Connections
Anacortes Education Association                                             August 2006 – Vol. 2, Issue 1

 

Promoting the cause of public education, by assisting in all statewide activities of the Washington Education Association and by representing AEA members to the public, the school board, the administration, and the profession.

 

Your Association Leadership

Putting Members First

President – Peter Donaldson, Mt. Erie

Vice President – Carl Dellutri, AHS

Treasurer – Roxanna Moser, Whitney

Secretary – Dawn Greenield, Island View

Building Reps: AHS – Ron Campbell, Jon Ronngren, Janet Clark, AMS – Carol Springs, Doug Dore, FID. – Patty Johnson, Tina Franulovich-Martin, IV – Kecia Fox, Didi Funk, Whit. – Kathy Ruckdaschel, ME – Angie Miller, Suzy Boyes

Grievance Officer: Scott Burnett

Information

·         Bookmark the following web address for a PDF version of our Association Contract: (we will update with the new contract in Sept.)

https://staff.asd103.org/unions/index.cfm

·         Bookmark the following web address for a link to our Association Website:

http://cms.washingtonea.org/wea/my/local/AnacEA/aeatitle.htm
 
Text Box: President’s Message Welcome Back It’s that time of year again. I hope you’ve all had relaxing, enjoyable summers. I’m excited to be starting the school year again and am looking forward to making our local Association even more committed and responsive to the needs of the members. I’d like to use last year’s success as a springboard for an even more active Association. I know what this time of year is like for all of you, so I wanted to use this newsletter as a way to get some important information in your hands before school starts. As most of you know, in June we reached a tentative agreement with the District for a new three-year contract. Membership voted to ratify the agreement. Here’s a list of new provisions which take affect September 1: • We’ve converted the old hourly TRI schedule to a percentage-based schedule. The percentages are calculated according to each FTE’s step on the state allocation model (yearly salary). You will see a percentage increase for each of the three years (7.5%, 8%, 9%). Members still need to keep track of TRI time. • There have been some changes in our mandatory hours as well. In the final year of our current contract we increased to 16 hours. For the first year of the new contract the District has added 3.5 hours for safety training, for a total of 19.5. In years two and three, the District will add 3.5 teacher-directed mandatory hours to take us to a total of 23. • There are no longer any Professional Development Stipend funds. The annual amount of $375 per FTE was rolled into the compensation package. Each member is still entitled to one day of sub pay for professional development opportunities (requires administrator approval) • Our insurance “carve out” amount was increased slightly and converted to a percent. It will remain at 60% for the three year contract. Last year it amounted to $25 or about 45%. • Class size at grades 5-6 will be reduced from 28 to 26 starting with the 2008-2009 school year. • In the 2008-2009 school year, the agreement provides one additional personal day, “effective in 2008-2009, four (4) days leave accumulative to five (5) days)”. This means if you use all 5 days the previous year, you will start September with 4 days instead of three. continued – see “Welcome Back” to

 

Important Dates

 

·      August 29 – First Work day (3.5 hours only) – Safety Training, District lunch at High School*

·      August 30 – District Work Day  (7 hours) – AEA Lunch at IV School 11:30-12:30*

·      August 31 – 181st Day (7 hours) --Building  Work Day*

·      September 5 – First day with students

·      October 9 – LID day, leaves apply

Open House Dates*

·      September 6 – Whitney 6-8 p.m.

·      September 7 – Fidalgo 6-8 p.m.

·      September 26 – Island View 6-8 p.m.

·      September 26 – Mt. Erie 6-8 p.m.

·      September 6 – AHS 6-8 p.m.

* These days require attendance for pay, leaves do not apply.

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*These are Ma
 

 


Making WEA Work for You

Contacts

WEA – PO Box 9100, Federal Way, WA 98003-9100,

1-800-622-3393, www.washingtonea.org

WEA is an incredible resource. If you haven’t visited the website recently, you should. In particular, check out the member/services tab. You can also follow the WEA’s legislative efforts.

4th Corner Uniserv Council – 1800 James St, Bellingham, WA 98225-4623 (360) 733-3344

 

 

 
 
Text Box: Welcome back – continued New contract highlights: • There is an increase in the overload payment when classrooms are above the agreed upon size limit. • Teachers are not required to supervise students at elementary music concerts. • High School and Middle School teachers now have fair compensation language in place for times when you may be asked to teach during your planning period. • Employees who are involuntarily transferred shall have the right to meet with the Superintendent. Here are some other issues not related to the new contract to consider as you begin planning for this upcoming year. • Remember to use professional judgment for all e-mail transmissions. Anything you send can be read by anybody. • Our local Association dues will increase from $10 to $15 a month starting in September. This change was voted on by members at our General meeting in April. • Take course work to receive endorsements in multiple areas. It will improve your position should RIF language be applied. Talk to Chris Borgen. The District is even willing to consider financial help to pursue additional credits • I would ask all of you to take a minute and update your personal information with WEA if you’ve had an address or name change recently. Send your info to tbaier@washingtonea.org • Consider joining WEA-PAC. There are several payment options available. You’ll hear more on this from Association leadership. Finally, please talk to your building reps if you have an issue that’s related to the contract. The Association will do everything it can to find support, advocate or otherwise work to improve your situation. Also I’d appreciate ideas about the usefulness of the newsletter. Please feel free to communicate with your Executive Board about how to make an even more effective Association. Have a great start to the school year. Peter Donaldson -- President Text Box: This Just In … News from WEA – Straight to you Sign up now and save! WEA/NEA-Retired is the only retiree organization for educators that is affiliated with the WEA. By joining WEA-Retired as a pre-retired member, you can pay the lifetime dues of $250. Lifetime dues increase to $350 beginning Sept. 1, so join now and save. Are you a highly qualified teacher? A new downloadable flowchart is available to help you find out if you’re “highly qualified” under the so-called No Child Left Behind law. Check out the June issue of WE or visit http://www.washingtonea.org Loan forgiveness Individuals who are now or who are seeking to become highly qualified special education teachers may qualify for a loan forgiveness of up to $17,500 under a new federal provision signed into law earlier this year. The “Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005” also applies to certain full-time secondary school math and science teachers who meet the federal “highly qualified” definition. Details are at the following case-sensitive URL at http://studentaid.ed.gov/LoanForgivenessForTeachers.