| Wed, Aug 24, 1:50 PM (7 days ago) |  | ||
Dear Colleagues, Our first Executive Board meeting will be Thursday, August 25 in our office. Our address is 2843 Washington Blvd. The meeting will start at 4:00 and is open to all 795 members. There is no virtual option, however we have some Executive Board virtual meetings planned throughout the year. If you haven't joined our private Facebook group please search us and ask to join. You should also hit the like button on our public Facebook page.
In Union,
Karen Rego
COMMITTEE REPORTS
ARC (Appraisal Review Committee): Our first meeting will be in September. We are working with Dr. Lombardo to get the date on the calendar.
ER&D: Information will be forthcoming.
DISCIPLINE (SCOC): We have discussed PD for the SCOC with Superintendent Kirby. Having Reggie Williams have optional meetings during teacher lunch times has not been successful or effective. We discussed the need to have PD with our members and administration leading the session at an upcoming PD day. We will update you when we have more information.
PTA: Please consider joining your building PTA.
INSURANCE: No Updates at this time.
MOBILIZATION: Look for information from Political Director Daniel Hershman-Rossi about events leading up to the general election on November 2.
OFT (Ohio Federation of Teachers): The OFT Executive Council met on Monday, August 22 to vote on Endorsements for the upcoming election in November. The Executive Council voted in favor of endorsing several candidates for State Senate, State House of Representatives, Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Auditor, Treasurer, Ohio Supreme Court, U.S. Congress, Ohio General Assembly, State Board of Education and other Statewide offices. Candidates from both parties were endorsed. If you would like to see all the endorsements please use this link.
Reaching Heights: Reaching Heights is an organization that supports our public schools here in Cleveland Heights University Heights. Please consider liking their facebook page for updates.
STRS News: We are concerned that STRS approved performance-bonuses of $9.1 million dollars to its investment staff. Actives and retirees have suffered a $12 billion cut in benefits to help stabilize the pension fund while the investment staff continues to get raises despite investment losses. Board member-elect Julie Sellers from the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers spoke out at the August board meeting during public comment asking the board to delay the vote until the external audit report is complete, which was ignored.
SUMMIT: Our first meeting will be in September. We do not have a date yet.
Grievances and Unfair Labor Practices: On June 21, 2022 we filed an Administration Union Concern because the district announced that there would be 27 pay dates for the 2022-23 school year. We confirmed with the Payroll Department back in March that there would be 3 months with 3 pay dates. 1st VP Underhile discovered that we did not have a 3rd month with a 3rd pay, but instead we would receive our 27th pay for the 2022-23 school year on August 28, 2023. This meant that we would already have started a new school year, but our pay would not include negotiated raises and lane advancements until the September 8, 2023 pay. Obviously, this is unacceptable.
On Monday, June 24, 2022 we received an email from Treasurer, Scott Gainer, stating that we would be put back on 26 pay dates for the 2022-2023 school year. He agreed with our union’s argument that it isn’t necessary to have 27 pay dates for this upcoming school year, and that in the long term, pay dates can be revised after future calendars are approved by the Board of Education. Needless to say, since we prevailed the Administration Union Concern has been withdrawn.
Fact-Findings/Discipline
a) A member was placed on paid administrative leave on May 18 pending the outcome of an investigation regarding an interaction with a student. A fact-finding took place, and the member received a 3 day suspension.
b) A member was called into a fact-finding for April 8 for alleged inadequate preparation for employee job responsibilities and lack of compliance with health or safety rules. The member was issued an 8-day suspension. A grievance was filed for excessive discipline, and the grievance was denied at Step 2. A mediation is scheduled for September 6.
c) 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 have a disposition of no-finding.