annual event - which this year marks its seventh anniversary - has become one of the highlights of the year for Vicksburg, attracting hundreds and making tickets tremendously difficult to get. This year, though, the tickets will be even harder to acquire, but that’s fine.
Even if the crowd inside the building will be smaller, everyone will be celebrating an event like this was even held.
Online: https://www.vicksburgpost.com
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