LMEA EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

January 9 , 2006

NOTE: These minutes are also available online at www.lmeaonline.org.

President D. Pendino called the meeting to order at 4:07PM.

C. SantaMaria made motion to approve the December 2005 Executive Council minutes. S. Angel noted LMHS building report in the December minutes should note that not all support staff received emails regarding the 14 hours. December minutes will be amended to reflect this. – Second by D. Williams - Approved.

Officer’s Reports:

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

• PSEA Financial Education Workshop will be held Wednesday February 22 at the Mideastern Region PSEA Office in Montgomeryville, PA. Call 1-877-504-4488 option 7 for more info.
• LMEA Spring Banquet is scheduled for Wednesday May 31, 2006 at Clothier Hall. Concern about only giving a gift to those who attend the banquet may be slighting those who are retiring but didn’t attend – also the roasts/skits sometimes are a turn off. Will be discussed.
• Instructional assistant flex time – some workshops are not immediately after school – flex hours should immediately follow workday – district says the variety/quality of workshops will suffer if the workshops are all right after school – IAs will be asked if they prefer to be paid for time beyond their workday or if they are willing to give up some of their time for more date options and more offerings from the district.
• Severance pay, imputed income/life insurance, and other Applecore items were discussed.
• Professional members will be receiving a ballot in the mail for electing reps to the NEA-Representative Assembly. Please vote for your region officers Jerry Oleksiak, Linda Weaver, Jim Sando, Donna Milner, and Randy Hulings.

VP Support: V. Fedeli gave the following report:

• NEA-RA ballot – Support members should have received their NEA-RA ballot in the mail. Please fill out the ballot and mail it back. Please do not discard it. Your VOTE is needed. We have 3 support members on the ballot – Frances D. Benjamin, Clarence Rowland, and Alden Washington. These members will represent PA and they are from our local. The ballots must be returned by January 31. We are one of the largest ESP locals in PA but if we do not exercise our right to vote then it all means very little. Also, if you vote only for our 3 members it would improve their chances of getting elected. Thank you for responding to this need.
• Accrued Flex Hours – Last month one of the building concerns was how the flex hours were being recorded and what could be changed to improve it. The district is working on a couple of programs. The District is in the process of deciding which program would be the best to implement. A resolution is in the near future.

1 st Vice President: NR

VP Professional: C. SantaMaria reported on recent developments on ‘backend referenda’. This legislation would require any school board that attempts to raise local taxes above a set percentage to put that tax increase out to the voters in the form of a referendum. If the district has its tax increase denied by the voters the result would likely be cuts in programs, cessation of construction projects, or even reduction in staffing. These results could happen as early as next year if this ‘backend referenda’ legislation is passed. We must prevent a hard-line referendum that does not allow formula exemptions from mandates, construction, healthcare costs, etc. Email, write, and/or call your state legislator ASAP. Your legislators’ names and phone numbers are listed on the back of your PSEA membership card. Would contacting other state senators help? – Possibly but they are more likely to be interested in hearing from voters in their own district.

Secretary Support: NR

Secretary Professional: NR

Treasurer: D. Mandarino made a motion to accept the financial report for December 2005. – Approved. If you have any questions regarding the monthly financial reports contact Dom.

Committee Reports:

Constitution: P. Dawson reported they will meet on Thursday 1/26 at LMHS at 4 PM – they will review the LMEA constitution and by-laws so they are in line with PSEA recommendations.

Elections: NR

IPD: NR

CNC: NR

FAC: NR

Health & Safety: A. Flicker reported they are working on various issues. Please let A. Flicker and L. Giaquinto know if any health and safety issues arise and are not handled by building administration.

Legislation: G. Rosazza acknowledged the importance in defeating or the softening of ‘backend referendum” legislation.

Minority Affairs: D. Williams reported they will meet Wednesday 1/11. This year’s Minority Affairs conference is scheduled for March 17-19 in Harrisburg – attendance will be limited.

PACE: C. SantaMaria reported on current contributions – BCMS currently has the most contributors and highest total so far. Members may still contribute. Send forms and checks to C. SantaMaria at Harriton.

PR&R: Speech and Language therapist grievance won – let P. Dawson or V. Fedeli know of any unsatisfactory evaluations.

Public Relations: NR

Social: NR

Special Services: NR

Sunshine: NR

Membership: NR – but reps should check member lists for accuracy. Let D. Grumbine know of any errors.

CARE: NR

Flex Card: C. SantaMaria reported there are other companies with debit cards. District is not interested in looking at other carriers with debit cards at this time. LMEA will continue to investigate the issue and may convene the Labor Management Committee to see if the member benefits package is being effectively met. Flex Card Committee will meet on Thursday 1/12. A. Flicker added that members are rather unhappy with the cumbersome process of using the debit card to tap their flex spending account. Committee has not yet found a provider with a better plan. Remember the benefit is the sheltering of money in the account and not the debit card.

Building Reports:

Belmont Hills: NR

Cynwyd: NR

Gladwyne: Do both spouses get maternity leave? – Both get child rearing. Male can apply for FMLA. Blood drive on 1/27 from 2-8 pm for student at LMHS – the drive will be for the student... Contact Rachel Spiegel at Gladwyne for more info. Her email is spieger@lmsd.org.

Merion: Ongoing concern about lack of heat in some rooms. Instructional Assistants were offered flex time for faculty meetings but lost flex time on 11/23 – check with Anne Heffron.

Penn Valley : Tuition reimbursement – could timelines be published in the Applewrap? – They will be in next issue.

Penn Wynne: NR

Bala Cynwyd: Maintenance employee is over age 60 – does he have to shovel snow? – He needs a physician’s note for exemption, age alone isn’t enough reason. What if some staff cannot make the District’s offered workshops? – District will be as flexible as they can – Can college classes count toward their workshop time? – No – will be investigated.

Welsh Valley : When is money given to those opting out of health insurance? – On the second pay in January and on the second pay in June.

Lower Merion : NR

Harriton: NR

Building and Grounds: NR

Transportation LM: NR

R. Spiegel made motion to adjourn – Second by D. Williams. The meeting was adjourned at 5:18 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Stettner, Secretary