LMEA EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

October 8th, 2007

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

President C. SantaMaria called the meeting to order at 4:03 PM.

D. Mandarino made motion to accept the September Executive Council minutes – sec by A. Avellino.

Amy Grosso from NEA Member Benefits gave updates on current benefits membership in NEA provides. Visit www.neamb.com and/or www.psea.org/memberbenefits.cfm for more info.

Staff from the Bala Cynwyd Aquatic and Fitness center provided some free weekly passes (see building reps) to their facility. The fitness center is offering us a corporate (discounted) membership if we get enough people to enroll with them. Currently the regular membership fee is $75/month. They are open from 5:30am to 10pm on weekdays.

Officer’s Reports:

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

• The LMEA office will be leasing a new color copier soon. The per copy cost will actually decrease from what we’re paying now. Also, we have received a water cooler for the office to reduce the number of plastic water bottles being discarded.
• ISDO/GSDO info – the correct deadline dates are November 1 st for a first semester activity and March 1 st for a second semester activity. As before, a total of 14 hours are required per year. The official calendar has for professional staff has 188 days + the 14 hours.
• Instructional Assistant forms – for keeping track of 14 hrs of flex time – do not get sent to HR - these forms are only for your personal records. We are working to get these forms on the LMEA website.
• Applecore items were discussed.
• Retirement presentation from Lincoln Financial will be held at 4pm on November 14 at the LMEA Office. The presentation will run for about 1 hour. If you’re interested in attending please RSVP at lmeducationassoc@comcast.net.
• NCLB update – Currently NCLB is being reauthorized and some proposed changes are quite disturbing – namely tying teacher salaries to standardized test scores. G. Rosazza urged members to please contact their local US Congressperson and express your concerns regarding NCLB.

VP Support: V. Fedeli gave the following report:

• The job descriptions for bus drivers and bus aides were recently approved by CNC. The instructional assistant job description is coming next. Vic has volunteers to review the draft for the IA job description and they will be meeting soon. Approval may be completed by the end of October.
• Flex log – These forms were distributed to IAs for them to keep a personal account of their hours in case of any discrepancy of hours reported. These forms were to be kept by IAs and not turned in to HR. If you need another form see your building rep.

1 st Vice President: A. Flicker reminded about the fitness club memberships.

VP Professional: NR

Secretary Support: NP

Secretary Professional: NR

Treasurer: D. Mandarino made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s reports for September. Concern about the budgeted amount for governance/conferences and why we were over budget in this category last year. Many people attended the RA and Gettysburg conferences this summer. Social Activities in the budget refers to expenses related to the annual LMEA banquet in May. Motion passed.

Committee Reports:

Constitution: NR

Elections: NP but there is an election on October 10 th for LMEA delegates to attend the PSEA House of Delegates.

IPD: NP

CNC: NP but they will meet later this month.

FAC: C. SantaMaria reported we have the ING account set up.

Health & Safety: A. Flicker reported they had their first meeting. District is interested in dealing with wellness of the staff.

Legislation: NR

Minority Affairs: NR

PACE: A. Pass reported they had a meeting several weeks ago. The campaign is up and running. Contact her if you have any questions.

PR&R: P. Dawson reported on current grievances. Reclassification of some secretary classes and verification of job descriptions are some ongoing issues. V. Fedeli briefly described the need for, and the process of, coming up with job descriptions.

Public Relations: NR

Social: NP

Special Services: NR

Sunshine: NR

Membership: D. Grumbine reminded building reps to check membership lists for accuracy and let him know of any errors. C. SantaMaria added we are looking into LTS issues. Question about when we’re receiving our new PSEA membership cards – they usually come later in the fall.

CARE: M. Rios reported they had a recent meeting to mark the 10 th anniversary of CARE. 3 CARE members were honored for their 10 years of active membership. Bernice Green from Harriton wrote a speech summarizing how CARE has helped create many successful programs in attempt to close the achievement gap in the district. Also a new minority staff mentoring program has been initiated where new minority staff will receive a buddy from within our minority staff.

Act 1: The new index for LMSD is 4.4% which is an increase of 1.0% over last year.

NEA Read Across America: NR

Board Elections: A. Flicker reported surveys are out to the local candidates. We will be interviewing the Democratic candidates on 10/18 and the Republican candidates on 10/25. A phone bank will be conducted prior to the election in November. All members who live in the District are strongly encouraged to support pro-public education candidates. Can we display lawn signs for candidates? Arlene will look into this. C. SantaMaria emphasized the importance of this election. Turnout will likely be very low. A. Flicker added we will not endorse anyone yet until we interview the candidates and the election gets closer.

Education Foundation: D. Simon reported their gala will be held on November 3 rd. They are looking for donated items that will be auctioned off.

Building Reports:

Belmont Hills: NR

Cynwyd: NR

Gladwyne: Concern about hot classrooms and staff working in them. Some rooms must close windows to reduce outside noise. If you feel your situation is dangerous/unhealthy you should contact your principal about possible relocation options. After years of conferring, the district seems unwilling to deal with this issue. J. Alvord added that the maintenance staff can only do what they are permitted to do by the district.

Merion: Question about what constitutes a domestic partner – you must be able to show you have a long standing relationship with the partner such as your names on a lease, mortgage, insurance policy, etc.

Penn Valley : NR

Penn Wynne: NP

Bala Cynwyd: NR

Welsh Valley : NR

Lower Merion : NR

Harriton: NR

Building and Grounds: NR

Administration: NR

Transportation: NR

G. Rosazza made motion to adjourn. Second by H. Erney. The meeting was adjourned at 5:41 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Stettner, Secretary