LMEA EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

February 11 , 2008

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

President C. SantaMaria called the meeting to order at 4:04 PM.

D. Williams made motion to accept the January minutes – second by V. Fedeli. Passed.

Officer’s Reports:

President’s Report: C. SantaMaria gave the following report:

• Update on ISGO/GSDO and February 14. February 14 is the day prior to the 4-day President’s Day weekend. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) coming stating that ISDO/GSDO days will no longer appear on the calendar. Feb 14 this year will be approved for personal days – no one will lose Feb 14 as personal day this year. However, next year personal days will likely not be approved for the day before that weekend. Will these ISDO/GSDO days be noted as time teachers have put in? – Yes. Could the Friday before President’s day be a school day in the future? – Yes, possibly. The school board has the final say on the district calendar and where the 188 contract days fall. This MOU will also include that staff will be released 1 hour early on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Flex hours – will be docked if 14 hrs not met.
• LMEA Emergency Phone Tree – in the event of an emergency we should have a phone tree for LMEA leadership to contact reps and committee chairs.
• Timeline for bargaining – our current contract expires in 2010. CNC will be meeting monthly in 2008-09 and 2009-10. They will go through the contract item by item to address issues.
• Applecore items were discussed – It appears premium copay will be applied beginning in the 2008-09 school year. $25 per month for a family plan for professional staff and $12.50 per month for support staff. This money will be deducted before taxes. Also in the Applecore, if you have issues with a colleague please contact the LMEA before going to administration. Also, LMEA elections are coming up in May. If you are interested in running for a position contact Elaine DeStefano at Merion at destefe@lmsd.org. Information on the duties of these positions will be coming. Also – our LM bus drivers again showed their flexibility to help the district recently when the district was caught in a legal squeeze. The newly leased property at the old Connolly site temporarily was without bathroom facilities and a staff lounge but the bus drivers had to move out of the LMHS site by a legal deadline. Our drivers displayed admirable flexibility for the short time between leaving the LMHS site and getting bathroom/lounge facilities at the new site. This is just one example of the many ways our members have worked around adversity created by the capital construction program. Our continued flexibility will be a point of strength for the LMEA in the future.

VP Support: V. Fedeli reported the Staff Nurse Job Description draft has been released. If you are a Staff Nurse and you are interested in reviewing this job description draft please email Victor at fedeliv@lmsd.org or call him at 610-331-8015. When a list of volunteers is compiled Vic will schedule a meeting for volunteers at the LMEA office. Your input is needed to make this process work. If you have contacted Vic in the past about working on this job description please do so again so your name will remain current on the list. Thank you in advance for your support. Victor will continue to keep the membership informed as other job descriptions are released.

1 st Vice President: NR

VP Professional: NR

Secretary Support: NR

Secretary Professional: NR

Treasurer: D. Mandarino made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s report for January. Approved. Note increase in interest with new ING account.

Committee Reports:

Constitution: NR

Elections: NP

IPD: NR

CNC: NR – but next scheduled meeting will be March 26 at the LMEA office.

FAC: L. Megow will be the point person on 403b plan development.

Health & Safety: A. Flicker noted to please try to rectify H&S issues within the building first.

Legislation: M. Stettner reported that beginning in July 2008 school psychologists in PA will have 60 calendar days instead of 60 school days to complete an assessment. Also, the PA Board of Education recently voted to move ahead with a plan to require students to pass a series of state-sanctioned exams before receiving their high school diplomas. The 11-0 decision triggers a regulatory review process likely to be several months long. The Board is expected to take a final vote after this review process.

Minority Affairs: M. Mixon noted the Minority Leadership Conference is March 14-16 in Pittsburgh.

PACE: A. Pass reported on contributions so far. Contributions have exceeded $18,000 this year. If you still want to participate, the contributions can only be in check/cash form now – too late for deductions. All members are encouraged to participate in this worthwhile cause. April 1 is the deadline for contributions to count for the coveted PACE trophy.

PR&R: P. Dawson reminded if you AESOP one full week prior to your day you will be ok.

Public Relations: NR

Social: L. McDevitt requested to let her know of anyone retiring this year for the banquet.

Special Services: A. Avellino reported on a cell phone discount through AT&T – details coming soon. Also, AC Moore discount cards are no longer available through Amy – cards are available by submitting an online form or at the store. Also visit www.psea.org for other discounts in your area.

Sunshine: NR

Membership: D. Grumbine reminded and thanked reps to/for attention to membership lists.

CARE: M. Rios reported at their last meeting the district had a consultant who led the committee in discussion about the book “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race (Paperback) by Beverly Daniel Tatum. The Gladwyne librarian had given the attendees exposure to excellent books by a famous African-American illustrator that the district will consider purchasing for the libraries.

Act 1: NR

NEA Read Across America: D. Mandarino reported bookmarks and multi-volume books have arrived to give to our Elementary libraries. The bookmarks will be handed out to children on Dr. Seuss’ birthday, March 3 rd, to honor Read Across America.

Education Foundation: D. Simon reported there has not been a meeting since last month’s report.

Building Reports:

Belmont Hills: NR

Cynwyd: NR

Gladwyne: Questions about LTS beginning mid-year and having to pay full year dues. Those beginning before 1/28/08 follow PSEA guidelines based on date of hire that full dues are assessed.

Merion: Question about if you schedule a personal, IEP, or sick day and that day becomes a snow day, will that day be deducted from your accrued time? – Will be investigated. Also, does the district have a new policy regarding student teachers and allowing a teacher to only have one assignment per school year? Some staff feel this is not equitable. – Will be investigated.

Penn Valley : Concern about the 10 minutes to be added to the end of the day next year – people are upset and want to know how it will be used. The 10 minutes will be instructional time added to the end of the day at all levels – at the time of the meeting it had not actually been determined.

Penn Wynne: NR

Bala Cynwyd: NR

Welsh Valley : NR

Lower Merion : NR

Harriton: NR

Building and Grounds: Request that printing of Weingarten Rights cards be done again and distributed to members. P. Dawson has some already and will get them to B & G.

Administration: NR

Transportation: NR

LM Transportation: NR

A. Avellino made motion to adjourn. Second by J. Cook.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Stettner, Secretary Professional

Lisa McDevitt, Secretary Support