Dear Colleagues,
COMMITTEE REPORTS
ARC (Appraisal Review Committee): No updates at this time. Our next meeting is scheduled for November 22.
ER&D: There will be no fall sessions this year. Please watch for an announcement about spring classes.
DISCIPLINE (SCOC): The district has yet to schedule the first meeting.
INSURANCE: It’s very important to understand our insurance benefit plans. If you are not on the Medical Mutual website you can click here to sign on . This website will track your out of pocket expenses. The Medical Mutual app is also a great tool to keep up-to-date with out of pocket expenses and Explanations of Benefits. The district has yet to schedule the first Insurance Committee meeting.
MOBILIZATION: We had many members contribute to the midterm elections. Whether it was writing postcards, attending fundraisers, dropping campaign literature, canvassing, or just spreading the word on our endorsements, you all made an impact.
Educators at KIPP Columbus, a charter school in Columbus that is affiliated with a national charter chain, have decided to form their union in affiliation with OFT! The new union will include teachers, social workers, paraprofessionals, intervention specialists, and student life coordinators. Tell the KIPP Columbus Board of Directors to recognize their union today. And please share this email!
OFT (Ohio Federation of Teachers): Three education champions were elected to Ohio’s State Board of Education – Teresa Fedor in District 2, Katie Hofmann in District 4, and Tom Jackson in District 10. Katie is an educator and retired member of Cincinnati Federation of Teachers who has held leadership roles in her union and fought for education justice for Cincinnati families. Teresa is an educator and member of the Toledo Federation of Teachers who has served in the Ohio House and Senate, most recently as the Democratic ranking member on the Senate Education Committee. Tom has a background in education policy and had previously earned OFT’s endorsement when he challenged Matt Dolan for the Ohio Senate in 2020.
Reaching Heights: Reaching Heights has several openings on their board. If you are a district resident and are interested in being a part of this excellent organization please contact Krista Hawthorne atkrista@reachingheights.org. It's a great way to give back to this amazing organization that does so much to support our schools.
STRS News: H.B. 723 would allow reemployed retirees to serve on the STRS Board. They could run for either a contributing member or a retired member seat. STRS seeks to amend H.B. 723 to allow reemployed retirees to serve on the Board 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, November 11. We discussed elementary report cards, secondary conferences, Community Schools, Intervention Specialist caseloads, a letter from nurses, and the extra assignment form. Summit will be publishing a meeting summary every month in the Weekly District Update, Staff Edition, sent by Cathan Cavanaugh.
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 are awaiting a response from the Superintendent.
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. We are moving to mediation, which is scheduled for December 1.
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 meeting was held on Wednesday, November 9. We are awaiting a decision from the district.
Fact-Findings/Discipline
A member was called to a fact-finding on June 3 for alleged “Inadequate Supervision of Students” based on reports from students. A disposition was held and the outcome was a 3 day suspension. The member will be attaching a response to the disposition.
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.”
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 will be filing a grievance.
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.
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.” We are awaiting disposition.
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 disposition.
A member was placed on paid-administrative leave for alleged actions towards a student while on a bus. We are awaiting details for the fact-finding.
Mrs. Tiffiny Underhile, M.A.Ed