LMEA EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

June 11, 2007

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

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

The minutes from May’s Executive Council meeting will be released ASAP to be approved at the September Executive Council meeting.

A. Flicker presented D. Pendino with a gift from the officers for his eight years as LMEA President.

Officer’s Reports:

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

• June 15 will not need to be made up by professional staff. In the future if a late start becomes a closing day, the day will be considered an emergency closing day.
• Maternity leave, childrearing leave, and Family Medical Leave Act – Dr. Yoder informed the LMEA that the district’s interpretation of the FMLA is “paid time off – vacation, sick, or personal time is approved paid time off, but it will not be counted as time worked.” Consequently, according to this interpretation you may not qualify for FMLA for the previous 12 months if you were sick or on leave. This particularly affects women on maternity leave. The LMEA disagrees with this interpretation based on sound legal opinions researched by the PSEA legal department. If you are denied a FMLA leave, please contact the LMEA immediately.
• D. Pendino welcomed the new building reps and newly elected officers for 2007-08.

VP Support: V. Fedeli reported on the House of Delegates held in Philadelphia on May 18-19. Gov. Rendell spoke at this meeting and thanked PSEA for our support during his campaign. He also stressed making our legislators aware of our support of public education funding. Also, elections for PSEA officers were held at this House of Delegates. The new PSEA officers are President Jim Testerman, VP Mike Crossey, and Treasurer Jerry Oleksiak. Jerry Oleksiak is a special education teacher from Upper Merion and was President of our region of PSEA. Vic wished all a good summer and reminded he is in school during the summer and can be reached via his cell # 610-331-8015 or his school # 610-645-1870.

1 st Vice President: NR

VP Professional: NR

Secretary Support: L. McDevitt reported on the recent banquet - about 100 attended. D. Pendino thanked L. McDevitt for helping to organize the banquet.

Secretary Professional: M. Stettner reminded about the upcoming PSEA golf outing at Lederach Golf Course in Harleysville on Monday June 25 th. Anyone can sign up – you don’t have to be a PSEA member or district employee. The cost is $85 for the golf outing. Contact M. Stettner at LMHS for more info.

Treasurer: NR – The May Treasurer’s report will be up for approval at the September Executive council meeting.

Committee Reports:

Constitution: NR

Elections: Results of the recent LMEA elections are in this month’s Applecore.

IPD: NR

CNC: NR

FAC: NR

Health & Safety: A. Flicker reported they met and discussed developing a wellness center in the new Rock Hill Road office – more info on this later as this is only in the beginning discussion stages.

Legislation: G. Rosazza reported on House Bill 1369 which would prohibit teacher strikes in PA. This bill is still being circulated for sponsors. Right now only 20 legislators in the House are supporting it but it is a movement that PSEA is watching closely. Question about legislation regarding English-only laws in some PA towns – not sure of status of such legislation. Contact G. Rosazza for more info.

Minority Affairs: NR

PACE: C. SantaMaria reported over $10,500 was raised in the campaign this year. Merion school was awarded the coveted PACE trophy at the banquet for having the most contribution dollars. Contact C. SantaMaria if you want to help with PACE in the future.

PR&R: P. Dawson reported on several of the many ongoing grievances. Question about how long after legal briefs are in until a decision is rendered? – It depends on case load of arbitrator and other factors. If any female member has been turned down for FMLA due to pregnancy have them contact A. Flicker or P. Dawson for advice and guidance on how to draft/submit their letters. The LMEA will work with these grievances throughout the summer.

Public Relations: NR

Social: NR

Special Services: NR

Sunshine: D. Williams reminded she will be here all summer and to let her know of any illnesses, deaths, etc. involving our employees and their families.

Membership: NR

CARE: M. Rios reported at their last meeting minority students from both high schools reported on their participation at the Del Valley Minority Student Achievement Consortium. They returned from the conference motivated to start a mentoring program with minority students from BCMS and WV. Also, reviews of the district’s actions to close the achievement gap and program offerings were discussed.

Act 1: NR

NEA Read Across America: NR

Flex Hour Form: D. Simon reported the new form should be available. S. Angel indicated there are some issues with flex hour approval and that some emails to admin have gone unanswered regarding this topic – will be investigated. Approval of flex hours seems to vary with the administrator. Members doing flex hours over the summer should fill out these forms and have the provider sign them. This form is for your own records in case of a conflict of hours completed. Form will be placed on the LMEA website www.lmeaonline.org.

Education Foundation: D. Simon reported that the grant applications should be acted upon this month – no further info. A banquet is scheduled for November 3 rd – does the LMEA want to fill a table at this banquet? D. Pendino and others believe we should support this cause. M. Rios made motion that LMEA purchase 10 tickets to support the Education Foundation of Lower Merion gala banquet. Brief discussion ensued. The ticket price will likely be $75 - $100 but still needs to be determined. Tickets will go on sale later. With this uncertainty A. Flicker made motion to table this motion until fall – second by P. Dawson.

Building Reports:

Belmont Hills: NR

Cynwyd: NR

Gladwyne: NR

Merion: Group of tech people hired in August wondering if they will get credit for vacation time since they were hired after July 1. No - vacation time is based on full years of service – if hired in August employee will lose that year toward vacation.

Penn Valley : NR

Penn Wynne: NR

Bala Cynwyd: NR

Welsh Valley : NR

Lower Merion : Concern about pool staff issue – possibly outsourcing lifeguards. Members affected have been notified. Experienced people are being moved and concerns exist about the quality of safety as a result of this outsourcing – will be investigated.

Harriton: NR

Building and Grounds: NR

Administration: NR

Transportation: NR

Regarding next year, C. SantaMaria stressed that we have at least one building rep attending each Executive Council meeting from each building and department. C. SantaMaria also gave credit to D. Pendino on his achievements during his presidency. D. Pendino again thanked all for their support. D. Pendino made motion to adjourn. Second by A. Flicker. The meeting was adjourned at 5:11 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Stettner, Secretary