The Pierce College Council (PCC) on Oct. 21 explored ways to pay for new expenses brought by teaching from home.
Math Department Chair Eddie Tchertchian wanted to talk about the additional money that could be used through Proposition 20, passed in 2000, which allocates state lottery funds for educational materials for public schools.
“It’s really the entire Pierce community that is working remotely,” Tchertchian said. “A lot of us are having a hard time with equipment, with connections, with bandwidth, with all kinds of technology.”
Modern languages professor Fernando Oleas explained that these funds could only be used for faculty to be able to work better remotely.
Oleas said that there are tools that he uses in his classroom that help him teach remotely.
Brian Walsh also wanted to talk about the obligations of Pierce’s administration in regard to Proposition 20.
Walsh said according to the faculty guild Article 9 B1-4, the district is obligated to provide faculty with a chair, plexiglas, desk, computer and internet connection.
“These are things that are not up for discussion in shared governance,” Walsh said. “This is not a democratic issue, this is just a legal issue in terms of the contract, and we have Article 28 to address that.”
He also explained that LACCD hasn’t found a proper way to take in these requests and reimbursements from the college.
“We do have to find resources to really make us all successful,” Walsh said. “Faculty of course, but everybody needs to have the tools at their now-home office to successfully serve students and to carry out the college’s mission.”
