I have been trying to promote awareness of school violence in elementary schools. I’ve spoken with my state rep and state senator and even some reporters, but haven’t been able to make things happen. This group, which meets in the Holyoke MTA office, is doing productive work. I expect the issue to get state-wide attention some time in the next school.
My days are numbered, however.
I’m retiring at the end of next year. Anyone interested in picking up where I left off–particularly elementary school people– please let me know. I’ll put you in touch with Maryelen Calderwood.
At the last meeting, they had a representative from the Department of Labor Relations (DLR) come speak with them. Chicopee recently filed a successful complaint with them concerning dangerous behavior.
Here are the notes of the meetin.
- Mary Dozois of the DLR attended our meeting. She reviewed the DLR process, her role in that process; she fielded questions, one by one, providing excellent information about how complaints are handled and offered tips on crafting complaints in a way that might yield the desired response and, perhaps, outcome from any investigation. She reviewed the General Duty Clause, which, as we have come to know, are the rules under which the DLR operates with respect to municipalities (our interest). Most importantly, she listened to your feedback and offered to return to us as often as possible, bringing with her, perhaps, an investigator. This was a unique opportunity to gain some insight into how these government divisions operate, what restricts them and how they determine outcomes and potential actions. You all have takeaways from this meeting, but here are mine—ones that ring bells—feel free to share yours:
- Written reports crafted and kept by safety committees are important, relevant information that will assist the DLR in their decision making, especially when those reports document complaints to Districts and where the District failed to respond or did not respond in a manner that rectifies the issue—developing your own safety committee, as we have said, ad nauseum, is vital! And document, document, document.….
b. As a representative, I am often asked: “what about fines?” Well, the answer is that there are fines that can be imposed; however, they were set in the 90s (I was just listening to the 90’s rock on my commute, which took me back to how long ago that really was) and remain at $1,000 per violation.c. As someone who has been involved in organizing locals around workplace violence for the last eight(8) years, the argument over whether to call these incidents “violence,” “assaults,” “battery,” has been ongoing between DESE and the DLS. Given the sensitive nature of the environment in which these incidents take place (children, schools), the DLR eventually settled on describing them as “employee injury caused by student behavior.”
- You all agreed to meet during Summer Conference to begin talking about next steps in your organizing. The day will be determined, but some were looking at the last day of the Conference: Wednesday, July 31. The time, location and confirmation of the date have yet to be settled.
- You all agreed that a coalition conference/statewide caucus is the next best step. Some agreed to work on a committee to organize this.
- You all agreed that the next meeting date will be Monday, September 30, 4:30 p.m., Holyoke.
Mark
Secretary, ELEA