CHTU Committee Reports - December 2022

COMMITTEE REPORTS

ARC (Appraisal Review Committee):  There are no updates at this time.

ER&D: Please watch for an announcement about spring classes.

DISCIPLINE (SCOC):  The district has yet to schedule the first meeting.  

INSURANCE:  The District Insurance Committee met on Monday, December 12.  There will be an  increase in employee contributions starting in January.  The increased payroll deduction will be very small. We expect Treasurer Gainer to publish the amounts soon.  All members will be getting new insurance cards in the mail in January.  The Monkeypox vaccine is available for adults ages 18 and over.  It is available at no cost to members; however, the CDC is not encouraging mass vaccination for the general public.  Weight Watchers (WW) is available to all Medical Mutual members with a savings of almost 50% on a monthly WW membership.  More information can be found here.

MOBILIZATION:  OFT has begun its annual COPE drive.  The Committee on Political Education is a voluntary payroll deduction that is used to donate to the campaigns of candidates who support public education and teachers.  SB 178 continues to be our top priority. This is the bill that would strip the State Board of Education of almost all of its  powers, and would shift them to a partisan cabinet official appointed by the governor. This bill would also take responsibilities away from the State Superintendent. Since we emailed you about this two weeks ago, SB 178 has passed in the Senate and is now headed to the House.

Contact your state representative right now and tell them to stop the over-politicization of education and to oppose SB 178.

OFT (Ohio Federation of Teachers):  Executive Council met on Monday, December 12.  We endorsed Pat Davidson for the open STRS seat.  Petitions to get him on the ballot will be coming around soon.  

Reaching Heights: Reaching Heights welcomes parents and community members to join the Many villages Tutoring program. Sign up to be a classroom Role Model Speaker, or tackle one event at a time by volunteering with the One and Done project.  If you know someone who would be interested in volunteering please send them this link.

STRS News: H.B. 723 would allow reemployed retirees to serve on the STRS Board.  They could run for either an active member or a retired member seat.  STRS seeks to amend H.B. 723 to allow reemployed retirees to serve on the Board only as retired members.  The stated rationale is that this legislation has the potential to change the board make-up by allowing retired members to serve in seats that now can be held only by current contributing members.

SUMMIT: Summit met on Friday, December 9.  Our next meeting is Monday, January 13.  Our agenda includes the responses from the Secondary Conferences survey and the Elementary Report Cards survey.

Grievances and Unfair Labor Practices:  

An Administration/Union concern was filed on September 2 on behalf of the kindergarten teachers.  They have  ongoing disputes  with the district's registration procedures, class sizes and kindergarten preparedness. The meeting for the AU Concern was held on October 6.  We received a lukewarm response from the administration and are discussing next steps.

A grievance was filed on September 2nd regarding expenses charged to a teacher for computer damages.  The computer “damages” were not the member’s fault, yet the member was charged over $300.  The Union believes that the Board has mis-applied its policy (7530.03 Board Owned Communication Devices) resulting in bargaining unit members being wrongfully assessed.  The grievance was denied, and we held a mediation on December 1, 2022.  The mediation had a satisfactory result for the member and possible changes to computer charges in the future.

A grievance was filed on October 17 by a member who received excessive discipline (official reprimand) for an alleged incident that occurred on August 29 which was reported by a colleague.  The grievance was denied.  We held a mediation on December 1 with a satisfactory result for the member.

A grievance was filed on Friday, December 2 by a member who received excessive discipline (suspension) for an alleged false statement and dishonesty.  The grievance meeting was held on Tuesday, December 13.  We are awaiting a response from the district.

Fact-Findings/Discipline

1. A member was called to a fact-finding on August 23 for alleged “Inappropriate and Offensive Conduct (non-criminal)” based on accusations made by a parent to the Ohio Department of Education, which resulted in the member’s license renewal being delayed by the ODE Office of Professional Conduct.   We are awaiting disposition, which we believe should specify  “no-finding.” 
    

2. A member was called to a fact-finding on September 23 for alleged “Dishonesty (Non-Criminal)” and “Falsification of/Failure to Accurately Provide Information (Non-Criminal)” based on information provided during the investigation of another fact-finding.  A disposition meeting was held, and the outcome was a 5 day suspension.  The member has filed a grievance.
    

3. A member was called to a fact-finding on October 4 for alleged “Inappropriate Abusive or Offensive Conduct (non-criminal)” based on an interaction with a student.  A disposition was held, and the outcome was non disciplinary counseling.
    

4. A member was placed on paid-administrative leave for alleged actions towards a student.  A fact-finding was held on Thursday, November 11 for “Inappropriate Abusive or Offensive Conduct (non-criminal),” “Inappropriate Abusive or Offensive Conduct (criminal),” “Other Criminal Violation (non-disqualifying),” “Other Criminal Violation (disqualifying),” “Inadequate Supervision of Students,” and “Inadequate Preparation for Employee Job Responsibilities.”  A disposition was held, and the member received a 10-day suspension.  The member will be filing a grievance for excessive discipline.
    

5. A member was called to a fact-finding on November 15 for “Inappropriate Abusive or Offensive Conduct (non-criminal) for allegedly advising a student not to come to school.  We are awaiting a disposition.
    

6. A member was placed on paid-administrative leave for alleged actions towards a student while on a bus.  A fact-finding was held on Tuesday, November 22 for alleged “inappropriate Abusive or Offensive Conduct (non-criminal),” “Inadequate Preparation for Employee Job Responsibilities,” and “Inadequate Supervision of Students.”  A disposition was held, and the member received a 3-day suspension.

7. A member was called to a fact-finding on December 8 for alleged “Attendance, Punctuality, or Contract Day Policy Violation” because the member exhausted sick leave while dealing with a serious family illness.  We are awaiting a disposition.