EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING, February 4, 2004

President D. Pendino called the meeting to order at 4:06 pm.

A. Thomas made motion to accept the January minutes. Second by G. Rosazza – approved.

Officer’s Reports:

President’s Report: D. Pendino gave the following report:

1. Every year some of our policies and practices are reviewed and updated if needed. D. Pendino made motion to change policy #6 to read, “Whenever possible, all General Membership meetings of the LMEA shall be held in the LMHS cafeteria or the LMHS or the LMHS auditorium.” – amended. D. Pendino made motion to change policy #11 to read “Minutes of the LMEA General Membership and Executive Council meetings and copies of the Applecore will be posted on www.lmeaonline.org. – amended. D. Pendino made motion to maintain policy #25 – approved. D. Pendino made motion to change policy #27 to read, “A phone will be provided for the President for Association business. All expenses for this phone shall be assumed by the Association.” – amended. D. Pendino made a motion to maintain policy #29 – approved. D. Pendino made a motion to maintain policy #30 – approved. D. Pendino made a motion to maintain policy #32 – approved.

2. Sunshine Committee Guidelines – D. Pendino made a motion to change item “b” of the guidelines to read “Flowers or gift to be sent to any member in case of major illness or accident after 15 days of absence. ($35.00)” – approved.

3. D. Pendino appointed 2 members to the CARE group – Jackie Gaines and Myra Rios.

4. Audit committee will make a report at the March Executive Council meeting.

5. Budget committee will meet March 3 and April 14 to prepare the 2004-05 LMEA budget for the April Executive Council meeting for recommendation to approve at the May General Membership Meeting.

6. Eboards – expectations are that students will use it to get assignments.

7. Teacher email addresses will soon appear on the District website. Addresses will be accessible by a search instead of an open list. Responses to emails should be done in a timely manner.

8. Retirement analysis – all members who are considering retirement in the near future should have a retirement analysis done. Contact your TSA carrier.

9. Community Advisory Appointment – D. Pendino appointed C. SantaMaria to be on this committee as LMEA rep. This committee organized by the District will try to develop a plan for the high schools’ renovation/construction.

10. Applecore items were discussed. Information regarding tuition reimbursement, unit meetings, and snow days are among the topics addressed this month. Also, D. Pendino asked opinions about late openers and closures due to weather. Some members are questioning if there could be an option for teachers to attend to put in a day’s work when school is closed for students.

VP Support: V. Fedeli gave the following report:

1. AESOP – Support staff as of February 9 will use AESOP to record any type of absence. There are 2 methods to record your absence; by telephone or by computer via the internet. With any method it is important to write down your confirmation number that AESOP will give you. That number will be used as a reference in case there are any concerns about the absence. DON’T PANIC if you made a mistake and can’t correct it – when you return to work, have your supervisor or Human Resources make the necessary changes. Any questions regarding this system should be directed to your supervisor or Human Resources.

2. Kronos – Not all support staff use Kronos – it is the method that will be used to
calculate time worked. Kronos works like a time clock, but instead of punching a card, you swipe or place your badge in front of the card reader. The reader will record your start and stop times. Most Transportation Department employees will have multiple swipes due to their work schedules. If you have questions about Kronos please contact your supervisor or Human Resources.

3. Compensatory Time – The contract states, “Compensatory time, if agreeable between the employee and the Principle or Supervisor, shall be substituted for overtime payments.” The key word to remember is “agreeable”. If you and the principal or supervisor have agreed that the overtime you intend to work is to be given as time in lieu of money then you should be granted 1_ the amount of time as payment. For example, 1 hour of overtime worked equals 1_ hours of compensatory time. The compensatory time may be taken at an agreed time within the school year. If you have questions about compensatory time please contact V. Fedeli at 610-331-8015.

4. Retirement Meetings – PSERS will sponsor the following meetings for members considering retirement: March 16 and April 22 at 4:30 pm at Upper Darby High School 601 Lansdowne Ave. March 10 and April 20 at 4:30 pm at Norristown High School 1900 Eagle Drive. March 31 and April 26 at 4:30 pm at Strath-Haven High School 205 South Providence Road.

5. Transportation Department – On Monday January 26th schools were closed due to snow. On Tuesday January 27th schools opened at the regular time with icy road conditions. Michael Andre, Director of Transportation, reported there were NO accidents from our drivers. On behalf of the membership, V. Fedeli would like to congratulate our Transportation Department as they continue to demonstrate professional skills under the worst conditions. Great job!

VP Professional: NR

1st Vice President: NP – C. SantaMaria is at a CAPS meeting.

Secretary Support: NR

Secretary Professional: NR

Treasurer: Motion to approve treasurer’s report for January. Approved.

Committee Reports:

Constitution: P. Dawson reported that they met recently to discuss the moving of the
Minority Affairs Committee from an Ad-Hoc to a Standing Committee with the following language: “K. Minority Affairs 1. The Minority Affairs Committee shall explore the areas of need and interest of minorities to better foster human relationships; shall identify problems and concerns; and shall develop methods and programs to meet those needs. The Committee Chairperson shall act as a liason to the officers and other committee chairs. 2. To be eligible for the position of chairperson of Minority Affairs, the employee must be a minority member of either the professional or support staff.” P. Dawson made motion that EC approve proposed language. What is the definition of a minority? We would apply PSEA and NEA definitions. Motion seconded by M. Rios – approved. General Membership must approve for change to be official. Chairperson would vote on Executive Council.

Elections: E. Brophy distributed ballot information for the LMEA Elections which will be held in May. Anyone interested in becoming a candidate please notify her at Merion ES 610-664-8759 or at brophye@lmsd.org.

IPD: NR

CNC: NP – Chairs were at CAPS meeting. D. Pendino announced that the new Tuition Reimbursement Subcommittee will meet soon.

FAC: NR

Health & Safety: A. Flicker reported they have a meeting during the week of February 17th.

Legislation: G. Rosazza reported the email list is just over 200 members. He also encouraged

members to register on the PSEA website to receive timely information on current legislative issues and have access to form letters to send to state legislators. Contact him at rozz347@yahoo.com

PACE: NP – C. SantaMaria is at CAPS – P. Dawson, however, eagerly gave the report stating the total contribution is nearly $9,800. P. Dawson proudly announced that Lower Merion HS has the most contributors at 61 and the highest building contribution at $2,810 while Cynwyd ES has the highest contribution percentage at 62.7% of members contributing to this worthwhile cause. If you wish to contribute to PACE, please contact C. SantaMaria at Harriton for information.

PR&R: P. Dawson briefly summarized the written report on current grievances. Grievance on the “blue folders” is ongoing. Also, there will be no references to eboards in evaluations this year. Members are strongly encouraged to contact P. Dawson if there are any abuses to these policies. Unsatisfactory evaluations should also be reported.

Public Relations: NR

Social: NR

Special Services: NR

Sunshine: D. Williams would like feedback on flowers that have been recently sent.

Membership: NR

Minority Affairs: J. Gaines thanked the Constitution Committee for their work in addressing the Minority Affairs Committee issue. Minority Affairs Conference will be held in Pittsburgh on March 19th.

Blue Ribbon: NR

Job Descriptions: NR

Career Paths: NR

Special Ed Task Force: NR

Labor Management: A. Flicker reported they are hearing plans from Blue Cross.

Building Reports:

Belmont Hills: NR

Cynwyd: NR

Gladwyne: NR

Merion: NR

Penn Valley: NR

Penn Wynne: NP

Bala Cynwyd: NR

Welsh Valley: Concern about WV auditorium being rented out after school. This is causing some scheduling problems – will be investigated.

HH: NR

LM: NR

B&G: Concern about selective overtime – members would like to see chronological list of overtime – concern they are not properly assigned for work – will be investigated.

Transportation LM: Question regarding dues – when is the cut-off date for half dues contribution? – D. Grumbine stated any hire date after January 23 is at the half contribution rate – information is being sent. Also, on 1/27 parking lot was very icy and several falls reported – no salting was done at first due to more overtime for B&G – normally salting is done but on 1/27 it wasn’t for the above reason - will be investigated. Also concern about letter threatening loss of health benefits if no request made for FMLA – will be investigated.

Transportation Harriton: NR

Administration: NR

P. Dawson made a motion to adjourn – seconded by J. Cook. The meeting was adjourned at 5: 26 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Stettner, Secretary