LMEA EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

December 12, 2005

President D. Pendino called the meeting to order at 4:04 PM.

V. Fedeli made motion to approve the November 2005 Executive Council minutes – sec. by G. Rosazza - Approved.

Jill Friedman from the Philadelphia Futures Program gave a short presentation. This program deals with children in less fortunate surroundings in Philadelphia and encourages them to stay in school and maintain their education. The program searches for individuals, groups, etc. to provide funds for their work. This program is searching for mentors for their students. Those interested in being mentors should fill out a form available from building reps or call 1-800-538-5316 for more information.

Officer’s Reports:

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

• Identity theft issue – District is not negligent for misplaced list of employee personal information. D. Pendino sent letter to Dr. Savedoff requesting employee personal information protection. Will District switch to electronic transfer of information? District has no clear answer. District says they have sound business practices and they are audited every year. Currently the district has 5 TSA carriers. Members are concerned. Question about if Citistreet could provide some ID theft insurance? Will be investigated.
• Flex Card Subcommittee – Flex debit card was not the benefit we bargained with the district. The FLEX PLAN was the benefit. Members are running into problems using the card/getting money back. D. Pendino made motion to form an Ad Hoc committee to investigate the feasibility of switching to a better Flex Debit Card carrier. This committee will report back to CNC. Motion passed. Contact C. SantaMaria if you are interested in being on this committee. Members concerned about getting their cards canceled - if cards get canceled you still get the flex plan benefit – you just have to fill out the form and mail it in.
• D. Pendino made a motion to send notices to LMEA retired members to encourage them to vote for Ed Frank, former LMEA officer, to represent retired members as a PSEA Mideastern region delegate at the NEA Representative Assembly. Motion passed.
• Applecore items were discussed.

VP Support: V. Fedeli wished Happy Holidays to all and gave the following report:

• V. Fedeli, D. Mandarino, and L. McDevitt attended a Mideastern Region ESP Division Meeting on December 6 th. This meeting is the annual Toys for Tots Holiday dinner and toy collection. Over 200 toys were donated. Also, the PSEA website will be updated making it easier to use. The website will also have an ESP window. Members are encouraged to check the website and give feedback about the redesigned site. Also, the Mideastern ESP region is the largest in Pennsylvania and is still growing. The LMEA is the largest ESP local with 562 members and is also still growing. Congratulations to all!
• KRONOS – The new self service system is up and running and is easy to use. Seeing real time attendance, punches, and accrued time is quite helpful for members. If you don’t have a LMSD mailbox yet contact Human Resources to get started.

1 st Vice President: NR

VP Professional: A. Flicker reported she attended a PSEA task force meeting on merging locals on November 30 th in Harrisburg. Their objective is to make a manual on how to form merged (EA and ESP) locals. They hope to have the manual completed sometime next year. Also, the PSEA House of Delegates was held Dec 9 th and 10 th in Philadelphia.

Secretary Support: NR

Secretary Professional: NR

Treasurer: D. Mandarino made a motion to accept the financial report for November 2005. – Approved.

Committee Reports:

Constitution: NR

Elections: NR

IPD: NR

CNC: L. Giaquinto reported their next meeting will be December 15 th.

FAC: NR

Health & Safety: A. Flickerreported they are meeting on December 22 nd. Heating problems in some schools are being worked on. Concern about some rooms being too cold and having the rooms’ temperature limited at levels which are too cold. – Will be investigated.

Legislation: G. Rosazza reported on the current status of the TABOR and Act 72 legislation. Members are encouraged to contact their state representatives and urge them to vote against TABOR and Act 72 bills currently in the State legislature. TABOR is also known as the “Tax Payer Bill of Rights” and proposes to cap state spending beyond a certain percentage increase. This would certainly hurt state-funded programs and reduce funding to education and other mandates. Act 72 deals with “back-end referendum” which would put proposed school district budgets up for approval by local referendum. PSEA supports neither TABOR nor Act 72 legislation.

Minority Affairs: NR

PACE: Given by P. Dawson for C. SantaMaria. BCMS is leading in PACE contribution. Payroll deduction forms should have been turned in by December 9 th but you can still contribute via personal check.

PR&R: P. Dawson reported that an arbitrator ruled that the coaching grievance be upheld. Also, contact the LMEA if you receive an unsatisfactory evaluation.

Public Relations: NR

Social: NR

Special Services: NR

Sunshine: NR

Membership: D. Grumbine asked reps to check the accuracy of building lists. Member was hired into administration – will they still have dues deducted? - Yes until the end of the year.

CARE: NR

Building Reports:

Belmont Hills: NR

Cynwyd: NR

Gladwyne: NP

Merion: Ongoing concern about lack of substitutes.

Penn Valley : NR

Penn Wynne: Question of why district is charging for flu shots when our health plan covers them? – Will be investigated.

Bala Cynwyd: Question if support staff is paid for the full day if there is a late opening/early dismissal? – Yes. Also, question about the definition of a “good faith effort” in getting to school during a late opening. – Employees should try to get to their buildings safely.

Welsh Valley : Gifted teachers have taken IEP days in the past now no IEP days for them – why the change? LMEA understood gifted teachers were special ed teachers. LMSD print out of employees receiving benefits when the District was costing benefits did not show gifted teachers. This info was not shared with LMEA. LMEA supports including gifted teacher in a new memorandum. The District wants to exclude gifted teachers.

Lower Merion : Concern from support staff about 14 hours – email just was sent today 12/12 but there is no way to check or to get a receipt of hours completed.

Harriton: NR

Building and Grounds: NR

Transportation LM: NR

Act 48 hours with technology workshops – do we get hours for these workshops? – Forms available from B. Dolton. P. Dawson made motion to adjourn – sec. by G. Rosazza. The meeting was adjourned at 5:14 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Stettner, Secretary