APPROVED April 4, 2023

Tuesday,  March 7, 4:00

Click here to download

Ryan Road School – Room 200

In Attendance: (13 participants)

Andrea Egitto, Karen Schiaffo, Paula Rigano-Murray, Vanessa Coates-Cooney, Tammy Cook, Sharon Carlson, Erica Lamanna, Brian Bagdon, Mike Parks, Sara Churchill-Winsor, Kim Bowler, Cyndie Ouimette, Heather Brown,

Andrea calls the meeting to order at 4:03 pm.

Item I: Call to Order – Check-in

Item II: New Business

• Holly Currier running for ESP at large for MTA, curious about how to better reach and serve the locals of MA
  • Give feedback on ways that MTA neglects western MA, how they can better support western MA, ect.
  • Ideas: pick a more central (not just near Boston) meeting location, communicate stand outs and successes of western MA locals, support around making western MA representation groups, funding, 
• Fair Share Amendment based on governor’s proposed budget: early care 140 million, higher education 360 million, k-12 education 10 million
  • Andrea will be meeting with Noah Burger around the allocation of money, budgeting and funding for education
• Ward 7 EB members are meeting with their Ward 7 board member to talk about budgeting and funding → think about doing so if you live in Northampton
• Scholarship committee → application deadline is March 31st
• Delegates needed for MTA annual meeting 4/28 and 4/29 in Springfield MGM
  • Due to our increased membership we now have 12 slots → email Kira for nominations on these slots

Item III: Secretary’s Report

APPROVED 3/14/2023

Meeting of the NASE Executive Committee

Click here to download

Tuesday,  February 14, 4:00

JFK – Community Room

In Attendance: (26 participants)

Sharon Carlson, Vanessa Coates-Cooney, Jennifer Hayden, Mareatha Wallace, Kimberly Bowler, Veronica Douglas, Kira Henninger, Karen Schiaffo, Paula Rigano-Murray, Kate Fontaine, Erica Lamanna, Heather Brown, Tammy Cook, Sara Simmons, Daria Steward, Ellen Brown, Helen Woods, Sara Churchill-Winsor, Laila Copperansky, Laura St. Pierre, Susan Rees, Jeromie Whalen, Ryan Parent, Deirdre Johnson, Erica Caron, Andrea Egitto

Excused Attendance:

Sandy Bombard

Andrea calls the meeting to order at 4:00pm.

Item I: Call to Order 

• BSS having a meet and greet for principal candidates – 2 out of the 4 were internal candidates
• Superintendent search committee will be meeting tomorrow night (2/15)

Item II: New Business

• 11 delegates needed for MTA annual meeting at MGM Springfield April 28th
  • Kira will chair this → email her if you have interest
    • Possibility of having this done in an electronic form if needing to know delegates ahead of time
• Concerns around inconsistencies with district testing of screeners and AimsWeb with whose roles is it
  • Further the conversation when we change over to the new screeners and benchmarking tools
• Was the Anti-Bias Discrimination Policy shared out?
  • Yes it has been shared out to members
• NHS questions around open house in lou of the department meetings (up to 90 minutes) of coming earlier for various reasons which could result in being there until 8 pm (2 hours)
  • Further the conversation with Principal around what is considered voluntary and respecting time “limits” and what has been past precedence 
• NASE scholarships need to form a committee to review applications/submissions
  • Need NHS members to be on the committee
  • Looks like there will be many applicants – do we want to go forward with adding 5 or 6 scholarships for slightly less award money? → to be discussed at the next EC meeting
• 2023 annual meeting vice president, treasurer, secretary, PR&R chair will need to have elections run on for nominees
  • Kira will chair this → email her if you have interest
• MTA MA Child Grant gives money out to schools for students/families in need
  • Feel free to reach out the Heather Brown with support
• Once every seven years we have 27 paid Thursdays in the year and we only get 26 pay periods this year, which will members → this will be shared out to members with notices
  • This results in 4 weeks without a pay period
  • Thursday, August 17th will be 26th pay of 22-23 school year
  • Missing the August 31st
  • Thursday, September 14th will be the 1st pay of the 23-24 school year

Item III: Secretary’s Report

• Amend 1/10/2023 EC minutes line (change of a word) from “… on behave of the Superintendent” to “…on behalf of the Superintendent”
• Amend 1/10/2023 EC minutes line from “…won the New England Educator Award” to “…named to the Wasabi Fenway Bowl Honor Roll for Educators”
• Amend 1/10/2023 EC minutes to add Sara Churchill-Winsor to excused attendance list

MOTION: to accept the secretary’s report as amended

Entertained by: Andrea

Moved by: Kate

Seconded by: Karen

Motion Approved: unanimously

Item IV: Treasurer’s report 

• Present budget as amended – budget for FY23
• Trial membership for MailChimp
  • Set up an information mail chain to members for a more streamlined method on upcoming meetings, important items discussed at EC meetings, ect. to personal emails 
  • Trial for 3-4 months to see how it works with our local and get feedback to see if this is something we want to continue into the further year
  • This is about 28$ a month for the communication size that our local needs
• W2s are updated to fit to the paper size → see or contact Sharon for this new form

MOTION: to accept the treasurer’s report as amended

Entertained by: Andrea

Moved by: Karen

Seconded by: Tammy

Motion Approved: unanimously

MOTION: to move $120 for the trial for MailChimp for 4 months (remainder of the year)

Entertained by: Paula

Moved by: Sharon

Seconded by: Jeromie

Motion Approved: unanimously

Item V: NPS budget 

• Members please communicate budget needs at city council meetings as well as with the mayor
• Members please communicate budget needs at the legislature level for chapter 70 funding for Northampton as well as around the Fair Share Amendment funding
• Superintendent never presented her budget in the 2/13 Budget and Property Subcommittee meeting
  • Superintendent asked all principals for building budgets by Friday (2/17) before leaving for February vacation and to have communication with staff that will be affected by Thursday (2/16) before vacation
  • NASE will be asking for an increase for NPS to level fund the budget – currently at 4% yet needs 7%

Item VI: School Quality Framework → postponed to 3/2023 EC meeting

Item VII: Membership drive 

• NASE Brag sheet
• Encourage non-members to join NASE! Focus on our shared values rather than the scare/fear tactics for joining

Item VIII: Adjourn
MOTION: to adjourn

Entertained by: Andrea

Moved by: Karen

Seconded by: Erica

Motion Approved: unanimously 

Upcoming meetings

February 28, 6:30 – School Committee Special Budget meeting

March 7, 4:00 Executive Board Meeting – Ryan Rd. Room 200

March 14, 4:00 Executive Committee Meeting – JFK Community Room – BSS provides snacks

Officer Reports

ESPs (Unit C)

Unit C: we continue to work on several disciplinary and legal issues. We attended the MTA Winter Skills Conference in Boston and attended workshops on contract language, LGBTQIA+ issues, writing effective surveys and more. Erica attended the first meeting of the Superintendent Search Committee. 

Cafeteria (Unit G)

Nothing new to report 

PR&R 

I have been meeting with admin and members this month. Some meetings for those seeking advise about contract wording, some for member to member conflicts. I have been working with delegates to train them on Weingarten Rights and how to protect the contract in a meeting.  I have advised those seeking grievances about why they can or cannot grieve certain incidents. 

Membership Coordinator

• 527 NASE members for all 8 units: A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H 
• 7 new members joined since our January EC meeting
• 4 were new hires and 3 were existing staff
• NHS and Leeds are leading with the most sign-ups!
• Please refer to your lists that I sent in my email on 1/28/23
• Included are new hires and existing staff in your buildings
• There are also enrollment forms with reduced dues listed
• Please check in with new and existing staff about how things are going
• Ask them about their successes and their challenges
• Discuss the benefits of NASE membership
• Hand out brag sheets and post brag sheet in break rooms
• Refer staff to the printed contract binders in break rooms
• Encourage ALL staff to know their contracts!

It’s important to get the word out about how NASE can be a powerful, collective voice, especially during this concerning budget season!

Thank you to all for your work welcoming and supporting staff and encouraging all employees to join NASE. Let me know if you have any questions.

Karen Schiaffo

NASE Membership Coordinator 

RKF/RR School Nurse & Building Delegate

schiaffo89@gmail.com

413-320-3608 

2/14/23

Communications Coordinator

I attended the MTA Winter Skills Conference and learned about hosting the website through the MTA. This could potentially save us $150-200 per year. I worked on setting up a mailchimp account to save time when emailing membership. Currently Andrea must email membership in groups of 50 requiring 10 sends every time she communicates with us. Mailchimp also allows us to create templates for monthly newsletters, etc. Due to the size of our membership, we would incur a fee to continue the service. The website has been updated with important upcoming dates including budget meetings and NASE meeting minutes.

President’s and Vice President’s Report

This past month we finalized a few agreements with management and discussed a few pre-grievance items for several different units. We met with both the superintendent and the new NHS principal to further collaboration. 

We attended the MTA regional leadership meeting in Jan. doing some brainstorming and networking with other area locals. 

We also attended the initial district budget meeting with the superintendent and the ALT to continue trying to avert painful cuts. Currently the district needs to cut more than 1.1 million dollars from the budget.

The president and other officers attended the MTA Winter Skills conference in Boston. 

We were able to negotiate an MOA to adjust the timeline for teacher evaluations at JFK and NHS due to the late hiring of principals at those schools. We were also able to negotiate an MOA for a stipend for the Jazz band at NHS and compensation for Unit B members that covered for the time NHS was without a principal .

APPROVED 3/7/2023

Meeting of the NASE Executive Board

Click here to download

Tuesday,  February 7, 4:00

Ryan Road School – Room 200

In Attendance: (12 participants)

Andrea Egitto, Karen Schiaffo, Paula Rigano-Murray, Vanessa Coates-Cooney, Tammy Cook, Kim Bowler, Heather Brown, Kate Fontaine, Sharon Carlson, Erica Lamanna, Sara Churchill-Winsor, Cyndie Ouimette,

Andrea calls the meeting to order at 4:03 pm.

Item I: Call to Order – Check-in

Item II: New Business

• Delegates needed for MTA annual meeting in Springfield MGM
  • Paula Rigano-Murray, Sharon Carlson, Heather Brown, Sara Churchill-Winsor, Andrea Egitto, Karen Schiaffo
  • Usually have 11 slots, if we have more than that who want to go then we need to have an election
  • Date moved up to last week of April
• Email from Glenda about once every seven years we have 27 paid Thursdays in the year and we only get 26 pay periods this year, which will affect members → to be shared at the next EC meeting
  • This results in 4 weeks without a pay period
  • Thursday, August 17th will be 26th pay of 22-23 school year
  • Missing the August 31st
  • Thursday, September 14th will be the 1st pay of the 23-24 school year
• SVAHS negotiations update
  • Unit H is still currently negotiating 
  • Waiting for Crystal to print and send to Cyndie for signatures
• Contracts are printed and in place at the buildings
• Set up an information mail chain (MailChimp) to members to be more streamlined for upcoming meetings, important items discussed at EC meetings, ect. to personal emails → secretary to oversee and set up
• NASE annual meeting will be the Wednesday after April break –  April 26th at 4:00 to be at SVAHS cafeteria
  • We will provide snacks

Item III:   Secretary’s Report

MOTION: to accept the secretary’s report

Entertained by: Andrea

Moved by: Paula

Seconded by: Kate

Motion Approved: unanimously

Item IV: Treasurer’s report – Present budget as amended – budget for FY23

• Winter Skills conference: reimbursement for expenses
• If needing a new W2 go on to ADP
• Concerns with incorrect W2s are being corrected and sent back out
• Is there a mileage reimbursement form for the conference?
  • This will be looked into for price per mile

MOTION: to accept the treasurer’s report 

Entertained by: Andrea

Moved by: Paula

Seconded by: Sara

Motion Approved: unanimously

Item V: NPS budget

• Superintendent to share out budget to School Committee coming up
• Shared at ALT meeting with administrators
  • Shared out: reduction in force notice needs to be notified on appropriate timelines around Unit A and Unit C
• NASE push will have to be towards city council and city council meetings

Item VI: Smith Voc (SVAHS) budget

• Budget hearing seemed to go well when presented

Item VII: Adjourn 

MOTION: to adjourn.

Entertained by: Andrea

Moved by: Kate

Seconded by: Paula

Motion Approved: unanimously

Upcoming meeting

February 14, 4:00 Executive Committee Meeting – JFK Community Room – NHS provides snacks

March 7, 4:00 Executive Board Meeting – Ryan Rd. Room 200

March 14, 4:00 Executive Committee Meeting – JFK Community Room – BSS provides snacks

Officer Reports

President’s and Vice President’s Report

This past month we finalized a few agreements with management and discussed a few pre-grievance items for several different units. We met with both the superintendent and the new NHS principal to further collaboration. 

We attended the MTA regional leadership meeting in Jan. doing some brainstorming and networking. 

We also attended the initial district budget meeting to continue trying to avert painful cuts.

Click here to download Minutes

Meeting of the NASE Executive Committee

Tuesday,  December 13, 4:00

Smith Voc Restaurant

In Attendance: (24 participants)

Andrea Egitto, Vanessa Coates-Cooney, Paula Rigano-Murray, Sharon Carlson, Heather Brown, Kimberly Bowler, Kate Fontaine, Karen Schiaffo, Jennifer Hayden, Mareatha Wallace, Jamie Lawrence, Kira Henninger, Veronica Douglas, Sandy Bombard, Noah Galko, Erica Lamanna, Ryan Parent, Leslie Skantz-Hodgson, Cyndie Ouimette, Deirdre Johnson, Helen Woods, Kevin Schmit, Susan Rees, Ellen Brown

Excused Attendance:

Sara Churchill-Winsor, Erica Caron, Daria Steward

Andrea calls the meeting to order at 4:01 pm.

Item I: Call to Order – Check-in

• Please sign in

Item II: New Business

• **FOR JANUARY MEETING: Could meetings for EC be changed to have separate meetings per building for a few months then a bigger district meeting? Maybe district based? Possibly have NPS EC and SVAHS EC then come together at the EB meeting with possible quarterly NPS and SVAHS EC? Then notes be passed along to be put together.
• Would like to revisit for the policy to deal with non discrimination/hate speech, the language around symbols were taken out as well as language for consequences/accountability
  • Large concerns with this happening at JFK
  • If someone can go to the next rules and policy committee meeting to start this conversation, conversations with interim superintendent, and school committee
• Clarify arrival time is 7:45 or is it 10 minutes before the start time bell of 8:00?
  • Unit A teachers are 7:50 and Unit C Paras are 7:25

Item III: Secretary’s Report

• The 10/2022 EC minutes were approved at the 11/2022 EC meeting
• Majority of the are ok with voting without the minutes in paper copy available
• Amendments to be noted
  • Language of line stating “PD seemed to be misorganized” changed to “PD seemed to be disorganized”

MOTION: to accept the secretary’s report as amended

Entertained by: Andrea

Moved by: Heather

Seconded by: Erica

Motion Approved: unanimously

Item IV: Treasurer’s report – budget for FY23

• Amendments to be noted
  • SVAHS chapter coordinator changed to 2,000 from 2,500

MOTION: to accept the treasurer’s report as amended

Entertained by: Andrea

Moved by: Sharon

Seconded by: Mareatha

Motion Approved: unanimously

Item V:  IXL and other curriculum purchases. 

• Interim Superintendent is asking for what buildings need
  • Budget Requests – What is needed in your buildings form
  • Please fill in requests before we leave for December break
• The Vertical Reading Team have been researching DESE approved programs, which this one isn’t, to disregard is not okay
  • No PD or planning time to implement this as well
  • Communication about it was horrible and abysmal
    

Item VI: Membership Coordinator’s report 

• Check your emails for a list of new hires and existing staff members that have chosen to not become members
• Dues are now prorated when you join

Item VIII: Contracts 

• All NPS contracts are now live and on the website (pdf form), printing 2 per building
  • Will be in a big binder with tabs per unit → in the works
• Waiting to sign the SVAHS Unit D contract.

Unit A

Unit B

Unit C

Unit E

Unit F

Unit G

Item IX: Adjourn 

MOTION: to adjourn

Entertained by: Andrea

Moved by: Sharon

Seconded by: Helen

Motion Approved: unanimously

Upcoming meetings:

January 3, 4:00 Executive Board Meeting – Ryan Road

January  4, 3:45 Meeting with the Superintendent – Room 107 NHS

January 10, 4:00 Executive Committee Meeting – JFK Community Room

Officer Reports

ESPs (Unit C)

We have been busy working on several potential disciplinary actions at multiple buildings. We will be working on an MOA clarifying language around stipends including pay out dates. After concerns were brought forth about PD, we are with the Collaborative to have 90 minutes of PD and 30 minutes for building para meetings, classroom tasks, etc. on half day PD days. Finally, no Unit A member has volunteered to be the PD Committee co-chair so Mareatha Wallace has been appointed. Thank you for stepping up. 

Cafeteria (Unit G)

Nothing to report.

PR&R 

(DEC. 2022) The Chair has been addressing issues within JFK, dealing with, but not limited to, meeting with the admin to address staff concerns, and meeting to discuss potential disciplinary issues with members.  The Chair has been meeting with Student Services admin and a member to discuss teacher duties, responsibilities, and their role.

A level 2 grievance was filed with the superintendent due to the non-renewal of a teacher during an extended leave. The meeting was attended by Kate Fontaine, Teacher Chapter Coordinator; Jason Mathis, MTA Field Rep; Layla Taylor, Attorney for the district; and Jannell Pearson-Campbell, Superintendent of Schools for NPS. We are waiting on a response to the hearing from the Superintendent and attorney for the district. The Chair has been answering member questions dealing with the Contract.

The Chair has been addressing concerns at different buildings. There are issues that could have become grievances (but were resolved in the pre-grievance process), issues that were directed elsewhere, or issues that will become grievances (early stages of information sharing at this time). Also, the Chair has assisted in issues that were not grievable. 

Membership Coordinator

• 67 new members joined so far this year (21 since October EC meeting)
• 21 new members:  10 Smith Voc, 5 Unit A, 5 Unit C, 1 Unit E
• Unit breakdown:
  • Unit A (Teachers +) = 31
  • Unit B (Admin) = 1
  • Unit C (ESPs/Paras) =  17
  • Unit D (SV) = 10
  • Unit E (Clerical) = 2
  • Unit F (Custodians/Bus Drivers) = 3
  • Unit G (Cafeteria) = 3

      There are approx. 530 NASE members 

(this number changes since there are rolling hires and separations throughout the year) 

• Please check in with new staff about joining NASE: check recent email for list
• Encourage existing NPS staff to join NASE:  see separate email for that list
• Discuss benefits of NASE membership, hand out brag sheets
• Post brag sheet in break rooms
• Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns

Thank you all for your diligent work welcoming and supporting staff and encouraging all employees to join!

Karen Schiaffo

NASE Membership Coordinator 

RKF/RR School Nurse

schiaffo89@gmail.com

413-320-3608 

12/13/22

Communications Coordinator

Latest meeting minutes have been posted as well as all new contracts.

Communication: Please send photos, links to articles on NPS, or information to share to Nasepublications@gmail.com

President’s and Vice President’s Report

This past month we have met with Interim Superintendent about ongoing issues in several buildings, are working on getting Memos of Agreement on some issues to help members,

and have met with other administrators to help uphold the contract. Attended the school committee meeting and forums to meet the candidate for NHS principal.

We have consulted regarding several members who needed assistance of MTA legal services and worked on PD issues. 

Meeting of the NASE Executive Committee of Delegates

Tuesday, November 8, 3:30 Meeting Minutes of the NASE Executive Committee of Delegates

JFK Community Room

In Attendance: (22 participants)

Vanessa Coates-Cooney, Paula Rigano-Murray, Sharon Carlson, Sara M Churchill-Winsor, Heather Brown, Kimberly Bowler, Brian Bagdon, Kate Fontaine, Erica Caron, John Selfridge, Karen Schiaffo, Laura St. Pierre, Jennifer Hayden, Mareatha Wallace, Jamie Lawrence, Kira Henninger, Kevin Schmith, Veronica Douglas, Sara Simmons, Sandy Bombard, Noah Galko, Erica Lamanna, 

Excused Attendance:

Helen Woods, Ellen Brown, Daria Steward

Heather calls the meeting to order at 3:36 pm.

Item I: Call to Order – Check-in

• PD seemed to be disorganized
• Keynote speakers seemed to be interesting, enjoyed the break out sessions per school
• Allowed PD at high school level to teach each other

Item II: New Business

• Possible MOA? might be cut in future budget cuts and would get their previous position secured so their job is not in jeopardy – ETLs, IT
• Superintendent came to JFK faculty meeting to talk about budget and the direness
• Co-chair of Unit A that is also a NASE member needs to step up, if no Unit A could Unit C step up? Seems to be a Unit C member willing to step up
• Concerns with Paras being pulled so much to cover/sub classroom as well as not being in compliance with IEP needs
  • Administration is aware of this concern, about 30 subs waiting to be hired from HR, document when services are being missed