To Broward County School Board and Superintendent:
The upcoming required distribution of Laptops at our schools has caused most if not all of our Principals
and Assistant Principals to voice their concerns to our organization and is frankly very upsetting and
concerning to many staff people in our schools as well.
In all my history as the Executive Director of the Broward Principals and Assistants Association, I have
never received so many concerns from Principals and Assistant Principals who believe that the Districts'
care and concern for their personal and physical well-being is not being properly considered and
appreciated. I am being told that there are a number who are considering accepting discipline of
insubordination in order to stay safe and protect their own families. The Communication and
discussions with the Principals and Assistant Principals has been haphazard and disjointed causing
confusion and unnecessary concern during this global crisis. That is not the fault of OSPA as OSPA is also
seemingly at the whims of District decisions that are not well thought out and frankly jeopardize the
very lives of our employees and the public. This is not hyperbole. This crisis is real and while Principals
and Assistant Principals have always held the needs of our students above all else, these needs are not
above their health and very lives, and the lives of their families.
This decision is being forced upon a working group of people who now have to decide whether to
gamble with their lives or keep their jobs. This is unacceptable and disappointing to say the least. There
is simply no way to say this, other than to inform you that your school leaders are afraid, feeling forced
to make untenable decisions, and totally unsupported. I strongly recommend that the District revisit
this decision and until such time as a process can be put in place which protects both our employees and
the public, that District Staff focus on the means and methods to get that done.
I believe I need to remind the District that Assistant Principals are on a 216 calendar. It is illegal to force
a contract employee to work beyond their annual calendar. Assistant Principals are being told to report
to work on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of their spring break when they are off calendar with no
indication as to how that time will be made up so that they actually work a 216 calendar. So in addition
we are now violating labor laws or will unless this is remedied with a clear solution that is actually
articulated to these employees prior to them being forced to work off calendar.
There needs to be a process so that employees are allowed to exempt out of being forced to work. The
CDC and Federal and State Government all have indicated that persons who are over 65, or who have
underlying health issues or are caring for family members who are ill should be completely isolated for
the time being. Employees in these circumstances must be offered the ability to opt out of required
work. Make no mistake, if any employee is disciplined because they chose to follow the governments
own recommendations to protect themselves and their families, BPAA will fully and vigorously support
and defend them in court.
Schools are reporting multiple incidents of members of their staff refusing to return for a second
distribution. Principals will need District Staff to be ready and available to substitute at all school sites
and I think it should start with the Full Cabinet.
While there has been some discussion of providing gloves and masks and gowns to these distribution
sites for employees, there has been little mobilization to ensure that they all have them - GET THIS
HANDLED! Please stop asking the school principals to return to their schools to count how many they

 have. This is absurd. Simply indicate who is the point person for Principals to ask for these supplies and
have them immediately delivered.
People are terrified and little communication and support has been provided to the Schools outside of
doing everything Dr. Wanza can possibly do, however, there are many other departments in this district
which have failed miserably to provide support in this critical time.
If this ill advised, ill conceived initiative is to go forward , then we have the following recommendations:
1) Principals want to control their own sites. The idea of centralizing distribution at Middle Schools and
High Schools is not workable and at a minimum Principals and employees feel more comfortable
working at their own sites where they have more control so please reconsider the grouping of
distribution as we believe this will create mass chaos.
2) Allow each school to establish their own procedures however, each site will need at least one SRO
and one campus monitor to manage the process of verifying parent identities and managing the social
distancing requirements.
3) Masks, Gloves and Gowns should be delivered to each and every site by the District
4) Allow each school to communicate with their own parents and establish a point person of contact at
the school. Parents should be sent a message by each school telling them about laptop availability and
they should be required to indicate to the point person that they want a laptop in advance. This allows
the schools to prepare and perhaps set up appointment times if necessary. The ability for parents to
request a laptop should have a firm deadline cutoff of Friday at 12pm. Otherwise there is simply not
enough time to prepare the equipment and property and inventory systems. If this is not established
there will be a free for all and we can't allow that to occur.
5) A micro tech or some tech person needs to be at each site to ensure the laptops are working
6) There should be no further medication pickup
7) The District needs to make this the last time there is a distribution of laptops until there is an
indication that the virus is receding. Principals can work remotely with parents on technology solutions
in the interim. We simply can't continue to expose people like this.
8) We will need custodial staff on Saturday to clean and disinfect the school both during and once the
distribution is complete.
9) Tech support for parents must be done over the phone on Monday and Tuesday and not in person.
We can't have parents traipsing back to schools trying to get assistance. This needs to be clearly
communicated and a call in number needs to be established.
10) Level Chairs need to be included in all decision making and discussions regarding impacts upon our
schools and school based personnel. Their input is invaluable and can save time and resources by
stopping ill conceived ideas and decisions at the start.

 11) Allow Principals to give parents actual appointment times so that the flow of people on campus can
be controlled and exposure limited. If you won't agree to appointment times then at a minimum allow
the schools to use a standard, generic student sign on so that the computers can be prepped in advance.
12) There is no clarity as to whether or not Principals and other staff will be paid to come in off of spring
break and work beyond their calendar days. People should be clearly informed if and when they will be
paid for this extra time.

I hope in the future that when these emergencies happen, we will be better prepared to protect our
staff and their families. We need to do a better job right now to ensure that we do that as well.
Lisa Maxwell
Executive Director
BPAA