The ELEA Unit A Collective Bargaining Agreement vote is now complete.  There were 180 responses.

Hello Unit A and Unit E Members, 

Brian Freeman will be managing the ELEA election by email ballot this year. You need to request a ballot from me at brian.freeman@eastlongmeadowma.gov in order to vote, stating your name and your school.

Ballots will be emailed directly to those who request them on Wednesday, June 14th (voting day). 

You may request a ballot anytime from now until 3:25 PM on Wednesday, June 14th.  Ballots will be due at 3:30 PM on Wednesday, June 14th.  No ballots will be accepted after this time.

Brian will also send a reminder on voting day, next Wednesday.

If you have any questions or procedural concerns please see your building representative or do not hesitate to contact him.

Conflict of Interest Law Training is a state requirement. We have to do it every two years.

This year, it must be completed by May 1 by all ELPS employees.

 

Due to traffic problems at Meadow Brook School, our September meeting will be held at

 

Birchland Park Middle School

3:30 PM

Executive Board Meetings take place monthly at 3:30. Meeting locations rotate throughout the ELPS school buildings. All Unit A and Unit E members are welcome to attend.

September 21 Meadowbrook  Birchland Park Middle School

October 19 Mapleshade 

November 16 Mountainview

December 21    Birchland Park 

January 18   High School

February 15  Meadowbrook 

March 15   Mapleshade

April 26 Mountainview

May 17  Birchland Park

June TBA

Collaborative Days (all Tuesdays) will be the following:  

September 27

October 25

 January 24

March 28 

April 25.

 The April Department meeting will take place between April 6-12.   

ELEA Building Representative Vacancies at BPMS and ELHS

There are  vacancies for building representatives at ELHS (1) and BPMS (1). Election Chair Carol Forward will be sending out information for nominations.  Voting will take place electronically. Unit A members at those schools are eligible to vote. The BPMS vacancy was due to the retirement of long-time rep Kim Kehoe. The ELHS vacancy occurred because the Executive Board voted to appoint Mark Bail as ELEA secretary. Kris Nordin was serving as secretary when the Executive Board voted to appoint her and Abby Steiner to fill Eliel Gonzalez’s unexpired term. All of this was done per the ELEA Bylaws.

ELEA Website

ELEA Secretary Mark Bail has set up a website through the MTA. It’s still under construction. We will be adding links to the contract, meeting agendas, minutes, and contact information. Right now, the site is public, but it will eventually require you to log in to access more sensitive information.

Retirement Plus increased the amount of money teachers paid into  the Massachusetts Teacher Retirement System (MTRS). It went into effect in 2001. Teachers hired after July, 2001 would pay 11% their pay into their retirement.

Teachers who started prior to 2001 had been paying 9% of their pay into their retirement fund. They had the choice to continue paying 9% and receive less money in their pension or pay 11%. Most teachers opted into Retirement Plus. 

Some teachers, through no fault of their own, fell through the cracks. The MTA has been trying to help those teachers. If you have any doubts about what you’re paying into the system, check your pay stub. Or ask an ELEA building rep or officer for help.

Our MTA field representative Jason Mathes is trying to reach all of the teachers who did not opt into the system. 

Here’s a message from him:

If you haven’t already received questions about the Retirement Plus settlement, then expect them any day, especially as we come back to school.  As a union, we filed legislation to fix the problem that some of our members, through no fault of their own, were not properly placed in Retirement Plus.  As I understand it, this mostly affects people who were mid-career changers and/or those that went from the ESP ranks to teaching.  It cannot affect anyone hired after 2004 because they were automatically enrolled in MTRS Plus. 

If a member believes that they are not in retirement plus and would benefit from this legislative fix, they need to go to this link and fill out the form.

https://form.jotform.com/222264763049054

 We believe that this fix will help approximately 2,000 people.  But we expect to thousands more inquires. 

Carol Forward, ELEA Elections Chair, has been notified that there will be elections for building representatives at BPMS and ELHS.