CONTENTS
Minutes
A discussion of how people are handling the new masking policies.
secretary and treasurer reports
The Committee of Delegates approves two reports.
A discussion of where delegates are needed and how new delegates can learn the ropes.
Plans for the social at Look Park on June 9.
communication around grievances
Discussions about whom to contact when navigating grievances or disciplinary meetings as a building delegate.
The formation of a committee to spruce up next year’s NASE Annual Meeting.
Discussions on whether to continue to have a Zoom option for negotiations meetings, on action networks, and on NASE sweatshirts.
In Attendance
Andrea Egitto, Heather Brown, Sharon Carlson, Carl Mead, Sara Churchill-Winsor, Karen Schiaffo, Kate Fontaine, Paula Rigano-Murray, Erica Lamanna, Cyndie Ouimette, Maria Vega, Alex Peterson, Kristen Picard, Michael Stavely-Hale, Vanessa Coates-Cooney, Kira Henninger, Jeromie Whalen, Jonah Dratfield, Sara Simmons, Eva Rocheleau, Sandra Bombard, Tammy Cook, Brian Bagdon
Minutes
Note: Remarks attributed to meeting participants are approximations, not quotations.
Andrea calls the meeting to order at 4:08pm.
FIRST TOPIC: masking policies
Andrea:
Who has new business? Heather you had a few things?
Heather:
Just a check-in on the scholarship funds.
And a check-in with Kira about the end-of-year party.
Kira:
Yes, but Karen was first.
Karen:
How are the masks going?
Erica L:
There was a staff person who did not want to mask. The principal called them in and they were sent home until the mask mandate is listed.
Karen:
There is a new form for students (and staff) to fill out for an accommodation under the mask mandate. They should bring it to the attention of the building nurse and principal. That will communicate that the student in question will not need to wear a mask.
Tammy:
We had communication from a caregiver who said the student would not be masking and it wasn’t for medical reasons. The associate principal called him in and sent him home.
Kira:
We had a student whose parent said you can’t send him home, you have a responsibility to educate him. He said he’d wear one for the positive case in his room.
Paula:
I heard that at the Department Chair meeting there was word that the School Committee said we could not send students home.
Carl:
That was the vibe.
Andrea:
What does that mean?
Carl:
It sounds like the School Committee will not be supporting that action. I do not know what that means long-term.
Heather:
Didn’t we have an MoA saying those decisions go through the SHAC?
Andrea:
That doesn’t currently apply at this point.
Kira:
Is there an expiration date on the MoA regarding the need for staff to be vaccinated?
Andrea:
I don’t think so. Let me find it. [She looks for a minute, muttering what she reads to herself.] It does not look like it expires.
Kira:
Okay, I think some people are hoping that would get repealed.
Andrea:
I don’t know, but I do not see that happening. I can send the MoA language to you.
Erica:
Can I get that too?
Andrea:
Yes. I’ll send it to everyone.
Tammy:
I know we have a lot of new hiring going on this summer. Who will be responsible for policing that vaccination status?
Andrea:
I would think everyone who’s a part of it. The principal would likely mention it early on in the process, but there’s also HR who would keep track of that.
Karen:
I don’t think everyone has a booster, which is what the CDC recommends. But DESE doesn’t require the booster. So I don’t know what’s required in order to be “fully vaccinated.”
Andrea:
But DESE doesn’t require vaccination either. That’s a Northampton thing. We wanted that so we could feel safer. If the district was interested in policing booster population, we have the MoA we can go back to.
If we have another surge, then maybe we’ll make a decision to something about it, but that’s above my paygrade.
NEXT TOPIC: secretary and treasurer reports
MOTION
to accept secretary’s report as emailed.
Entertained by Andrea.
Moved by Sara.
Seconded by Paula
Motion Approved, unanimously.
Andrea:
Now we can go to the treasurer’s report. Heather will share her screen for this.
Sharon:
We’ve collected 36,755.38 from dues in the month of April.
We have 74,213.26 in reserves.
For our stipends, we still need 29,175 to pay our stipends out.
I don’t know where things stand on the venmo.
Sara:
I can talk about that. I need to know what people deposited.
Sharon:
I thought it worked like PayPal.
Sara:
Yes. What I’m looking for is a statement from Florence Savings Bank.
Venmo deposited a penny here or five cents there, so that they could authenticate the account.
It may have expired.
Sharon:
It should be 35 cents and 3 cents.
Sara:
I might need to get those numbers in there.
As soon as I am able to, I will transfer you all the money.
Heather:
I think it was about the same as the PTO put in, around 300?
Andrea:
That was the cash amount, I thought.
Sara:
328.89.
That’s on top of 130 that we got in cash at the meeting.
I can take screenshots for whoever needs those for records.
Andrea:
Thank you, Sara, for taking that on.
Once that’s authenticated, we don’t need to do that again each year?
Sara:
We can keep using it for as long as I’m willing to.
Sharon:
Between the money that we take in and the money that goes to MTA and NEA, we have a healthy balance of 11,000.
MOTION
to accept the treasurer’s report.
Entertained by Andrea.
Moved by Carl.
Seconded by Paula
Motion Approved, unanimously.
NEXT TOPIC: call for delegates
Andrea:
We have a call for delegates. Each year, delegates are called to nominate themselves to be delegates.
If you click the link in the agenda, there is a list of the allocations by building and by chapter.
I think it would be good for us to add to our by-laws in the future to require that there is a unit C delegate from each building.
If you think there’s someone who might want to be more, involved, those face-to-face conversations can mean a lot.
I’d like to see all of these allocations completely full from each building. I am going to send a members email to everybody as well. There will also be information on joining the Contract Action Team.
I hope you all want to do this work again next year, so do that now before you forget.
We’ll do building-based elections if need be.
Carl:
Is there a reason we do self-nomination rather than have us nominate other people?
Andrea:
That’s how things have been done. I don’t know. Sharon, do you know the story there?
Sharon:
It’s how the MTA does it.
Andrea:
Yes, and we borrow a lot of how we do things from them.
Jonah:
Is there any place we really clearly spell out what delegates’ responsibilities are? If I want to explain it to someone, I think I can’t really explain it.
Andrea:
You can look at the by-laws, but I agree, we should try to have that a little more concrete.
The MTA does offer delegate trainings. We’ll offer that in the fall.
Sharon:
If you were a new delegate this year, you need to get a W-9 in. Otherwise, you’re not getting paid.
Andrea:
Do you have a list of those?
Sharon:
I’ll have to get that back to you.
Paula:
Does that include negotiating team members?
Sharon:
Yes!
Eva:
Is there anything we need to do if we are not coming back next year?
Andrea:
No. Just let me and Heather know.
Eva:
Then this is my notice. I am not returning to the district next year. I’m going back to school.
Andrea:
I will send that email out, but please reach out to other people in your building.
NEXT TOPIC: end-of-year social
Andrea:
And now to Kira for the end-of-year social.
Kira:
It’s really simple. It’s pretty much the same thing we did last year.
June 9 from 2:30 to 7:30.
Local Burgy, Herrell’s, Paul Kinsman DJing.
I need people to respond to the evite. I will send people a reminder next week, when I need to give a headcount to Herrell’s.
We’re encouraging people to park at JFK. But NASE is covering if people need to park at paid spots.
I’m hoping people will bring what they brought last year. Heather the sign. Tammy the tablecloths.
I guess I’ll add in the BYOB.
Andrea:
And maybe also a small note about parking?
If you could make the link public, people could print out the flyer and put it up around the schools.
And if you could put when you want people to RSVP by.
I know Kate was going to bring some beverages and snacks from CostCo.
Tammy:
I can buy them, but I can’t bring them.
Andrea:
Also, trash bags. Any recommendations?
Brian:
Any school dumpster is appropriate.
Sara S:
I just noticed my evite went to my junk mail, so we should let people know it might be there.
Andrea:
I’ll mention that in the email as well. Be sure to mention that to people.
Kira, what’s the date you want people to get back to you by?
Kira:
The 17th.
Andrea:
Paula, I was thinking we might not want to put it on Facebook so it’s not just info out in the public.
Heather:
I wondered if we could put out another flyer and info for the NASE scholarship.
We still need about 1800.
Sara:
I could bring the ones from the Annual Meeting.
Heather:
Last year we had people parking at JFK, but now the release times are different. Is there more room in the back lots?
Tammy:
Not really.
Andrea:
Might be good to just let people know to wait until after the end of the school day.
NEXT TOPIC: communication around grievances
Andrea:
A reminder for all delegates, if you are dealing with any sort of discipline and grievance issue, it’s really helpful for you to cc the chapter coordinator of the unit that that person’s in.
You may have it totally under control, but it’s really a helpful fyi, so they have a record of different issues in different buildings.
Even if somebody just talks to you and they’re not sure if it’s a grievance or anything, you want to make sure you send an email to Sara and the chapter coordinator.
If you’re ever unsure who the coordinator is, you can check with me.
Cyndie:
Just want to remind you that you as a delegate or a chapter coordinator have a right to be there, whether you’re invited there or not. You have the right to help your member.
Andrea:
And there are times there is an investigation going on, and admin might say, it’s not disciplinary, but again, you have a right to be there.
A member might go in and say something that gets them in hot water, and you want to be there in case something happens.
It’s not about being adversarial, just about being there for people. And then just give the chapter coordinator a heads up.
Sometimes people email me stuff, but I get 200 emails a day. So the chapter coordinator really should be the first go-to person.
Kira:
I’ve even been asked to sit in on meetings for members. My admin sees it as a helpful part of the process.
Andrea:
And that’s great. It really is just about supporting the staff member.
Kira:
I understand about if someone comes to us, we bring it to you, but sometimes they go straight to you, but should we get ourselves involved?
Andrea:
Well, people might have reasons they feel embarrassed, but I’ll always go to the chapter coordinator.
But if they do go right to the chapter coordinator, don’t feel like you need to jump in on that.
Paula:
If somebody comes to me, I might refer them to a building delegate. I will reach out if I think it’s something that should be dealt with at the building level.
Andrea:
Yes, because we can’t get to every building, so yes.
If it’s a super serious issue where you need the big guns, like if the administrator calls in all the other administrators, then yes, it’s okay to reach out, but often it’s better to have someone who’s in that building who knows what going on.
Kate:
Paula covered most of what I wanted to say.
Building delegates will also reach out to chapter coordinators. And I’ll say, okay, we’ll go together. We can both be at that meeting.
Heather:
We’ve had problems this year with a principal deciding who a member gets to have in the meeting. It’s thoughtful for them to include the union, but you’ve got to give them a choice of who they want to attend.
Maria:
Clarification, this did happen this year a number of times, I’ve had members who haven’t looped me in until the middle of things because they’ve gone to other members rather bring me in first. And then other delegates and chapter coordinators wouldn’t give me all the information, and I felt like I couldn’t help my member out as much as they needed.
Andrea:
I would like the chapter coordinator included from the beginning, but it does depend on the severity of the issue. If it’s something big, like it could lead to termination, yes, let’s get the chapter coordinator in there. If it’s something like, this person’s getting talked to because they’ve been absent a lot, still, let the chapter coordinator know about it so they can know what’s going on.
That’s why I wanted this on the agenda. I want it to just become our norm so our chapter coordinators can be in the loop. It may never be necessary for you to get involved at all.
I don’t want to put more work on people’s plates. I think this will save us some work in the long run. That way people know what’s been going on when they need to get involved down the road.
Cyndie:
Andrea needs to put on her Wonderful Hat because she’s so wonderful as our president. I had somebody that was on the wrong lane, they didn’t understand what that meant. That person went right to Andrea and Andrea brought me into it.
And Jason is absolutely wonderful. He has your back too.
Andrea:
He is. You might need to push him for more than a two-word answer sometimes, but he’s awesome.
NEXT TOPIC: next NASE Annual Meeting
Tammy:
Were we going to discuss my concern from the email before we reach the end of the meeting? About negotiations?
Andrea:
Yes, but first, I wanted to put this out there first. At the officers meeting, we discussed the possibility of having a committee to adding some energy to that meeting (door prizes? different kinds of food?). I wanted to put that out there so you could offer any feedback.
Cyndie:
I will certainly be on that committee and head it. I love to do fundraisers where you badger people. Or co-chairing because I know SVAHS is a little bit separate.
Kira in chat: I’m willing to co-chair that with Cyndie.
NEXT TOPIC: next negotiations meeting
Andrea:
I wanted to remind you all (thank you, Tammy) that our next negotiating meeting is May 16th at 5 in the library at NHS.
Tammy brought up the fact that covid cases are ticking up. I thought I’d see what the committee thought.
I’m inclined to leave it in-person because we’re already at risk, maybe with some people attending through Zoom if they’re not comfortable coming in person.
People respond generally positively to the idea of keeping things in person with a Zoom option.
Andrea:
I’m going to put a link in the chat, an email I’m going to send out as an email to members so you can print it. It is the action network QR code. If people hold their phones up to this, it’s a letter they can send to the City Council.
I shared this with the Wisdom Warriors. I know REAL has been interested in this sort of thing.
I talked with my ward councillor, and she was supportive and wanted to talk things through with me. Like, if the city is paying for police walkie talkies, why can’t they pay for ours? Why can’t they take care of the organic turf management?
Paula:
I met with two councillors myself, and they were also very supportive.
Brian:
There’s something like 115 radios they’re looking to purchase throughout the district, and those are something like 2 or 3 thousand dollars. I want to make sure the ones we currently have aren’t just thrown in a box and put away, make sure that those stay accessible.
Heather:
Another councillor was supportive and on board. There’s no guarantee.
Andrea:
The one I spoke to, Rachel, she’s chair of the finance committee. She agreed with Kira, the mayor might not have to present that budget the School Committee voted for, but she hoped she did.
Sara:
One little thing I wanted to say, I want to tell Sharon, I put those numbers in, the account is validated, I will put in that deposit now.
I will take pictures of all the deposits given to me and send them to Andrea and Sharon.
Paula:
Heads up, there’s at least one sweatshirt in that dollar amount.
Sara:
Yes. Forty-one dollars of that is a sweatshirt.
Andrea:
Officer reports are at the end of the agenda. If you have any questions, certainly let us know.
MOTION
to adjourn
Entertained by Andrea.
Moved by Paula.
Seconded by Sharon.
Discussion:
Andrea:
If you do talk to people about becoming new delegates, we do invite all new delegates and officers to that June meeting.
Kira:
I am the new member liaison, but if anyone else wants to do that, let Andrea know. I have the information for that if anyone needs it.
Andrea:
And again, we have vacancies for chapter coordinators for administrators and cafeteria workers. Also, a communications chair.
Motion Approved, unanimously.
Meeting adjourns 5:35pm.