YORKTOWN CONGRESS OF TEACHERS

Representative Council Meeting  - April 27, 2010

I.                   Motion to approve March 9, 2010 minutes, moved/seconded, Altman/Jensen approved.

II.                President’s Report

A.     Notification dates - teachers should be told by this Friday what building they will be working in next year; CTA’s hopefully by May 21.  Central administration wants everyone to find out at the same time, if possible; seems to be holding building principals to that.

B.     Leaves – YCT has been supportive of extending parental leaves; not as supportive of extending other types of leaves.  People need to make decisions concerning their careers, not fair to leave replacements to be left hanging.

C.     Tracking time– district can not “gift time”; using time sheets to keep track, now appears to be running smoothly.

D.     Seniority issues – most have now been resolved at the bottom of the seniority list.  Toward the top of the list may still be some errors; seems to be based more on alphabetical order.   CTA’s have a unique problem because about 80 people were “hired” at one time when they conformed to the new state guidelines.  If a CTA is out of sick days and/or takes unpaid days they can drop dramatically on the seniority list; that person is not losing seniority but they are not gaining seniority when everyone else is.

E.     My Learning Plan – formal training for CTA’s May 10?  It will be introduced to the high school faculty at the May 3 faculty meeting; not running efficiently or effectively yet.

F.      Negotiations – Sub contract – no movement.  CTA’s – appears to be moving in the right direction.  Teachers – presently identifying a team, will set up dates to visit the different buildings; get direction from the staff.  Negotiations will be difficult; many districts in our area having labor problems.  Teachers in many other states also feeling pressure/facing negative public opinion. 

G.    State Legislature – Vinny Leibell retiring, has been a friend to public education; labor candidates did not do well in the fall elections.  Governor signed the 55/25 bill, can retire without penalty, June, July, August window.

H.    Graduate Credits – District is looking very carefully at the rate at which people are accruing credits; questioning the feasibility of getting 30 or more credits in one year; what is the quality of the courses, etc.

I.       Budget Vote – Difficult position, do we support the budget when we are losing staff… The impact on our staff is less than in many other districts; we do have to be realistic.  The budget to budget increase is .05% - should be well received by the community.

 

III.             Treasurer’s Report: see printout

A.     Motion to approve profit and loss statement, moved/seconded, approved.

B.     Steve Laber – at the first meeting in September we will have a comparison of the proposed budget vs. the actual budget.

 

IV.              Grievance:
A. none

 

V.                 Community Service – K. Belardo
A. May 14, Dress Down Day for the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital; this year our efforts are in
     memory of Rosemary DePaola’s and Christine Lemieux’s grandson, Tyler Lemieux. (see
     attached flyer)  This is the third of three fund raisers sponsored by the YCT.

 

VI.              VOTE/COPE
A. Reminder – money is being spent to fight anti-teacher legislation. The next VOTE/COPE drive
     will be in the fall and we are trying to arrange to have contributions deducted from each
     paycheck instead of in one lump sum, once a year.  Our contribution rate did go down slightly
     this year; the average per member was only $29.00.  In comparison, the average per member
     in Carmel is $101.00.  We will also be looking to get CTA’s involved.

 

VII.                Retirees – John Roden again stressed how important VOTE/COPE is; we should aim to be #1 in the county!  We also need to be knowledgeable on the issues so we can speak intelligently to our neighbors/community when confronted with anti-teacher rhetoric.  Also, there are three retiree reps that need to be informed if meetings are cancelled/changed; a method needs to be set up to make sure they are informed.  Luncheon for new retirees will be September 21, 2010 at 12:00 noon at Mount Kisco Holiday Inn. In addition, make people aware that under the health care plan, the “donut hole” under Medicare drug costs, will be closed.

 

VIII.        Building concerns –
A.  Maureen Pitocco expressed concern over the apparent increase in class size at the elementary
      level.
B.  CTA’s/TA’s concerned about when they will be told if they have a job and where; special
      education makes it difficult, don’t always know what is happening with those placements
      until later in the year.
C.  Calendar for next year – it appears as if clericals will be working extra days? Sean will look
      into that.
D. Boxes and tape are needed for those staff members that are moving.
E.  Margaret Andreou expressed concern that two ½ days for packing may not be enough.

 

IX.              Adjournment: 4:45 pm

Respectfully submitted by,

Lorraine Cicale