Teachers look forward to working from home Monday

Though they haven’t received raises in four years, Suffolk Public Schools teachers are getting a small perk this Monday that most others can only dream of getting.

The school division is allowing its teachers to work from home on Monday, which is designated as a teacher clerical day to complete end-of-semester tasks.

“The idea is to allow teachers some flexibility as to where they complete necessary work at the conclusion of the semester,” Superintendent Deran Whitney wrote in an emailed response to questions this week. “The expectation is to still complete necessary tasks by using our online gradebook and many other online resources.”

Whitney said the decision is “a small way of thanking and supporting our teachers.” The personnel still have the option of working at school if they choose.

This is the first time a work-from-home clerical day has been offered, Whitney said. It is available to all employees on the teacher scale, which includes not only classroom teachers but also such positions as guidance counselors and librarians.

“Other school divisions provide this option as a way to offer teachers an additional perk, particularly in a time when they’ve received no pay increase for four years and gas prices are still high,” Suffolk Public Schools spokeswoman Bethanne Bradshaw said.

“It has become commonplace in the corporate world, since the Internet and web applications have perfected the technical capacity to do the same work from any location.”

Had Whitney not decided to allow the teachers to work from home, they would have been required to be at school at least from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

In the memo announcing the decision, Whitney said the “virtual workday” could occur again if productivity does not decrease this time.