Possible Philadelphia Federation of
Teachers Strike
- (Resources & Options for Penn Faculty & Staff Whose Children
Attend Philadelphia Public Schools)
To all Penn faculty and staff:
On Monday, October 23rd, the Philadelphia Federation
of Teachers authorized a strike at the end of the school day on Friday,
October 27th unless an agreement is reached with the city. The university
has many faculty and staff with children enrolled in the Philadelphia schools.
We realize that alternate care arrangements may be needed for these children
during a school strike. Therefore, we want to remind faculty and staff of
resources and options already provided by the University to help in this
situation.
- Penn provides free dependent care (child care
through elder care) resource and referral services for faculty and staff
through the LifeBalance Program. These services can be reached online through
the Quality of Worklife website at http://www.hr.upenn.edu/quality/worklife or by calling 1-888-203-6847. At the LifeBalance online
website, you can find a tip sheet on "Finding Backup Child Care During
a School Strike". This tip sheet covers short-term solutions, how
to choose a back-up sitter, ideas for making back-up care arrangements
work, how to identify other resources in the community, and how to determine
whether or not to let your child stay home alone. Just type "strike"
in the LifeBalance webpage search tool to find this tipsheet. If you prefer
calling LifeBalance for one-on-one assistance, they are expecting your
calls.
- The University has established guidelines for
requesting flexible work arrangements. These are described in detail at
www.hr.upenn.edu/quality/worklife/flexoptions. These arrangements
must be approved by your supervisor and be respectful of the research,
education and service missions of the University.
- The University has a generous paid time off plan.
In combination with the other options mentioned above, this may support
your efforts to manage the impact of a school strike. We are encouraging
supervisors to be understanding about the short-notice and unpredictability
of this situation, however, we want to keep in mind that the business needs
of the University are primary.
- We also want to let you know that the Parent
Infant Center's After-School Program will be operating for full days during
the strike and can accommodate an additional 35 school-age children up
until 3 p.m. This program, at 4205 Spruce Street, has a long relationship
with the University. For more information, contact Katie Martin at (215)
898-3417. The Penn Children's Center cannot expand its program to accommodate
school-age children. They are filled to license capacity because they are
allowing the children graduating to kindergarten from their program to
stay on through the strike.
--Marilyn K. Kraut, Manager, Quality of Worklife
Programs,
Division of Human Resources
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