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May 10, 2022 Executive Committee Meeting
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.
May 3, 2022 Executive Board Minutes
Meeting of the NASE Executive Board
Tuesday, May 3, 2022
Zoom 4:00-5:00 p.m.
over ZoomC
Minutes
The board discusses arrangements for recognition of the Juneteenth holiday at SVAHS.
The board accepts the secretary and treasurer’s reports.
The board discusses the details of the NASE end-of-year social.
negotiations update – interrupted by MTA Annual Meeting
The board begins to discuss updates to the on-going contract negotiations, but this topic is set aside so the board may discuss the MTA Annual Meeting on May 20 and 21.
The board discusses negotiations with NPS:
Next negotiation meeting: May 16th, 5pm, NHS
Stand-out at city hall: May 19th, 2:30-5:30
The vice president asks for input into the next meeting with the superintendent.
The board reviews which chapters still need coordinators.
In Attendance
Andrea Egitto, Carl Mead, Cyndie Ouimette, Sharon Carlson, Brian Bagdon, Paula Rigano-Murray, Heather Brown, Kate Fontaine, Karen Schiaffo, Erica Lamanna, Maria Vega
Minutes
Note: Remarks attributed to meeting participants are approximations, not quotations.
Andrea calls meeting to order 4:03.
FIRST TOPIC: Juneteenth at SVAHS
Cyndie:
Unit H took a vote about whether to accept a superintendent’s day for June 19th. The vote failed, unanimously, so it will go into negotiations.
Andrea:
It was somehow combined with the fair, was it?
Cyndie:
Yes, they were going to have it put in as a stipend, and people were not interested in that.
NEXT TOPIC: reports
MOTION
to accept the secretary’s report as emailed.
Moved by Sharon.
Seconded by Paula.
Motion Approved, unanimously.
Heather puts the treasurer’s report on the screen for all to see.
Sharon:
At the end of April, we have collected 36,755.38 in dues.
We have 74,213.26 in reserves.
Our expenses for payroll, we have 29,175 outstanding in our budget.
For the socials, we’ve spent about 1000 dollars.
The PTO from Jackson Street gave us 320 dollars for the scholarship.
Heather:
We should ask Sara about the Venmo for the scholarship fund from annual meeting.
Sharon:
Available, we have 11368.32, so we can attend MTA annual meeting and hold the end-of-year social, even without a grant reimbursement, and not cry.
Andrea and Sharon discuss the arrangements and payment for Herrell’s for the end-of-year social (June 9th).
MOTION
to accept the treasurer’s report.
Entertained by Andrea.
Moved by Carl.
Seconded by Maria.
Motion Approved, unanimously.
NEXT TOPIC: end-of-year social
Andrea:
Kira is organizing the end-of-year social. We have the same pavilion reserved. Kira has talked with the Local Burger food truck to get there. Sharon is going to put down the deposit with Herrell’s.
One concern in the past was over the fee for parking. We do have a few options for how people can park and not need to pay (park at JFK), but no one should be forced to walk if that’s a hardship. We can reimburse a few parking fees.
It is members only. BYOB. Bring games. They have chairs, but you can bring comfier chairs.
The date is June 9th. We have the pavilion from the morning until sunset.
Heather:
Does either food truck have a minimum?
Andrea:
Let’s ask Kira.
Cyndie:
Do they have a vegetarian option? And how do I get my food?
Andrea:
Local Burger has a vegetarian but not vegan. No ticket or anything, just sort of the honor system.
Paula:
They gave you a number when you order, and then they call it out.
Andrea:
I think we padded the food order a little last year, so we ended up having a little more food left over.
Kate:
I can get drinks again from CostCo? And Herrell’s does have dairy-free options. And Local Burger has gluten-free options.
Andrea:
Yes.
NEXT TOPIC: negotiation update
Andrea:
You heard Cyndie’s update at annual meeting.
INTERRUPTED – Annual Meeting Discussion
Andrea:
Karen what was the attendance there?
Karen:
I think it was 77.
Andrea:
I would have loved to have more people.
Cyndie:
SVAHS had only five, and it was at SVAHS.
We might want a committee to revitalize that.
Prizes? Raffles?
Maria:
What if it had more in common with the end-of-year meeting? Where it’s kind of a party but also a meeting?
Karen:
Would we have to change the by-laws?
Cyndie:
Yes.
Carl:
We should consider having the delegates committee members serve on these committees and have more people chances to interact with the union in a non-negotiation, non-grievance framework.
Cyndie agrees about the opportunities for getting people involved in the union.
Cyndie:
We could do a raffle where we get prize and we don’t raise much money, but it raises interest.
RESUMED – negotiations
Andrea:
Next negotiation meeting: May 16th, 5pm, NHS
Stand-out at city hall: May 19th, 2:30-5:30 → they meet at 7
Plus, Paula reminded me about the action network tool we used last negotiations meetings. It allows members to easily contact city councillors.
Andrea and Maria discuss grievances. NASE is filing a level-3 grievance in responding to a cut secretary position.
The board discusses letter-writing. Heather, Paula, and Kate will work on it.
NEXT TOPIC: superintendent meeting
Heather:
We’re meeting with the superintendent tomorrow.
Does anyone have anything they’d like us to discuss?
Andrea:
Apparently, our IT department wants to collect the chromebooks in early June. That will be a problem.
NEXT TOPIC: chapter coordinator slots
Karen:
Has there been any interest in the open chapter coordinator slots?
Andrea:
I asked Barbara to reach out to Sarah, but I haven’t found out yet if we need to find another cafeteria worker to take on that work.
And those are the two of the smallest units.
Cyndie:
Is it possible to absorb one unit into another? It might be something to think about.
Andrea:
The problem is how different the contracts are from one another. Cafeteria runs on that revolving fund that isn’t exactly a part of the school budget.
Cyndie:
Or could a member of a different unit be the coordinator for that unit?
MOTION
to adjourn.
Moved, by Carl
Seconded, by Sharon.
Motion Approved, meeting adjourned, 5:09.
April 5, 2022 Executive Board Minutes
Meeting of the NASE Executive Board
Tuesday, April 5, 4:00 PM
over Zoom
Minutes
The board accepts two reports. Some discussion of dues dispute with the MTA.
The board discusses arrangements for NASE members to attend the MTA annual meeting on May 20 and 21.
The board discusses arrangements for the NASE annual meeting on April 27.
negotiation updates and adjournment
Negotiation teams provide updates and meetings adjourn.
In Attendance:
Andrea Egitto, Cyndie Ouimette, Karen Schiaffo, Sara Churchill-Winsor, Heather Brown, Carl Mead, Kate Fontaine, Sharon Carlson, Paula Rigano-Murray, Erica Lamanna
Minutes:
Note: Remarks attributed to meeting participants are approximations, not quotations.
Andrea calls meeting to order at 4:11.
FIRST TOPIC: reports
No new business.
MOTION
to accept the secretary’s report as emailed.
Entertained by Andrea.
Moved by Karen
Seconded by Sharon
MOTION APPROVED.
Andrea:
Treasruer’s report.
Sharon:
Opening balance is 117,000.
MTA took at 35,000 this month, a sudden 7000 spike.
Andrea:
Jason told us that they were going to hold off on that for now and that we could appeal that to the executive committee.
That’s on their side, charging us dues from when our treasurer-work was in a position of flux during the pandemic.
And then we’ve also been getting our rolls up to date. 7000 is not right.
Karen:
We’ve gained only five members in March.
Sharon:
Otherwise it’s a healthy budget.
NEXT TOPIC: MTA annual meeting
Andrea:
There was a question about whether we’d set up money for food for our annual meeting after April break.
I couldn’t remember if we took out our line item in the budget for meetings.
Sharon:
We did take it out of the budget, but we do have 1600 in the contingency fund. How much mileage and gas have you put in for?
Andrea:
None.
There are also people asking about rooms and food for the MTA annual meeting.
Heather:
Rooms in the hotel were 269, but they’re closing the reservations on April 11th, and we might not have names for delegates until April 25th.
Sharon:
They don’t care what names you put in. How many rooms are we thinking?
A few doubles should be fine.
Andrea:
I’m planning on attending virtually, and Paula has a room as an MTA delegate. And then we have four people who are attending in Boston besides us.
So that would give us two rooms.
Heather:
We’re supposed to have twelve delegates. We need to get more people to go.
Andrea:
I was trying to get Karen to go virtually with me. And Sara, would you go?
Sara:
Yeah, I think I could go.
Karen:
What’s the day of this?
Andrea:
May 20th.
Sharon:
So two rooms?
Andrea:
With taxes, that’s 600, and then we can spend 1000 on food at our annual meeting?
Heather:
Do we need 1000 for food? Do they have a menu?
Cyndie:
I’ll let you know. I’ll look into coffee and water. And cookies and whatnot. We won’t need finger sandwiches or anything like that. How many people will we need?
Andrea:
I’m hoping at least 150. We’ll see if we can get everyone to come out what with negotiations and elections.
[Andrea catches up the officers who showed up.]
Heather:
So how should I reserve those rooms? We don’t have a credit card, do we?
Andrea:
No, just the bank account.
[Heather will be reimbursed.]
NEXT TOPIC: NASE Annual Meeting
Andrea sees in the chat that Carl will have to track down the minutes document for NASE annual meeting. It may be a document owned by the previous secretary. Carl will look for that after the meeting.
Andrea:
We’ll have elections at NASE annual meeting. Right now, there are no contested seats.
We have unit B, E, G, H coordinator slots that still need someone to be nominated for those positions.
If we do not have anyone sign up such that we get a contested election, we can just pass the slate of officers in one fell swoop. Otherwise, we’ll need to hold elections.
All the candidates for each office is the person who currently holds that office (except secretary as Carl is leaving the district). For secretary, Helen Woods.
There’s a chance SVAHS will have a tentative agreement, but NPS will likely not.
So we may do some organizing around negotiations if need be.
NEXT TOPIC: negotiations updates
SVAHS negotiation team provides an update.
NPS negotiation team provides an update.
MOTION
to adjourn.
Entertained by Andrea.
Moved by Sara.
Seconded by Heath.
MOTION APPROVED.Meetings adjourn 5:10.
March 8, 2022 Executive Committee Minutes
Meeting of NASE Executive Committee
Minutes
The committee discusses funding for members to attend a conference.
The committee welcomes Brian Bagdon as chapter coordinator for the custodians.
The committee approves the secretary and treasurer reports.
The committee discusses how to take in funds for the NASE scholarship, including the use of a Venmo account.
The committee discusses arrangements for the MTA annual meeting on May 20 and 21.
The committee turns its attention fully to the NASE annual meeting on April 27.
Andrea offers updates from the latest rounds of negotiations.
Andrea discusses officer reports.
The committee discusses results of a survey on possible school calendar changes.
The committee addresses a few final pieces of business.
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.
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