SF City College: Defend Health & Safety of CCSF Students, Faculty & Staff HEAT Action

Defend The Health & Safety of CCSF Students, Faculty & Staff HEAT Action

SF City College Ocean Campus Press Conference
8/16/ 12:30 PM

Physical Distancing & Masks Required

HEAT Demands City College of SF Administration Adopt and Share COVID Safety Rules.

With increased concern over the highly infectious COVID delta variant and the August 2 re-imposition of mandatory COVID precautions, HEAT demands that the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) Administration adopt two COVID Safety Rules outlined in the attached .

HEAT, “Higher Education Action Team,” was formed two years ago to keep City College of San Francisco as a Community College and to expand educational opportunities especially for working-class and lower middle class communities and for those interested in life-long learning.

HEAT demands a vaccine mandate for CCSF, as 29 other Community Colleges have done, including Los Angeles and Sacramento. (See attached documentation at bit.ly/HEAT-COVID) On June 15, and again on July 25, CCSF Administrators said they did not intend to impose a student or employee vaccination requirement. On July 27, CCSF’s Interim Chancellor Dianna Gonzales emailed the CCSF Trustees that they would receive an update “including the possibility of a vaccine mandate” on August 26. August 26 is two weeks after classes begin, and two months late for students who could have been fully protected before classes begin. Instead, Administrators have said students and employees will require facial coverings and social distancing. But as HEAT's Madeline Mueller wrote, "Yes, CCSF is implementing mask mandates, and with monitors at every building checking masks, as the Administration has proposed, could they also check vaccination status? A reasonable vaccination mandate should be do-able. There are three Walgreens within a mile of the CCSF main campus where students quickly could get free walk-in COVID vaccinations. Or perhaps the Mayor's newly-announced vaccination team could visit CCSF sites as classes begin?"

HEAT demands safe buildings for CCSF. Details on CCSF's compliance with CDC mandates have not been released to the faculty, students or staff, including ventilation and physical plant issues which have been problematic for years, like painted-shut windows and heavily-used rooms that are frequently too cold or too hot. Few have been able to enter buildings. This lack of transparency is of significant concern since school is starting on August 14th and there is a surge in COVID cases.

HEAT is concerned that the lack of adequate COVID safety rules and clear, open discussion of safety preparations will discourage some potential students from returning to in-person classes this Fall. As HEAT's Rick Baum asked CCSF Trustees, "Would you be comfortable going home to loved ones whose health and well-being might unnecessarily be put at risk because of a failure of CCSF Administration to institute reasonable policies that minimize threats to peoples' health?"

Money should not be an issue since the college received over $50 million in COVID relief funds and has access to $845 million in facilities bond funds.

CCSF has a mask requirement, but current expert opinion is that non-vented N95s are really necessary for safety from the Delta variant. CCSF's building monitors could provide them with COVID funds.

The COVID safety controversy occurs in the context of 10 years of attacks on City College budgets and operations by the State and CCSF’s Trustees and top administration. This year the proposed elimination of over 160 full-time faculty positions (on top of the hundreds of part-time positions already cut) and reductions in many programs were averted only by substantial cuts to faculty salaries and the scheduling of over 25% fewer classes than before the pandemic.

For further information:

HEAT
https://www.ccsfheat.org
SFCityCollegeHEAT(at)gmail.com