Unapproved Minutes
Torrington Education Association Meeting Minutes: Sept. 8, 2015
Vogel-Wetmore Teachers’ Lounge
Attendance:
President: Mary Svetz-Juliano (VW), Secretary: Will Siss (TMS), Treasurer: Susan Fritch, Insurance: Maggie McGillicuddy (THS), Membership: Heidi Wilson (TMS), Social: Jill Ciccarelli (SW)
Representatives- East: Julie Pagano, Forbes: Linda Podos, Melissa Kain, THS: Chris DelBene, Mark Mouton, TMS: Veronica Gelormino, Tom Ethier, Patricia Dawson, Carrie Phillips (VP), Southwest: -Chantel Tarbox, Michael McCutter, Torringford: Claudia Reardon, Kate Reinert, Stacey Deloy; VW: Michelle Brunetti, Liza Rosa (VP), Cameron Pruchnicki, Lynn Laigatis (sp?)
Others – Hilary Sterling (TMS)
1. Call to order at 4:03 pm.
2. Secretary’s report. Motion to accept the minutes: Kain/Rosa. Vote: Unan.
3. Treasurer’s report:
Fritch passed out a “proposed budget.” She amended some lines based on new information. We have $2,000 in our money market account and $737.89 in checking.
Representatives discussed “Proposed Union Dues 2015-16.” We reduced our dues by $2 last year to offset an NEA increase. We also had money left over. On the sheet, Fritch explained why we were able to keep the dues even. For example, we did not spend money on arbitration. She discussed the TMTFCU accounts and the savings we have there.
Fritch said that she could give every member a gift certificate of $10, with a note explaining what it is for and how the TEA has saved them some money. Svetz-Juliano said that the TEA can decide on what to do. Motion: Wilson/Fritch to give a $10 gift card to membership. Vote: Unan. Next, we discussed how we decide which gift certificates to get. We decided on Target. Fritch said that she will get the gift cards.
We also discussed the “Expenses 2014-15.” Fritch focused on places where we did not spend as much as budgeted.
Motion to accept the minutes: Reinart/Ciccaelli. Vote: Unan.
4. Building concerns
Svetz-Juliano noted that there was a building form that representatives should fill out in advance of future meetings.
Elementary:
East – A representative wanted to know whether teachers can get paid for lunch duty.
Forbes – None.
Southwest – None.
Torringford – 1. There was a question about when teachers were contractually obligated to stay at school. Some buses leave late, which seems to extend the work day. Svetz-Juliano said that a teacher’s day ends when your professional obligations end, and oftentimes that means when the kids are on the bus (on time or late). 2. There was a concern that there might be professional development days put in at the end of the year. Svetz-Juliano said that administrators could decide to do that.
Vogel-Wetmore – 1. There was a concern that if there was summer school that it might be inequitable as to who can sign up for it. 2. Rosa asked elementary teachers to send her their lunch and recess duties (including lunch monitors) to her personal email. She said there seems to be discrepancies. She wanted to know what the monitors were responsible for. She wanted to know if they’ve been trained.
TMS: 1. It appears that the long-term sub situation has been taken care of, but that person still hasn’t come in. The representative still doesn’t know why it was never posted until the day before school started. 2. We still don’t have the coordinator positions for the middle school and the departments are not being run by anyone; former coordinators are saying that they will not lead it until they are hired. 3. Another concern is that almost all of our Chromebooks and laptops have been removed so that other schools can use them for MAPS testing. This makes it difficult for teachers to teach or follow curriculum and administrators are not communicating with teachers. Representatives have shared their concerns with administrators. 4. A teacher taking professional development to East Hartford wants to know if she can be reimbursed for mileage. The teacher was told that the mileage could not be approved because there was no mileage in the budget. Svetz-Juliano said that if the school is making her go, it should be reimbursable (as outlined in Article 18 of the contract). 5. There was an issue for a teacher at the school regarding recertification.
THS: 1. There is a teacher who is getting pressured by guidance counselors to grade papers from summer school work from Migeon Academy. The representative’s suggestion was that the tutor should be grading it. That issue is pending. We need to find out if the Migeon Academy is recognized as its own school with the state, a representative said. 2. Svetz-Juliano said that she is looking for a proposal written for an increased band stipend for the high school, then the stipend will be put before the school board. 3. There is a concern that a teacher who is retired has held onto a position that was not open to the public; a full-time teacher would like the .4 position. Svetz-Juliano thinks that that position will not be made available next year. Svetz-Juliano said that she will talk to a CEA attorney about the issue.
5. Committee reports:
Membership – 1. Wilson said that we are not getting communication from district administrators about new teachers. She said that we also never received an email about when positions are opened. 2. Wilson said that she will give new membership cards to representatives who can pass them off to teachers at their schools.
Social
- A retirement party is set for May 19 at the Cornucopia. We handed out 23 flowers to new teachers.
PR&R – None
Insurance – 1. McGillicuddy requested that all questions should continue to filter through her, and that we should.
Webmaster – 1. She is looking for an update of personal emails. 2. There was a request to put the treasurer’s report on site. Fritch said that she will ask treasurers of other districts to see what they do.
6. 10-minute meeting
a. Points – 1. T-shirt order forms can be handed out at the meeting. 3. Remind teachers to check paystubs; for example, a teacher had insurance taken out when they did not sign up for it. 4. Talk to people about helping out the organizing committee and attending monthly meetings.
b. Set schedule for website calendar – Representatives can send Ashlee Casko an email about when the 10-minute meetings are and she can get it on the calendar.
7. Old business
1. There has been no PDEC agreements, so teachers should not be being evaluated yet. 2. Svetz-Juliano passed out copies of sheets for one-on-one conversations to have with all teachers. The goal of the organizing committee was to have a short conversations about these questions with members within a few weeks of the start of school.
8. New business
1. Fourth Monday of every month will be the new schedule for superintendent meetings. Sept. 28 will be the first meeting. 2. There are two proposals going forward, regarding pay structure for positions within the TEA. The one significant change since August was that there would be certain positions (insurance and negotiations) would be paid less on “off years.” 3. Another proposal put forward would be to cut down on the number of vice presidents, which would allow for room for new positions. 4. Svetz-Juliano proposed the establishment of an organizing chair positions and a PDEC chair. 5. There was a suggestion to start a fund-raiser by selling gift cards to teachers. People said that they would like to do it before Christmas.
9. Adjournment – Motion to adjourn (Wilson/Phillips) 5:45 PM