February 23, 2017

Meeting Information

WLEA Notes – February 23, 2017

  • It is once again time to contribute to MEA-PAC (Political Action). Our school has always been supportive. The basic contribution is $40 and the suggested contribution is $75. We will be turning in the contributions at the General Membership Meeting on Thursday, March 16th. Attacks against us are not stopping. PAC funds have helped us keep what we still have. Envelopes will be distributed. Please fill out all the information on the envelope. Turn your envelopes to either of us. Thank you!
  • OPIE -Outstanding Person in Education and Friend of Education Award Dinner on Wednesday, April 19th at the Wixom Community Center at 6 p.m. The nominations are closed. Winners will be revealed at a later date.
  • MEA Bargaining Conference – 9 people attended. This conference was a couple of weeks ago over a 2-day period.
  • NEA/MEA Benefits – many benefits are offered for us. There is even a complimentary life insurance policy. An orange handout will be placed in your mailbox for more information about the benefits.com is a website devoted to keeping MEA members informed with current affairs. This website will even identify corporations who support various causes. It will keep you in the loop of legislative information.
  • Governance Documents – our bylaws were revised. They are in the final stages of approval by the MEA. You will have the opportunity to ratify these bylaws in April.
  • WLEA local dues will be increasing. We have not increased the local dues in a long time. It is being recommended that local dues be raised to $95 from our current $75. This will amount to $2.00 per month. Our dues are lower than the surrounding districts (Southfield’s are $180 and Troy’s are $200. WLEA has been fiscally responsible. We have put money away. We are now responsible for paying $30,000 to cover the president’s release.
  • MEA Region 7 Candidates’ Night will be on Thursday, March 23, at 6:00 p.m. at Oakland Schools. The MEA President and Vice President are retiring. This evening will be dedicated to meet and listen to the individuals running for the MEA. The NEA delegates vote. If you would like to attend, you may meet the WLEA members for dinner at the Lion’s Den Restaurant at 4:45 and then go to the meeting.
  • MEA Spring RA – April 21 & 22. Five delegates from WLEA will attend. It will be at the Lansing Center.
  • General Membership Meeting is Thursday, March 16th.
  • 5th Grade Camp Committee Meeting was held today. The committee included John Gregg, Daryl Szymanski, 4 teachers, Mark Hess and Stuart Riley. The meeting was to make the camping experience better for teachers. Stuart has already started implementing various items from a survey that was taken by the fifth grade teachers. The meeting was ½ day. They will be meeting again soon.
  • WLEA Bargaining Team for 2017 – same team as last year. Daryl Szymanski, Kim Quinn-Haver, Jared DeWitt, Kathryn O’Brien, Bob Voyt, Jason Pinho and Cyndi Austin. First bargaining committee meeting (with our team only) will be on Monday, February 27. This will be a pre-bargaining meeting and to formalize a survey. This survey will be released soon. First day of bargaining with the district will be Tuesday, March 28th.
  • WLEAonline.org – this is our website. Please make sure you join the website to get all the information on the bargaining. You need to use your home email. This website has links to a lot of items you may need. Only 125 teachers have signed up so far. The web page is being updated. Many new additions are being placed on for our convenience. One being worked on, is an app that will allow you to quickly find out how to contact your legislative individuals. MESSA information will also be included. MEA Voices will be accessible.
  • SXI Teachers – Letter of Understanding for additional sick days was approved. It has been overlooked that two SXI teachers have not received additional sick days because of the extended contractual days that they work. The two teachers work 209 days and the amount of sick days were adjusted. They received retroactive sick days from the date they were hired.
  • Teachers receive 11 sick days per year. 3 of those days may be used for personal business. 1 day automatically goes to the sick bank. Those repaying the sick bank, 2 days are deducted. You may find your balance of days on your paycheck stub.
  • UNISERV Update – A bill HB4146 was introduced that will allow the union to once again collect fees from individuals who opt out of being in the union. The other bill that is being considered is making professional development back into the calendar. Both of these bills are a positive thing for us.
  • WLEA membership has increased due to the hiring of interventionist, a resource room teacher and a counselor. We currently have 781 members in good standing. In order for us to get another delegate seat we need to get to 826 members.
  • Keith Elementary has a program called “Invisible Dad” that allows children to get a lunch when they come to school without one. A father pays the bill for any child without a lunch. It appears that there are a lot of children who come to school without a lunch.
  • There are many awards that the PTA may award to teachers and parents. Many of the awards have to be purchased.
  • The school board decided to close the Community Ed. Center. The programs will be diverted to Walled Lake Western and Geisler. The school board has decided to demolish the school so a charter school will not be able to purchase it. The district will receive $700,000 for the land, but it will cost $750,000 to demolish. The savings per year will be $225,000. Special Education transition students will be transferred to Western. A wing will be devoted to these students with a separate entrance built. GSRP students will be transferred to various elementary schools. Individuals with offices will be relocated to the ESC. A farewell ceremony will be held in June. The building will be open until August.
  • The Michigan Department of Education found that 62 IEP’s were not completed in a timely manner. The district stated that the IEP’s were not uploaded correctly to the site (technical error). Everything is okay now.