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

                                                               

ELEA Executive Board Meeting 

February 28, 2024

Meadow Brook 

3:30 p.m. 

 

1. Treasurer Report 
2. Secretary’s minutes from January  meeting 
3. Negotiations Update
4. Newton Strike and Implications (TJ) 
5. Update on Mapleshade Social Media Violation
6. Attendance at monthly ELEA meetings 
7. Other
8. Executive Session if needed 

ELEA Executive Board Meeting 

January 17, 2024

 

PRESENT: Sara Scibelli, Bill Sears, Dawn Quercia, Hilary Coughlin, Patrick Morrissey, Tim Mullett, Rebecca Tidlund, Nancy Carver, Julie Elkhay, Erica Nissenbaum, Kris Nordin, Abby Steiner, Mark Bail

ABSENT: Paula Burke, Lisa Fitzpatrick

Treasurer Report. We’re current with our payments to the MTA. Our current balance is $34,292.09. Kris pointed out that there was $60 deposited for occupational therapists for computer damage insurance.

MOTION: Julie

SECOND: Rebecca 

VOTE: Unanimous

 

Secretary’s minutes from December meeting. 

MOTION: Erica

SECOND: Tim

VOTE:  Unanimous

 

Follow up to Formal Letter of Complaint to Mr. Paige. Kris Nordin shared the letter with the executive board. There were some questions. Kris shared what happened after Mr. Paige received the letter. There was much discussion. Next steps were considered.

Social Media Policy at Mapleshade. The complaint was shared. A member delayed three months before reaching out to the ELEA. The Rainbow Club (an LGBTQ+ club) was included in all communications. Someone privy to the email screenshotted it and posted it on the Massachusetts Informed Parents site where it got a lot of attention. It went from there to the Libs of TikTok. There was identifying information about the students. The member was named. It came up in the Equity and Diversity Steering Committee. 

Abby approached the educator about the issue when she heard about it. The Administrator response at a staff meeting was lackluster, basically excusing the behavior. Abby says the posting was potentially a violation of the social media policy, which the principal didn’t investigate. The superintendent never considered it either. Abby sat with the member who wanted Abby to address it with the principal. Abby met with him for an hour.  There’s still tension between him and the member. 

We want to represent this member. It was a violation of a social media policy. 

MOTION: We send a formal letter to Conor Martin and Gordon Smith requesting an investigation into this incident.

Motion: Erica

Second: Hilary

Vote: Unanimous

 

 Mapleshade : Updated Mold testing and Social Media Usage

There are specific instances of surface mold, but the air quality was better for mold than the air quality outside.  Bill was approached by three different teachers about the mold. Principal Conor Martin will make the mold report available to staff. Abby was also approached by a member. There is a feeling that the staff doesn’t trust the word of the principal. The mold tester is approved by the MTA. He reportedly told the PAC that there would be no more testing this year. Patrick Morrissey said parents are talking about needing to address the mold at Mapleshade. Two teachers made a nondenominational  Christmas video and Conor posted it to his personal Facebook account. They approached Conor and he was unresponsive. He has since removed it. 

 

Negotiations Update

We’ve met three times virtually. Meeting next January 23 and the following week. They are looking through the materials from our listening meetings. Jason is researching area contracts via the MTA contract database. The negotiations team continues to talk to members. They are in the draft phase in terms of numbers and language. The priority, i.e. salary, is clear.

Other

Tim: There’s a student on their team who has set fires, brought knives to school, and smoked weed. The student has been suspended for 20 days. The teacher thought that the student’s bag would either be searched or kept in the office. There is a safety plan, but it hasn’t been followed by the administration. No one has seen the safety plan. The teacher feels like her classroom is no longer safe. The student has done something major every year. 

MOTION: Dawn

SECOND: Patrick

VOTE: Unanimous

ELEA Executive Board Meeting 

December 20, 2023

Birchland Park Middle  School 

ATTENDANCE: Abby Steiner, Kris Nordin, Julie Elkhay, Lisa Fitzpatrick, Sara Scibelli, Bill Sears, Tim Mullett, Patrick Morrissey, Hilary Coughlin, Dawn Quercia, TJ Howell

Treasurer Report. Accepted. 

MOTION: Mark

SECOND: Pat

VOTE: Unanimous

 

Secretary’s minutes from November meeting. Accepted. 

MOTION: TJ H owell

SECOND: Bill Sears

VOTE: Unanimous

 

Seniority List – Finalized December 30th. Abby says she’s still getting questions and valuable feedback on the seniority list. This year may have more issues due to changes in personnel in Central Office, though they are learning quickly. People are still confused about creditable service and seniority. 

Unit A listening meetings. They are now done. Sara says people are concerned about salary. Other than that, issues didn’t follow a particular theme. Some members brought up building issues that were not contractual issues. The elementary school meetings were complicated by multiple absences at Meadow Brook due to illness. Members did email Abby with concerns. Our timeline for bargaining is still holding. 

Update: Formal Complaint to Mr. Smith and Ms. Brown re: Curriculum. Abby and Kris met with them again about curricular demands. 

Other

Kris Nordin noted that we had delivered the letter of complaint about Gary Wright, that we voted on last meeting.

Signing up for professional development was complicated in November. There was too little aligned with our curriculum and too much on restorative justice. In January, there is a similar quantity of offerings, but a wider variety. 

Sara commented that  several people requested to do other things because there weren’t offerings for them. Abby called her out on it and requested a more consistent pattern of requesting PD. Heather allowed some people to work from home. This angered some principals who told people they had to come in. It caused a lot of irritation for people who went to different towns or needed to join virtual meetings at ELHS for PD. 

TJ: MTA members collected enough signatures to get the MCAS question on the ballot. There will be a push over the summer to drum up support for November.  The MTA has also been pushing the legislature to fund the contracts negotiated in higher ed. Also being pushed: to return the ability to strike to teachers. We’re hoping to get the legislature to support striking under the aegis of the First Amendment.

TJ also mentioned the controversy about the MTA’s resolution on Israel-Hamas. 

MOTION to Adjourn: Julie Elkay

SECOND: Tim Mullett

VOTE: Unanimous

ELEA Executive Board Meeting 

December 20, 2023

Birchland Park Middle  School 

 

1. Treasurer Report 
2. Secretary’s minutes from November meeting 
3. Seniority List – Finalized December 30th  
4. Unit A listening meetings – outcome of meetings, next steps
5. Follow up to formal letter of complaint to Mr. Smith and Ms. Brown – update. 
6. Other
7. Executive Session if needed 

 

Next meeting –   January 17 at High School  

3:30 p.m. 

ELEA Executive Board Meeting 

November 29, 2023

3:30

Mountain View  School 

1. Treasurer Report 
2. Secretary’s minutes from October meeting 
3. Seniority List – drafts 
4. Unit E – Job Description and Class Coverage language 
5. Unit A listening meetings 
6. Follow up to formal letter of complaint to Mr. Smith and Ms. Brown
7. Other
8. Executive Session 

---

Meeting schedule for the year: 

 

December 20  Birchland Park 

January  17 High School 

February  28 Meadow Brook 

March 20    Mapleshade

April  24 Mountain View

May 15  Birchland Park 

June TBA

Meetings begin at 3:30 p.m. 

Next meeting –   December 20  at Birchland Park