Archives for 2022

Meeting of NASE Executive Committee

Attendance

Minutes

MTA ESP conference

The committee discusses funding for members to attend a conference.

Welcome, Brian

The committee welcomes Brian Bagdon as chapter coordinator for the custodians.

reports for approval

The committee approves the secretary and treasurer reports.

scholarship fund

The committee discusses how to take in funds for the NASE scholarship, including the use of a Venmo account.

MTA annual meeting

The committee discusses arrangements for the MTA annual meeting on May 20 and 21.

NASE annual meeting

The committee turns its attention fully to the NASE annual meeting on April 27.

negotiation updates

Andrea offers updates from the latest rounds of negotiations.

officer reports

Andrea discusses officer reports.

school calendar changes

The committee discusses results of a survey on possible school calendar changes.

wrapping up and mask survey

The committee addresses a few final pieces of business.

motion to adjourn

In Attendance

Andrea Egitto, Heather Brown, Sharon Carlson, Carl Mead, Sara Churchill-Winsor, Kate Fontaine, Kara Sheridan, Paula Rigano-Murray, Erica Lamanna, Maria Vega, Helen Woods, Ellen Brown, Daria Steward, Alex Peterson, Erica Caron, Michael Stavely-Hale, Laura St. Pierre, Vanessa Coates-Cooney, Kira Henninger, Jessica Lavallee, Mark Baldwin, Jeromie Whalen, Jonah Dratfield, Karen Schiaffo, Sandra Bombard, Tammy Cook, Brian Bagdon

Minutes

Note: Remarks attributed to meeting participants are approximations, not quotations.

Andrea calls the meeting to order at 4:01.

FIRST TOPIC: MTA ESP conference

Paula:

We can send up to four people to the MTA ESP conference on the Cape. It’s April 1st and 2nd. 

MOTION 

to reimburse the cost of registration ($30) for the MTA ESP Conference for up to four people.

Moved by Paula.

Seconded by Carl.

Discussion:

Sharon:

We have the money.

Kira:

Could we get mileage covered as well?

Andrea:

Hm! Maybe through the district?

Paula:

I will add that MTA is asking that chapters limit their delegation to four members due to Covid.

Andrea:

It might also be good for us to get some non-ESP ESPs to go as well. (MTA defines ESP as clerical, custodial, bus driver, cafeteria workers, and so on.)

Maria:

Do you have any idea what topics are their for clerical?

Paula:

I’ll get back to you, but I’m on the MTA ESP committee, and we made sure that it wasn’t all geared toward paraprofessionals.

MOTION APPROVED.

NEXT TOPIC: Welcome, Brian

Andrea:

Welcome, Brian, to your role as chapter coordinator for the custodial chapter. 

Helen:

There’s a custodian at my building who was interested in serving as a delegate.

NEXT TOPIC: reports for approval

MOTION

to accept the secretary’s report as emailed.

Moved by Erica C.

Seconded by Carl.

Discussion:

Heather:

Did we say that we would not have the discussion notes in the publicly posted minutes?

Carl:

I don’t believe we ever discussed it.

Erica C:

I don’t see anything in the last month’s minutes.

Andrea:

Perhaps we have something further back?

MOTION APPROVED, one abstention. 

Sharon:

Starting balance: 109,814.65.

Dues collected February: 37,035.47.

In reserves: 74,213.26.

Fees: 169.62.

Stipend checks: 160.85.

MTA/NEA took out: 28,687.71.

What remains: 43,618.58.

Andrea asks about the ESP conference.

Sharon: 

You’ll see a $350 check at the top for the new teacher liaison and you’ll also see the conference expenditures in the middle of this spreadsheet.

For the annual meeting, I can also have this go through line-item by line-item in the budget.

Karen asks clarifying question. Sharon confirms the understanding.

Sharon: 

Also, I want to commend Karen for doing an excellent job because month-to-month, the amount the MTA and NEA take out is never the same.

MOTION

to approve the treasurer’s report.

Moved by Karen.

Seconded by Kira.

MOTION APPROVED.

NEXT TOPIC: scholarship fund

Andrea:

There was interest in ways that people could contribute to our scholarship funds. People are too burned out for a fundraiser, but maybe we could run a collection within our own buildings. 

Leslie recommended that maybe we could ask local businesses (not eateries) if they could put out a can. 

Heather:

I’ve wondered if we can put the can in public because it’s a NASE thing? If we need to have it happen at the schools?

Karen:

Maybe we could put boxes in our staff rooms?

Andrea:

Sure, or maybe someone would bring those around to faculty meetings.

Helen:

Does NASE have a venmo or anything like that? Because it could be as simple as that. 

Andrea:

I know we tried that last year. And with the business account, Venmo takes money out of those transactions.

We could have people volunteer their venmo accounts and then have those people write checks to NASE.

Kara:

Could we use GoFundMe? I know the schools have policies against that, but maybe we could do that.

Tammy:

I know people might have concerns about just leaving the money lying around unsupervised.

Erica C:

I’m happy to make a flyer.

Sara:

I have a paypal, venmo, and cash app that I am willing to use for JFK.

Andrea:

What about all the schools?

Sara:

Sure, I can do it for all schools.

Andrea:

Can you have the transaction signify that it’s specifically for NASE?

Heather:

Can you have your name come up as NASE so it’s clearly the right thing?

Kara:

Could we have Sara take a printout of these things for tax purposes? Could Sara bring something to Sharon?

Kira:

I feel uncomfortable using people’s personal bank accounts for this sort of series of transactions.

Karen:

Could we also have options? For those of us who don’t use venmo?

Vanessa:

Is it possible to use the old Venmo that Emma had, if that’s connected to the NASE bank account?

Andrea:

Can we do a test run? Someone donate a dollar and Sharon see if it shows up in the bank?

Carl:

That’s not how venmo works. 

Jeromie:

I will donate whatever the venmo service fee is, so that we still get those donations in full.

Sara and Erica will connect with Emma to have the NASE Venmo set up for us to use to fund the NASE Scholarship.

NEXT TOPIC: MTA annual meeting

Andrea:

We need a nominations chair to help with the chapter elections and MTA Annual Meeting delegate nominations.

Heather:

MTA Annual Meeting is May 20-21.

Erica C:

What is that?

Sharon:

It’s where we vote on the budget. We have elections for President, Vice President, Board of Trustees. 

Heather:

The voting takes place mostly on Saturday.

Helen:

Would it be silly to go just on Friday?

Andrea:

If we don’t have a full delegation, I’d say, yeah, go for it. But if we’re able to get our full eleven voting members, you might not want to take that spot because that’s one of our votes.

Paula:

It’s fun. And there’s a lot of vendors and whatnot.

Kira:

I recently went to the School Psych Conference at the Hines Convention Center, and that was a rejuvenating experience. 

Heather:

Plenty of good networking to be done. 

Andrea:

But now, we do need a nominations chair. They’ll help us make ballots if we need them. They’ll collect the names, keep track of it.

Kira:

Yes, I’ll be glad to keep track of nominations. 

Andrea:

Just bear in mind, if you’re interested in running for secretary, you would not be able to serve as nominations chair.

Karen:

If she decides to run, I will be nominations chair. (Which is fine because Karen is an appointed officer, not an elected one)

Sharon:

If people wouldn’t mind writing in my name for NEA region A.

NEXT TOPIC: NASE Annual Meeting

MOTION

that NASE hold its Annual Meeting in person.

Moved by Paula.

Seconded by Carl.

Discussion:

Karen: 

Is there any difference between in-person and remote attendance-wise?

Kate:

It was such a problem getting a quorum last time.

Sharon:

I think it’ll be a big one because it’s a bargaining year.

Heather:

I wonder if we could make that SVAHS cafeteria would be available again?

Kira:

Do we provide food at this? That might help people attend more.

Andrea:

We have in the past. 

MOTION APPROVED. Heather will talk to SVAHS about getting a room.

NEXT TOPIC: negotiation updates

Andrea:

Not much to update regarding NPS negotiations. SVAHS as well. 

Is anyone interested in meeting with some Amherst and South Hadley union folx?

Helen is in. 

I’ll put this out to our PALs as well. 

And if you know people in your building who would be up for helping along these lines, they don’t have to be a part of this committee. 

NEXT TOPIC: officer reports

Andrea:

Sorry I did not get my report onto the agenda. Other officers may have also been overwhelmed this past month.

Carl:

Could we schedule the secretary or communication officer to take dictation from officers rather than have them have to sit down and write it out?

Andrea:

We used to do something along those lines at the Board meeting. Perhaps we could do that again. 

NEXT TOPIC: school calendar changes

Helen:

I saw we were going to talk about the school calendar possible changes?

Andrea:

Thank you for reminding me!

People were concerned about how late this year and next year might end.

26% voted not to change things. 

9%, 38%, and 20% said some variation on moving it earlier.

Shortening Feb break: 83% said no.

At elementary schools, 63% supported moving to two report cards, if conferences were moved back to October. So we did accept that proposal based on the survey.

Helen:

If it’s a done deal, then it’s a done deal. But I was wondering if PreK and maybe K – PreK hasn’t had as much time with the children for an October conference?

Andrea:

Maybe, but it seems unlikely they’d get the half-days just for those two grades.

Kira:

I think it’s more that the caregivers are interested in meeting the teachers, not being able to get a report from the teachers. 

Andrea:

Sure, but PreK and K have the orientation before that, so they’ve already met us. That changes things.

NEXT TOPICS: wrapping up and mask survey

Sara:

I was hoping that I could catch you and maybe officers could stick around after.

Erica L:

I was going to ask if Karen could stick around for a super quick question.

Erica C:

I was wondering about the mask survey. What’s going on with that? So many districts have let their requirements lapse. Is there an update?

Andrea:

I will share our results. And I know on Thursday, the Board of Health is voting on that. I expect the School Committee will follow soon after. 

69% were opposed to lifting the mandate two weeks ago.

40% selected none of the above when options were mid-March, April, or May. Some just wanted an option for “when the Health Board says it.”

41% are in favor of keeping masks until the end of the year, but 59% were opposed to that.

Karen, anything to add on the health side of things.

Karen:

The numbers are trending down. I suspect there will be a change. 

School Committee will follow after that.

MOTION

to adjourn.

Moved by Kira.

Seconded by Helen.MOTION APPROVED. Meeting adjourns 5:26.

CONTENTS

Attendance

Minutes

covid practices

A discussion of positive case notification practices and at-home testing practices.

clerical snow days

A discussion of the way the most recent snow day was handled for clerical staff.

secretary’s report

Approved.

treasurer’s report

Approved.

follow-up to covid practices

A follow-up to the first discussion of the meeting.

MTA winter events

Heather provides an overview of different Zoom events offered by the MTA over the next month.

scholarship funding

A discussion of how the NASE scholarship will be funded.

JFK climate survey

Sara presents the results from the JFK climate survey.

negotiations update

SVAHS and NPS negotiations teams discuss positions and processes. 

motion to adjourn

In Attendance

Andrea Egitto, Heather Brown, Sharon Carlson, Carl Mead, Sara Churchill-Winsor, Karen Schiaffo, Kate Fontaine, Kara Sheridan, Paula Rigano-Murray, Erica Lamanna, Sarah Nowak, Ellen Brown, Daria Steward, Alex Peterson, Kristen Picard, Erica Caron, Mareatha Wallace, Michael Stavely-Hale, Laura St. Pierre, Vanessa Coates-Cooney, Kira Henninger, Jeromie Whalen, Jonah Dratfield, Sara Simmons, Leslie Skantz-Hodgson, Eva Rocheleau, Tammy Cook, Abel Millet, Brian Bagdon

Minutes

Note: Remarks attributed to meeting participants are approximations, not quotations.

Andrea calls the meeting to order at 4:01. 

FIRST TOPIC: covid practices

Sara S.:

I would like to bring up the possibility of reducing nurses’ workload. I was thinking that maybe we could send home a letter when there’s a positive case in a classroom kind of like we do for lice. I know contact tracing will be stopping soon.

Andrea:

Yes, I did hear that we were going to stop contact tracing due to home testing. The superintendent said there would be a plan in place so that we can come back from February break.

I know there was worry about HIPAA violations.

Sara S.:

But we already do it with strep and lice. Why is this different?

Karen:

It’s not going to completely stop. We will still have notifications.

Andrea:

Heather, why don’t we add that to our list of things to bring to the Superintendent for clarification.

Erica C.:

How is this system supposed to work with the home tests? If I don’t get it, I imagine it’s hard for families.

Karen:

The reason for rapid tests is to improve access. If a child has symptoms, you can test before they come back into the classrooms. It’s really not for close contacts. 

Andrea:

Could you, Karen, create a letter along those lines for membership? To make it easier for everyone to understand?

Karen:

I’ve got one that I’ve been using, and I’ve distributed it to nurses in other buildings to see if they could pass it along. I’ll share it with you all in case you haven’t received it.

NEXT TOPIC: clerical snow days 

Tammy:

In the past, clerical’s been told if a snow day’s really bad we don’t have to be there. This time, we were told that wasn’t the case. And then by the time we got to the school, the buildings were closed. And we were told NASE said that we could not work from home. There was some very unclear communication.

Andrea:

To clarify, NASE would never say you can’t work from home. We just want everyone in a unit to get the same opportunity. 

To blame NASE on what’s a management decision, that’s frustrating, and it’s not true.

To offer one member of a unit one thing and deny that opportunity to another, that’s direct dealing, and it’s against the law.

Plus, if they’re going to go back against past practice, they can’t do that. They have to negotiate that.

Tammy:

This has happened in the past where we have to come in and just move our cars over and over so they can plow. 

I know unit B has had the same problem before. 

Andrea:

We’ll have to keep that in mind for negotiations. 

Kara:

It is already in the unit B contract, and it should be in the others. 

I will say the message that buildings would be closed including to custodial didn’t come until 9am, but there should have been more opportunity to get the word out. 

NEXT TOPIC: secretary’s report

MOTION

to accept the secretary’s report as emailed.

Entertained by Andrea.

Moved by Sharon.

Seconded by Kira.

Amendment suggested by Andrea.

Moved as amended by Sharon.

Seconded as amended by Kira.

MOTION APPROVED.

NEXT TOPIC: treasurer’s report

Sharon:

We’ve collected in dues, all three ways, 184,521.84. 

119,428.57 of that goes to MTA/NEA.

That leaves us with 10,345.92 as our budget.

We’ve paid approximately half of our payroll at this time. 

Expenses, we’ve paid 12,000 in payroll taxes. 

Then 66 dollars in ink. 

522.50 for the new members social.

And 325 for arbitration. 

What’s not on there is that we still have about 41,000 dollars, so if we have to absorb the cost of the scholarship, we should be able to. 

Karen asks clarification regarding new members social.

MOTION

to accept the treasurer’s report.

Entertained by Andrea.

Moved by Carl.

Seconded by Kira.

MOTION APPROVED.

NEXT TOPIC: follow-up to covid practices

Paula:

The superintendent just sent an email that lists the days you’re supposed to test with the at-home kits.

NEXT TOPIC: MTA winter events

Heather:

Zoom meetings for MTA’s winter skills events. I’ve highlighted these:

how to advocate for antiracist education, a legal toolkit

contract negotiation workshop

community partnership in action

bylaws and best practices for local committees and boards

unions 101

Some of these MTA folx are skilled and good at these conventions and events.

They’re all free. Just click the Zoom link.

We actually presented at the negotiation workshop a few years ago.

And if you’re going to attend, it would be great if you could report back at our March meeting, help spread the knowledge and info. 

I think Paula has more of these posted in her report that are more specifically for ESPs.

Andrea:

I attended the antiracist one when they were able to host it at UMass, and it felt very useful. If it’s the same, it’s very good.

We’ve also been talking about doing some sort of Delegates Training with Jason. It’s been a while since we’ve done one of those. 

Paula:

I’ve already been in touch with Jason. It’s in the works.

Kira:

Do you have to be a delegate, or can any NASE member attend these?

Andrea:

Any member can attend. And you may be able to receive PDPs.

NEXT TOPIC: scholarship funding

Andrea: 

Suzanne is on the scholarship committee for NHS. We have five $500 scholarships, four for NHS, one for SVAHS.

Heather:

In the past, we’ve talked about trying to raise that money because we didn’t feel it was sustainable to spend that money ourselves. 

I know the fundraising takes a lot of effort.

Are we feeling like we can sustain this amount every year?

I remember we had people donating a little bit at a time at events in the past.

Sharon:

My first local that I was in, we assessed $10 per member, and then everyone had paid the same amount. 

And I think people would rather spend $10 than do the fundraiser.

Andrea:

Yeah, that’s something we should talk about when it comes to our budget and annual meeting. 

NEXT TOPIC: JFK climate survey

Sara:

We did a survey two years ago – that’s where we got the questions from, same questions as before. 

All the questions we used were multiple choice questions except for the last one where people could elaborate on their responses, where we got pages and pages.

First bunch of pages of this summary are just about the breakdown of demographics.

Then into the questions. High levels of disagreement when it comes to feelings of safety and response to disrespect. High levels of dissatisfaction.

How many staff members are at JFK? 80 people had access and about 60 took the survey.

More than three-quarters of the respondents were teachers of one kind or another. No custodial or cafeteria. I think no clerical.

We reached out, but we couldn’t get everyone to take it.

Beyond all the questions, we’ve taken the narrative comments and organized it into different sections.

Andrea, would you drop this summary into the chat when we’re done? It’s good to look at all these answers.

The only part of this that was difficult was being able to put concerns into a format that made sense. 

Reading all the comments through might not be productive, but if something has five bullets, there’s something that needs to be addressed there.

With communication and transparency, I had to leave some out because the text was getting so small.

We included staff-to-staff problems because we didn’t want to come off as only a matter of being anti-admin.

With these ones about leaving JFK or leaving teaching in general, I want to remind you that this was what came out of a prompt that was just “Please elaborate,” or something like that.

And we ended with some hopeful notes of solidarity.

We met with Des and the other administrators. We went over the results on the teacher work day. We were going to go over it at the faculty meeting, but 

Thank you, Sara, from various people, for all the work that went into this.

NEXT TOPIC: negotiations update

Andrea:

I know SVAHS got together their initial positions.

Leslie:

Yes, we’re meeting with management on the tenth, so we’ll have more to report after Thursday.

Plus, we just had a faculty meeting where we’ve heard a lot lately about how much our students need right now. 

Andrea:

And we’ve also presented our initial proposal to the NPS. We’re meeting tomorrow, and we’ve just gotten two MoAs passed: the science of reading and the covid pay for nurses. And the visitor MoA, that’s been ratified too.

Heather:

Remember, there is always the Northampton Employee Assistance program. If you need something, they may be able to provide some of that.

Andrea will send out a link to the negotiations meeting after the meeting, sending it to delegates so they can distribute it as necessary.

MOTION

to adjourn.

Moved by Sharon.

Seconded by Kira.

MOTION APPROVED.

Meeting adjourns 5:23 pm. 

Attendance

Minutes

covid practices

A discussion regarding various practices for mitigating the spread of Covid-19.

students’ protest against racism

An appreciation for the job well-done by students’ presentation to the School Committee regarding concerns over racism and its effects on their education.

secretary’s report

Approved.

treasurer’s report

Approved.

start time for meetings

A motion to reschedule Delegates Committee meetings to begin at 4:00pm rather 3:45pm due to difficulties for NHS ESPs. Motion approved. 

negotiations updates

A discussion of memoranda of agreement and other matters pertaining to negotiations.

new members update

A brief discussion of long-term substitute teaching positions. 

motion to adjourn

In Attendance

Andrea Egitto, Heather Brown, Sharon Carlson, Carl, Mead, Kate Fontaine, Paula Rigano-Murray, Erica Lamanna, Cyndie Ouimette, Maria Vega, Helen Woods, Ellen Brown, Daria Steward, Alex Peterson, Kristen Picard, Erica Caron, Mareatha Wallace, Michael Stavely-Hale, Laura St. Pierre, Vanessa Coates-Cooney, Kira Henninger, Dara Shackelford, Jessica Lavallee, ​​Ryan Parent, Jeromie Whalen, Jonah Dratfield, Karen Schiaffo, Sara Simmons, Clara McCoy, Leslie Skantz-Hodgson, Eva Rocheleau, Sandra Bombard

Minutes

Note: Remarks attributed to meeting participants are approximations, not quotations.

Andrea calls the meeting to order at 3:49. 

FIRST TOPIC: covid practices

Andrea:

We were going to do some letter writing in advocacy of an extension of the state’s mask mandates. 

But then the mask mandate was extended, so we’ll see where we are next month.

Sara:

Another teacher mentioned to me that not every teacher is keeping their window open, and wanted to bring it to this meeting to see whose responsibility this is, to require people to have their windows open. 

Andrea: 

Don’t know if we can police that at this point, because that’s best practice, but not a requirement.

Karen:

How are people dealing with switching students’ masks in their schools?

Carl:

What are you referring to?

Karen:

If students come in with cloth masks, we’re supposed to replace them with surgical masks.

Heather:

There are masks available for students at NHS.

Mareatha:

We’re taking care of it at JFK. We have masks.

Updates from all other schools in the chat. It’s being handled. 

Karen:

I know it’s best for safety, but I didn’t know it was mandatory. 

I’ve been getting pushback from caregivers who buy surgical masks that look like cloth masks, and I’ve had to look into those new ones. People have been taking them away.

Andrea:

I have some sensory-sensitive students who struggle with the disposable masks. They’ve let me double mask the disposable masks over the cloth masks from home.

Maria:

A teacher asked me about changing the HEPA filters. It’s been about a year at this point.

Heather:

We’ll follow up on that.

NEXT TOPIC: students’ protest against racism

Mareatha:

I was pretty wow-ed by the eighth grade students who put together the video for the School Committee. 

Andrea:

Yes, they did a good job. Thank you.

NEXT TOPIC: secretary’s report

Andrea:

Thank you for sending that out the other day. Hopefully you’ve had a chance to check that out.

MOTION

to accept the secretary’s report.

Entertained by Andrea.

Moved by Sara.

Seconded by Kira.

MOTION APPROVED, two abstentions.

NEXT TOPIC: treasurer’s report

Sharon:

We spent a lot of money this month, but we didn’t do too much.

Beginning balance was 122,575.11.

Dues was 37,082.63.

Reserves: 74,213.26. The rest was our budget.

Stipends: 22,890.61. plus another adp fees 138:49, adp tax 5774.99.

And MTA/NEA took out 28,804.09.

Heather:

We took in more dues than we paid – is that normal?

Sharon:

Yes, that includes the local fee, which becomes our budget, that we spend on things.

MOTION

to accept the treasurer’s report.

Entertained by Andrea.

Moved by Carl.

Seconded by Sara.

MOTION APPROVED.

NEXT TOPIC: start time for meetings

Andrea:

At last meeting, there was a request to discuss the meeting times and seeing if there was any possibility of changing the time. 

Carl put some of the discussion into the minutes from last time.

Carl:

I know the person who brought this concern to me is not here this afternoon to speak on this. Unfortunately, I don’t know if that’s for the reason of timing or not.

Helen:

I know this might be a little bit off-topic, but is there any discussion with the contract negotiations about the start and end-times of the school day?

Andrea:

It’s not something that comes down to our contract, but it’s something that the School Committee will likely take up. We can make comments about policies, but it’s not a negotiation.

You’re right, our meeting times had to shift as a result of the times change.

Paula:

Part of the change is that in the old days, paras at the elementary schools got out at 3:15, and meetings started at 3:30. Now, meetings start at 3:45, and ESPs at the high school get out at 3:45. 

Andrea: 

That’s good context. 

Kira:

I think it’s a good idea to have a window from the end of the day, but I wouldn’t want to shift things too much because this is the time we’ve set aside from the beginning of the year.

Heather:

I was thinking I might make a motion.

Karen:

Would it be possible to schedule our meetings from 4 to 5, so that 

MOTION

to change the Delegates Committee meeting schedule, such that they begin at 4 and end at 5:15.

Moved by Heather.

Seconded by Kira.

Discussion.

Erica C.

I know I would appreciate that and not end up late every meeting that way. 

Kira:

If people are not able to make the commitment to 5:15, they shouldn’t be penalized.

Andrea:

And I will try to move things along as quickly as possible. 

MOTION PASSES.

NEXT TOPIC: negotiations updates

Andrea:

The School Committee approved the covid MoA at their December meeting and then never told us.

I got informed by my building principal. 

The ratification vote is on-going. We need 25% of the membership to vote in order to get a quorum. 

So, please check to see if members in your buildings are getting those emails so that we can get the five more votes we need for this MoA to get ratified.

This gets prep time for students dealing with covid so that if you are preparing work for those students you get paid.

The big thing in this MoA is that it covers people’s sick time if they need to quarantine. You will get reimbursed if you had to quarantine because of exposure at work.

That must be done by February 1st.

Mareatha:

Some ESPs cover for teachers and then the teachers aren’t providing sub plans. 

Heather:

All that curriculum work in Atlas, can that not be cranked out when a teacher’s not there?

Erica C.

There’s a teacher out on maternity leave, and the LTS who was absent more than there seems to have blown through the curriculum that was left behind. The communication line seems to have broken down at some point. 

Mareatha:

I’ve made that request and nothing has happened. It’s happened many many times. 

Andrea:

And this is what happens all the time. We cover for one another because we’re professionals and then management gets off the hook.

Paula (in chat):

Sounds like a meeting is necessary.

Helen:

Technical question. I’m looking at the paragraph that says to prepare work for quarantine students, but it doesn’t say what the cause of the quarantine is.

Andrea:

This would cover any student who is a close contact or a positive case, whether it occurred in the school or not.

Maria:

I think I know the answer but I want to make sure. Is it just if it’s exposure from a student or is it also from a colleague.

Andrea:

It’s exposure at work, no matter who it is. It’s just not, “I got covid at a new year’s party.”

Maria:

There’s an ESP who’s been missing lunch when covering for a teacher. I do know she gets the additional stipend for the coverage, and the principal agrees she can get paid for the lunch.

Paula:

The ESP contacted me. If she wants to work through lunch, she can do that. She can’t work through lunch and not get paid, that’s wage theft.

Maria:

What if other ESPs want to get paid through lunch?

Andrea:

The principal has to approve it. 

Paula: 

She’s getting paid for additional work, not just getting paid for lunch.

Andrea:

We’re still negotiating the public-in-the-building stuff. 

We don’t want the public coming into our offices to protect our clerical workers. 

And we want it so that if someone’s not comfortable sitting in a meeting with a member of the public who may or may not be vaccinated, they can zoom in. 

Kira:

Our principal said the nurses met and agreed that they recommend having meetings over Zoom.

When talking to the School Committee about the Zoom option, we have had some parents come in to the building with central offices people Zooming into those meetings.

Andrea:

You’re right, everybody should have that option.

Karen:

To clarify, you said the nursing staff met to discuss this?

Kira:

Sorry, yes, Lisa Saffron said the nursing staff recommended this for parent-teacher conferences.

Perhaps the principal added the “staff” part of it. 

Kate:

Just want to put it on the radar that NHS has a second open house in February.

Andrea:

Thank you. The first one was over Zoom as well, right?

Kate:

Yes.

Andrea:

The NPS negotiation team will meet on January 13 in advance of the meeting with the School Committee on January 19. 

Ellen:

Could you go over again the protocols around members attending the negotiation meetings? And do you have the image we’ll display during these times?

Andrea:

Thank you for reminding me about the image. I’ll send that out. 

Members can come but won’t speak if they’re not on the negotiation team.

Members will have their cameras off so that the only people on display are the people talking, and then we display this wall of support through the NASE images.

Andrea confirms that SVAHS negotiations are still in preparation, waiting to set up a meeting with Jason.

NEXT TOPIC: new members update

Karen:

No update.

Andrea:

Just want to remind you that the face-to-face connection is the most powerful option we have, especially considering how much turnover there has been at this point. 

Eva:

Temporary staff members like LTSs, what is the deal with them?

Andrea:

LTSs aren’t eligible to join NASE until they have worked for ninety calendar days. 

Cyndie:

We moved that down to thirty days at SVAHS. We were having problems with them not getting called back after eighty-eight days. 

Andrea:

In the next month, please look with your building team over the charts and come up with the Zombie Apocalypse Communication Plan. Who can you talk to as quickly as possible so that we can have the quickest way possible for us to disseminate information.

As we get into negotiations, we need to be able to get information out or feedback as quickly as possible. 

NEXT TOPIC: adjourning

Andrea:

At the end of the agenda are our officers’ reports that you can read through.

If you need new better masks, you can get them through your nurses.

MOTION

to adjourn.

Entertained by Andrea.

Moved by Kira.

Seconded by Mareatha.

MOTION APPROVED.

Meeting adjourns 5:05 pm.