Archives for November 28, 2022

Click here to download minutes

Meeting of the NASE Executive Committee of Delegates

Tuesday, October 11th, 4:00

JFK Community Room

In Attendance: (28 participants)

Tammy Cook, Sharon Carlson, Leslie Skantz-Hodgson, Kira Henninger, John Selfridge, Mark Baldwin, Deirdre Johnson, Susan Rees, Jenninfer Hayden, Erica Caron, Cyndie Ouimette, Kim Bowler, Erica Lamanna, Paula Rigano-Murray, Vanessa Coates-Cooney, Heather Brown, Kevin Schmith, Helen Woods, Laila Copperansky, Noah Galko, Sandy Bombard, Daria Steward, Andrea Egitto, Jeromie Whalen, Veronica Douglas, Karen Schiaffo, Kate Fontaine, Laura St. Pierre

Andrea calls the meeting to order at 4:04pm.

Item I: Call to Order

• Welcome, introductions and attendance

Item II: Delegates Training

• Taylor Brennan (MTA Regional Director) filling in for Jason for MTA

Upcoming Meetings:

October 19, Phonebank – 5:00 – 8:00pm High Brow, Northampton

November 1, Executive Board

November 8, Executive Committee

Rescheduled – Tuesday, September 20, 4:00

4:00 Call to Order 

Welcome to new Officers and Chapter Coordinators and Delegates!

Go around the room and please say your name, position, and school.

4:10 New Business

4:15 Secretary’s Report – click to download minutes

4:20 – Sub-Committees and PAL (volunteers needed)

• Social Committee
• Scholarship Committee
• Stipend/Budget Committee
• Snacks – each building sign-up

4:30 Treasurer’s report – budget for FY23

4:40 Membership Coordinator’s report – plan for reaching out to new members.

4:45 Discuss delegate vacancies – reach out to people who may be interested. 

Delegates training October 11, 4:00 – 7:30 including dinner. Please plan to attend!

4:55  Fair Share Amendment – Jason

• Pick a date for a phone banking event.
• Packets delivered to schools

5:00 Adjourn

Upcoming meetings:

October 4, Executive Board meeting – 4:00, Ryan Road School

October 5, NASE meeting with NPS superintendent

October 11, Executive Committee Delegates Training – 4:00-7:30 JFK Community Room

Officer Reports

Teachers (Unit A)

Admin (Unit B)

ESPs (Unit C)

Currently we are looking at scheduling a Unit C meeting at JSS. Working on a MOA at the high-school, due a scheduling issue for a Unit C member. There was disciplinary action taken against a member that is an on-going investigation. 

SVHS (Unit D)

Clerical: (Unit E)

Custodian (Unit F)

Cafeteria (Unit G)

I’m Kim Bowler, and I am the Head cook at NHS. I have recently taken on  Unit G Chapter Coordinator. I have been a NASE member since 2020. 

SVHS (Unit H)

PR&R – 9/2022

I have been busy connecting with new members and answering questions from members and administrators about the contract concerning preps and scheduling. 

There are no active grievances at this time. We discussed a clerical issue, but decided to discuss the issue with the new superintendent to make sure administrators are following all aspects of the contract when there are hires, transfers, and promotions. Please email me at sara24marie@gmail.com if there are any issues or concerns around contract adherence. 

Membership Coordinator

• 40 new members joined so far this year.
• Unit breakdown:
  • Unit A (Teachers +) = 23
  • Unit B (Admin) = 1
  • Unit C (ESPs/Paras) =  6
  • Unit E (Clerical) = 0
  • Unit F (Custodians/Bus Drivers) = 3
  • Unit G (Cafeteria) = 2 members = 2
• Please check in with new staff to see if they have questions about NASE
• Encourage them to join/review the benefits of membership
• Give them a brag sheet and membership packet
• Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns
• Let me know if you need packets or brag sheets.

Karen Schiaffo

NASE Membership Coordinator 

RKF/RR School Nurse

schiaffo89@gmail.com

413-320-3608 

9/13//22

Communications Coordinator

I’ve been working on revamping the website and making it more user friendly. Please share photos and news at nasepublications@gmail.com especially our Smith Voc colleagues! 

I also reactivated our Twitter feed, started an Instagram page and continue to maintain the Facebook page. All social media is linked at the bottom of the NASE home page at www.nasemta.org

President’s and Vice President’s Report

We spent time this past month finalizing all six contracts which involved meeting with negotiating sub-committee members and the interim superintendent to discuss the changes along with making sure all revisions are included. There was work on Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) for a few situations outside of the contracts, meetings with new district leaders, and meetings with MTA reps regarding the Fair Share Amendment. We secured some lawn signs to get things going before the start of school. To save on shipping costs for our new t-shirts, we took a road trip to our union print shop in Worcester. We provided lunch for new teachers at the New Teacher Orientation to inform them about NASE and the district. We spoke at the Western Mass. Area Labor Federation (WMALF) board meeting to share the wins we achieved in bargaining the NPS contracts.

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Click here to download minutes

Ryan Road Elementary School

In Attendance: (12 participants)

Andrea Egitto, Sharon Carlson, Karen Schiaffo, Paula Rigano-Murray, Erica Lamanna, Vanessa Coates-Cooney, Sara Churchill-Winsor (left early), Heather Brown, Tammy Cook, Kate Fontaine, Kim Bowler, Brian Bagdon 

Andrea calls the meeting to order at 4:02 pm.

Item I: Call to Order and New Business

• Welcome to new Officers and Chapter Coordinators!
• New Business:
  • Upcoming school committee this Thursday night 9/8 @ 6:30 via zoom (voting on virtual meetings, ect.) 
  • MOA upcoming things to negotiate: 
    • Paraeducators evaluations to be paused the new evaluation for 1 year to push to 23-24 for NHS, JFK, Bridge?
    • stipend to jazz band adult that would pay for actual time 
    • the committee didn’t agree to increase the limit for stipended monies as per lawyers report
    • Impact bargain for Paraeducators that are covering for other positions/units

Item II: Secretary’s Report

• Nothing to report on
• Reaching out to Carl regarding 21-22 secretary information transfer

Item III: Treasurer’s Report

• Budget for FY23
  • Executive Committee will be voting on this budget next week Tuesday September 13th

• Public Relations and Organizing Grant (tshirts), All In Grant (outings/events), Local Grant (10,000 to help since we are so large in size)
• Changes to be made for Tuesday, 9/13 EC Meeting: 
  • drop down the 389 to the NASE sweatshirts from MTA Mass Child proposed 2023, 
  • Cafeteria Chapter Coordinator changed from 500 to 1,000 (Sara only did half year only paid 500 last year), 
  • Treasurer position increased by 1,000 and Membership Coordinator increased by 500
    • This has to be approved through our bylaws change which can only happen at a general meeting. Proposed bylaws change for the next general meeting. So this will be changed back down to regular amounts.
• Scholarship funds were about 1,000 short from last year
  • Need to think about how to reach our goal of 2,500 (did not reach this goal in the 21-22 year)
    • Donations, JJ’s percentage night?

Item IV: Membership Coordinator’s Report

• Plan for reaching out to new members
  • Send new member forms to Karen
• Processed 25 new members with 2 more on it’s way

Item V: Discuss delegate vacancies 

• Reach out to people who may be interested
• Plan executive committee meeting and spread the word about delegates training for October 11 @ 4:00-7:30 including dinner in the JFK community room
• Vacancies: BSS = 2, JSS = 2, JFK = 2, Leeds = 3, NHS = 2,  RKRR = 2, Clerical = 1, Para = 1, Cafeteria = 2
  • Concerns that Leeds needs the most delegates
• JLMC to review flex and present it to faculty and staff then a vote by December as to whether or not to continue then may have to open contract back up

• Possible members: Tammy to ask JFK 8th grade teacher to join, Tammy, Kate to ask Jake

Item VI: Fair Share Amendment

• Pick a date for a phone banking event
• Phone banking event will have all technology and scripting available for people who participate

Item VII: Adjourn

MOTION: to adjourn.

Entertained by: Andrea

Moved by: Heather

Seconded by: Kate

Motion Approved: unanimously

Important Notes: 

• Officer’s reports – please send them to Andrea the Sunday before the EC meeting
  • September month by Sunday 9/11

Upcoming meetings:

September 7, NASE meeting with NPS superintendent

September 13, Executive Committee meeting 4:00 – JFK Community room

October 4, Executive Board meeting – 4:00, Ryan Road School

October 5, NASE meeting with NPS superintendent

October 11, Executive Committee Delegates Training – 4:00-7:30 JFK Community Room

Officer Reports

Teachers (Unit A)

Admin (Unit B)

ESPs (Unit C)

SVHS (Unit D)

Clerical: (Unit E)

Custodian (Unit F)

Cafeteria (Unit G)

SVHS (Unit H)

PR&R – 9/2022

I have been busy connecting with new members and answering questions from members and administrators about the contract concerning preps and scheduling. 

There are no active grievances at this time. We discussed a clerical issue, but decided to discuss the issue with the new superintendent to make sure administrators are following all aspects of the contract when there are hires, transfers, and promotions. Please email me at sara24marie@gmail.com if there are any issues or concerns around contract adherence. 

Membership Coordinator

Communications Coordinator

President’s and Vice President’s Report

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.northamptonma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09082022-6654&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1662307048895949&usg=AOvVaw0axuL7x7b9fDk77vHjc8g1

Tuesday, June 14, 2022 @ 4:00-5:00pm 

Click here to download minutes

In Attendance: (29 participants) 

Andrea Egitto, Heather Brown, Sharon Carlson, Karen Schiaffo, Paula Rigano-Murray, Erica Lamanna, Maria Vega, Alex Peterson, Kristen Picard, Michael Stavely-Hale, Vanessa Coates-Cooney, Kira Henninger, Sandra Bombard, Tammy Cook, Brian Bagdon, Laura St.Pierre, Daria Steward, Leslie Skants-Hodgson, Ryan Parent, Ellen Brown, Erica Caron, Jennifer Hayden, Kara Seridan, Mareatha Wallace, Helen Woods, Jonah Dratfield, Sara Churchill-Winsor, Cyndie Ouimette, SVAHS 

Andrea calls the meeting to order at 4:04pm. 

Item I: Call to Order and Welcome to new delegates and officers! Farewell and good luck to our officers leaving the district. 

– Those leaving: Sara Churchill Windsor, Kara Sheridan, Sarah Nowak, and Carl Mead – Jeff and Mike will be co-coordinators for Smith Voc 

Item II: New Business 

– Nothing new called or brought up by members 

Item III: Secretary’s report – shared by Andrea and reminded sent out ahead of meeting via email to all members 

MOTION: to accept the secretary’s report as emailed. 

Entertained by: Andrea 

Moved by: Erica 

Seconded by: Sharon 

Motion Approved: unanimously 

Item IV: Treasurer’s report – shared out by Sharon 

– Not many new items going into May (many same), June will have more items to go out

– Concerns raised for the MTA/NEA dues in the expenses as to why the increase of 18,000ish to about 30,000ish 

– Raised $741 for our scholarship 

– $3891.30 granted All In Grant monies that was reimbursed from previous years of 2019-2021 

– All that happened in the month of May was the cost for the annual meeting – Stipend checks will be out by the end of the week this week of June 13th distributed out – Payroll finalized today (6/14) 

– Smith Voc requested to mail out. Sharon will check with Cyndie about current mailing addresses for Smith Voc members 

MOTION: to accept the treasurer’s report as emailed. 

Entertained by: Andrea 

Moved by: Paula 

Seconded by: Erica 

Motion Approved: unanimously 

Item V: Call for Delegates for 2022-2023 school year – shared out by Andrea Officers Vacancies include: 

Communications Chair, Unit B (Admin.) Chapter Coordinator, Unit G (Cafe) Chapter Coordinator, PR&R (Grievance) Chair 

– Would like to provide training and possible mentorship for the new positions such as PR&R (grievance) Chair. 

– The Communications Chair will need tech savvy skills. Would like to have more than just Facebook for our social media presence as well as maintain the website. Stipend includes $1,500 for the year 

Delegate vacancies include: 

BSS = 1 Unit A & 2 Additional, JSS = 2 Additional, JFK = 1 Additional, Leeds = 1 Unit A & 2 Additional, NHS = 1 Unit A & 3 Additional, At-Large = 1 Unit C & 1 Unit F & 2 Unit G – Delegates will get an MTA training in the fall with Jason regarding your role and responsibilities as a delegate 

– Additional slots are based on the number of members that are in the building. These can be members from any unit. It would be important to have a minimum of 1 ESP as a member in each building.

Item VI: End of year social debrief 

– Thank Kira for being the party planner and organizer! Great and fun! 

– Seemed to have a pretty nice attendance to the event = 146 members attended – Bills or receipts from Local Burgy and Harrell’s have not been sent to Sharon yet. Kira will send in an email. Look Park rental has been paid 6/14 by Sharon. Kira will resend the car fee from Look Park for Sharon to pay and follow up on. 

– Concerns around cans and bottles and trash areas 

– For the future: three receptacles – (1) returns, (2) recycles, (3) trash 

– For the future: returns monies could be added into our scholarship fund – Concerns around beverages such as water access 

– For the future: use of a bottle jug rather than individual bottles 

– Concerns that people arrived later than expected since school hours have changed since previous years 

– For the future: Try and get Union Release form for attendance and timeliness – concerns that people arrived at the event once food left. Two hours of food. – For the future: 3:30-5:30? Or 4-6? 

Item VII: Officer’s reports 

– These are at the end of the agenda that have been shared out in advance to members. – Kate F. is preparing for a meeting with the Dept. of Labor Relations with an MTA attorney. This has been filed from last year that has been a slow moving process. Still in the investigation process. 

– Will be moving forward with Officer Reports to be President and Vice President combined together. 

– Out of the 4 scholarships 1 of the recipients had family ties to the union. Checks were sent out after the awards were presented. Lowest level of applicants for the scholarships in a while 

– NHS has an application on the guidance scholarship page. 

– How does Smith Voc get the application?? This needs to be thought through for the future. 

Item VIII: Adjourn

MOTION: to adjourn 

Entertained by: Andrea 

Moved by: Sharon 

Seconded by: Sandy 

Motion Approved: unanimously. 

Upcoming meetings: 

NPS Negotiations: 

6/14 @ 7:00pm – Special School Committee Meeting regarding Superintendent 6/16 @ 6:30pm – JFK Community Room 

-In person open meeting. Will open the zoom as an option. 

-Will not be negotiating over the summer. Will come back in the fall if not settled in June. 6/21 @ 6:30pm – NHS Library