When the state’s temporary restrictions on public gatherings led to the closure of schools, businesses and office buildings and halted many meetings and events, CSEA members, activists and staff are finding new ways to provide services to our communities.
While many of our members continue to be on the front lines providing essential services as we face the COVID-19 pandemic, our members have turned to technology and creative solutions to provide services to our communities and our members.
“Every day, our members are doing the critical work that keeps our communities running in the face of the COVID-19 crisis,” CSEA President Mary E. Sullivan said.
Keeping children learning
Lloyd
CSEA members are playing a key role in helping school districts adapt to educating children remotely.
At the Hampton Bays Public Schools, Networks and Systems Analyst Mike Lloyd and his co-workers have been working diligently to ensure that students and teachers can continue their classes.
“The Hampton Bays Technology Team and I made sure that all of the students had Chromebooks available to them,” said Lloyd. “We also made sure that the teachers had access to the services they need, along with the appropriate training to successfully complete their tasks remotely.”
Among Lloyd’s responsibilities is ensuring that all of the students’ devices are properly loaded for their classes. He also works with teachers on addressing any technical issues.
“There are many different programs that have to be set up that are specific to the subject that a particular student is learning,” said Lloyd. “My colleagues and I must ensure that all the students have access to the proper accounts and are assigned to the right roster.”
Lloyd and co-workers, including school administrators, regularly stay connected to ensure that classes are continuing.
“Our team stays connected by a variety of means,” said Lloyd. “We use text messages, email chains and video applications. The intensity of the issue determines which one we use.”
Lloyd said that a major issue facing the team is maintaining educational continuity for students that do not have access to WiFi at home. To address this, the school technology team will arrange for the purchase of a device with wireless internet, or they will research to see if public WiFi is available in the student’s neighborhood.
Technology has long been an important part of academia, but now, it is even more important, a fact that is not lost on Lloyd.
“It’s great to be able to put technology in the hands of students and recognize that they’re benefitting and learning in a more efficient manner,” said Lloyd. “It feels good to be a part of facilitating a greater education in the community and putting tools in place that makes my job more efficient, while making for a better picture overall.”
Water operations continue
Durfee
Matt Durfee, a CSEA member and chief operator at the Village of Attica Water Department, said that when many work sites went remote, he had to come up with a creative plan to keep essential water operations going for village residents.
“The first thing I did was visit the local hardware store to buy five remote wireless cameras to install at strategic locations at the work site,” said Durfee. “The cameras serve to help monitor the alarms, chlorine levels and all the other important readings that we need to check on a regular basis.”
To comply with social distancing rules, Durfee produces a rotating schedule of when he and his colleagues visit the water plant.
View from a wireless camera at the Village of Attica Water Department that helps monitor vital water readings.
“We are doing three days on and four days off at the work site location and monitoring the readings on a 24/7 basis from home,” said Durfee. “Besides not getting in each other’s personal space, it helps on the number of times we decontaminate the work site. It just makes sense to do it that way.”
Durfee is quick to admit the village administrator and other village leaders have been great partners since the start of the pandemic.
“I am very proud of the way we have handled all the change that was thrown at us,” Durfee said. “Our employer was completely supportive and understanding about how we wanted to proceed with operations, and we really value that working relationship. We all understand the significance here and we want to deliver on our promise.”
— Wendi Bowie and Ove Overmyer
