East Longmeadow Education Association

I’m not sure what the Union News has to do with it, but the survey is legitimate.

The following survey will be included in the Union News email to members this week, asking members to help us advocate for solutions to this crucial problem by filling out the survey before April 4. Link: bit.ly/MTASafetySurvey

PRESENT: Rebecca Tidlund, Erica Nissenbaum, Kris Nordin, Abby Steiner, Kris Rueger, Sara Scibelli, Hilary Coughlin,, Valerie Sousa, Susan Thomas, Patrick Morrissey, Lisa Fitzpatrick

GUESTS: Chris Tyler, Allison Mulvey, Christy Parziale, Alex Lennon, Leanne Morissette, Kerri Laurenzo, Patti Kertanis, Lori Fallon

1. Treasurer Report. We’re all up to date on payments with the MTA. Patrick Morrissey moved. Rebecca seconded. All in favor.

2. Minutes October. Motion: Abby. Second: Susan Thomas. All in Favor.

3. Seniority List. Abby reminded everyone that the seniority list is not related to years of service in the MTRS. Final Draft goes out in December. New hires’ seniority will not be reflected until next year, though it still counts. 

4. Safety Subcommittee met and discussed language to refer to injuries and threats to

 teachers or other students. They decided on color codes for different behaviors. Also

 asked what policies and procedures were in place to deal with disrupted learning. 

 They are also working on developing a way to document incidents. The ELEA will discuss

  with ELPS, either at the central office or at the building level. develop policies and

   procedures for dealing with dysregulated students. The Western Mass Regional Safety

  Caucus. The meeting was canceled. Kris and Abby  and building reps are going to reach out to        Meadowbrook principal about the Principal Advisory Committee concerns.

5. Government Pension Offset/Windfall Elimination Provision.

     H.R. 82 has passed the House. We will be asking members to contact our senators 

     and Chuck Schumer.

6. Union/ELEA Representation Concerning Parental Issues. Issues with Overly Zealous

     Parents being very critical new teachers. This is happening to two NPT teachers at two

     different schools. The question is, what is administration and ELEA’s roles in these

     situations. There may be cases at other schools, though people haven’t come forward about it.

     Kris Nordin anticipates more issues with the curriculum. One issue is the implementation of the

     curriculum that should be at the central office level, but were addressed with a teacher.  Another

     concerns IEP implementation. Abby says the ELEA needs to push administrators to address

     those issues. For example, if a teacher requests an administrator to be at a parent-teacher

     conference, the administrator needs to be there. 

7. Other. Hilary Coughlin brought up the issue of ELEA members attending school committee

    members. She and two other teachers went to the school committee meeting. She thought that

    the school committee was caught off guard. She thinks it would make a statement if other

    teachers would like to go and present a sheet for people to sign up. Erica asked if this action

    was endorsed by the ELEA. Kris Nordin said that other locals have used it as 

    a bargaining tool or a matter of emphasis on an issue.

          A guest brought up a teacher being bullied by a school committee member and thinks

    it is a good way to make it known that the school committee is being watched.

          Kris Nordin said ELEA reps can remind people that meetings are open. 

    Another Other. A guest asked where the union comes in when teachers don’t feel

    supported, particularly with parents. Kris: A principal takes care of their staff. If they 

    need assistance, they seek it from the superintendent. Sara clarifies the question, what 

    happens when the building principal isn’t supported? The answer was, it’s situational. 

   Another Other. Suzanne Thomas brought forth complaints about the curriculum director, the coaches, and the new curriculum. There’s a concern that the coach might be reporting back about teacher fidelity to the curriculum. The reading teachers have concerns

   about the curriculum, which is made for students with dyslexia. 

   Another Other. Concerns about a negative interactions with the curriculum director who swore

   while students were entering the classroom. There have been other issues.

   Sara said the negotiating team needs to look at the coaching job in the future.

    Motion to 

    Adjourn:  Erica Nissenbaum

    Second: Kris Rueger

    Vote: Unanimous

ELEA Executive Board Meeting 

September 18, 2024 💠 High School

3:30  PM

ATTENDANCE: Rebecca Tidlund, Erica Nissenbaum, Kris Nordin, Abby Steiner, Tim Mullett, Kris Rueger, Sara Scibelli, Lisa Fitzpatrick, Hilary Coughlin, Angela Emiterio, Valerie Sousa, Susan Thomas, Patrick Morrissey

1. Treasurer Report. Checking Balance: $19,527.81 Savings: $29, 18.99. We have been successfully audited by Accurate Accounting. This is a yearly process required by the MTA. 

Laptop Insurance Costs. Erica reported that we paid $1500 to the ELPS for the laptop insurance account. Since July, there have been seven screen replacements. This is significantly more damage than in previous years. Erica says it might be worth a discussion of how to make the account sustainable. Abby asked if IT or the ELEA should send out a message about the costs of screens. Kris Nordin wonders when exactly the damage took place and what people are saying. She thinks we should send out the message, rather than the school system. We should also be careful of how we word our message. People might need to know how to take care of the laptops to prevent unnecessary damage. Pat wondered if there might be some laptop protectors that would be beneficial. Sara wondered what other town departments were doing to pay for computer damage. Kris Nordin said we could consider buying screens. Another concern was damage caused by children. 

Rebecca made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report. Sara seconded. The report was approved unanimously. 

1. Approval of the August Minutes. Kris motioned. Hilary seconded. The minutes were unanimously approved. 

1. Opening of school. The Meadowbrook kindergarten team says concerns about student behavior were raised last year and have been addressed by the administration. The PAC is being implemented at Maple Shade and Mountain View, and the Assistant Principal seems open to implementing them at Meadowbrook. At BPMS, the year seems to have started well. The administration seems to be more by the book with both students. Some staff are less happy with administration going by the book on them. The administration is following the contract. 

1. At Mountain View, there are concerns about the curriculum implementation and mixed messaging about how it should be implemented. The rollout has been a disaster. There is a lot of frustration. Teachers do not feel like they are addressing the needs of the students with the curriculum. At Meadow Brook, there are concerns about Common Planning Time being micromanaged. It takes place during the prep period. It feels like the coaches are being pitted against the teacher. At the high school, attendance has improved. Administration will now take responsibility for handling the loss of credit for absences.

1. Donors Choose. An administrator wanted the ELEA to remind staff about procedures for requests to Donors Choose. Staff need to discuss requests with the principal. ELEA must be notified. Administration needs to be aware of requests. Kris suggested it be put in the monthly update. 

1. PowerSchool (special programs, Messenger, 504s). We have a new IEP format and a new system for accessing IEPs. SPED teachers don’t know how to edit. Information is not easily accessible. We would like our curriculum and student services directors to provide the information we need. There is also a lack of knowledge of who are liaisons and ETLs for students. A new SPED director will begin working in the next couple of weeks. Dani Labarre,  Stephanie Jakus and Patricia Scully represented us on the hiring committee. The candidate pool was small. There were a number of people who were not going to be interviewed.

1. Degree Advancement on the pay scale in contract: 

There is a greater than normal number of people moving up steps due to education. It’s taking a long time to process their increases. People will get paid retroactively.  

1. Other. Meadowbrook wants issues with Common Planning Time and the inequities between schools dealt with as soon as possible. This was an issue that was brought up during negotiations and the negotiation team can bring it up again. One day a week, Meadowbrook loses a prep period to Common Planning Time. The contract allows it, but it’s not equitable. The CPT is turning into professional development. The other elementary schools have six prep periods and lose one to CPT. Meadowbrook gets five prep periods and loses one to CPT.

1. Discussion about Safety in the Schools. We discussed concerns at all 5 buildings and the need to form a committee to address these concerns.  

MOTION: Erica moved to create a school safety committee. 

SECOND: Abby

VOTE: Unanimous

Motion to adjourn meeting :  Rebecca

Second: Erica 

Next meeting:  October 16 at Meadow Brook 

ELEA EXECUTIVE BOARD MINUTES

December 18, 2024

Attendance: Hilary Coughlin, Rebecca Tidlund, Erica Nissenbaum, Suzanne Thomas, Lisa Fitzpatrick, Patrick Morrissey, TJ Howell, Kris Nordin, Abby Steiner, Kris Rueger, Mark Bail, Timothy Mullett 

Guests: Leigh Plahna. Stacia Diaz. Danielle Larkin. Alex Lennon

1. Treasurer Report. We have $20,000+ in checking and $29,000 in savings.

  Motion: Rebecca Tidlund. Second: TJ Howell. Vote: Unanimous

• November Minutes Approved

            Motion: Kris Rueger   Second: Kris Nordin  Vote: Unanimous (TJ Abstained)

• PD Encumbrance for Class and Shortened Time to Complete Classes.

Email from Pam Blair to ~10 people. DESE is mandating PD encumbrances must be closed out by December 31. A couple of people are having a hard time completing the PD in time. They thought they had a full-year to complete the work. The change in DESE policy has made reimbursement difficult. The District will need everything completed  by November. 

1. New Employees know that their January check will include a sick bank donation that is counted as December 25th. 

1. Lower Pioneer Valley Bargaining Collective. Jason Mathes has convened this to coordinate between locals and share information. Locals were comparing contracts and East Longmeadow’s paraprofessional contract was the second best. The ELEA contract was used as a model. Health and Safety is now being negotiated into contracts. Workers Compensation only pays 60% of their pay. Negotiations are pushing to have Districts cover the remaining 40%. Other Districts are complaining about and negotiating about excessive curriculum implementation.

1. Retirement Plus Legislation. Passed the legislature. MTA is requesting people call their state senators about supporting the legislation for people who didn’t buy into Retirement Plus. WEP is up in the senate for social security.

1. Grinspoon Pioneer Valley Excellence in Teaching Awards and ELPS Educator Hall of Fame. There’s information coming out. The Collaborative Committee met. Hilary Coughlin advocated to include paraprofessionals in the Educator Hall of Fame. They would also be recognized at the Recognition ceremony at the end of the year. There are several teachers who have been retired from teaching for five years. And they will be recognized.

• Seniority Lists: Unit A and E. These are out. Seniority is not the same as years for MTRS. 

• Western Region Safety Caucus. Tentatively scheduled for 1/13/25 @ 4:30. Abby reported that a Meadow Brook paraprofessional was injured by a student.  We are looking to gather facts about incidents that have happened and discuss with Administration. 

10. Other:

Mapleshade: Concerns were expressed that grades are being departmentalized next year. Apparently, Mountainview is not. Some teachers will team up and share students. One teacher will remain self-contained. Some teachers are being asked what set up they would prefer. She just wants the ELEA to be informed. 

Common Planning Time:  Mapleshade has more planning time, but they are required to meet with the math coach three times a month and once with Heather Brown. They’ve been told CPT will change to Professional Learning Communities with protocols, etc. Her department head told her to give two days for Terms 2 and 3 to spend four entire days planning. Why are they planning if they expect a change in the format for next year? Questions were raised regarding if the principal and curriculum director are on the same page. 

One guest stressed that she wasn’t making a formal complaint. She’s just trying to understand and get context on what’s happening.

Another said the principal at Mapleshade is meeting with people separately, and some people feel left out. There seems to be a lot of buck passing to the District.

Kris Nordin asks what the Mapleshade teachers are specifically concerned about, so she can address their concerns. 

Mountain View: Hilary mentioned that there are no nurse substitutes available. Kris and Abby will look into it. 

   Motion to Adjourn:  Timothy Mullett 

            Seconded: Kris Rueger 

ATTENDANCE: Tim Mullett, Sara Scibelli, Hilary Coughlin, Dawn Quercia, Abby Steiner, Kris Nordin, Erica Nissenbaum, Nancy Carver, Bill Sears, Paula Burke, Julie Elkhay, Rebecca Tidlund, TJ Howell, Lisa Fitzpatrick, Patrick Morrissey

1. Treasurer’s Report.

MOTION: Julie Elkhay

SECOND: TJ Howell

VOTE: Unanimous

Erica explained that we used the remainder of money in our now defunct Fair Share Account to help fund three students ELHS attendance at Girls State. The account became defunct after SCOTUS overruled fair share contributions from non-union members.

The MTA is behind on its reimbursements to the ELEA. 

1. Secretary’s minutes from March meeting

MOTION: TJ Howell

SECOND: Rebecca Tidlund

VOTE: Unanimous

ABSTAIN: One

1. Negotiations Update, Ratification 

We started open bargaining, and the ELEA is receiving feedback. Unfortunately, some issues are too late to introduce into the collective bargaining. Some of the rules prohibit new issues. Yesterday’s negotiation was very frustrating. A lot of talk without decisions. The ELPS was bringing up issues that weren’t even germane to negotiations. Use of five collaborative days is an issue. Teachers contend the days are not used for anything meaningful. 

1. ELEA representative elections in June – set dates 

Brian Freeman will handle the election logistics. 5/22 Call for Nominations, 5/29

              Announce Candidates, 6/12 Elections

1. Letter from Guidance staff at BPMS

There is a restructuring of the special education department. Guidance sent a letter with Tim to Abby and Kris expressing concerns over the impact of the Guidance Department. 

1. Update on Meadow Brook and Administrative Concerns. Meeting with Jason Mathes. Originated with CAT team and morphed from contract negotiations to unhappiness with the situation at Meadow Brook. Some of the situations happening at the school are ridiculously bad. People wanted a vote of no confidence. Jason suggested collecting evidence and then figuring out action. 

Jason helped guide the discussion into three different tracks for evidence collection: 1) Sexual harassment by custodian. He’s expressed interested in a second female employee. Paula Burke will lead on that issue. 2) “Health & Safety.” Increasingly dangerous student behavior threatening staff safety and condoms left on the playground. No volunteers to handle this track. 3) Problems with the principal’s job performance and interpersonal communication with her. Any objective concern presented to her ends up being the concerned persons feeling at fault. 

1. Other

Important Dates

• • Benefits Fair – April 25 at BPMS, 1 – 4 p.m.  The school business manager sent out an email, but it didn’t go out on time due to a technical issues.

• MTA Delegates Meeting and Elections – April 26 and 27.

• • Deadline for Encumbrances including PD – Tuesday, April 30 

• ELPS Staff Recognition – June 6 at High School, 3 – 5 p.m. 

MOTION TO 

ADJOURN:   BILL SEARS

SECOND: JULIE ELKHAY

VOTE: UNANIMOUS