COMMITTEE REPORTS
ARC (Appraisal Review Committee): Three ARC members will be attending a training session at the ESC in late May to learn more about being part of the pilot for the new OTES for 2019-20. This new system, going into place in 2020-21 will not have a separate 50% of teacher evaluation made from Student Growth Measures, but will incorporate SGMs into the other half of the rubric.
CCES (Cuyahoga County Educators Summit). The April 11 social conflicts with our executive board meeting.
DISCIPLINE: Met April 3 with Officer Pitts from the CH police department. He told us about community policing and what the job of Resource Officer in school buildings might look like. We reviewed comments from the Office of Civil Rights concerning our proposal to address their concerns. Some clarification is needed before we can respond. Next meeting TBA.
DLT (District Leadership Team): Next meeting April 24.
ER&D (Educational Research and Dissemination): Registration continues online (link) and can be paid by check or paypal.
GRADING TASK FORCE: Middle School grading task rescheduled since it was cancelled due to a BLT meeting scheduled on the same day. Still awaiting for a new date.
The March 6 District Grading Task Force meeting was cancelled and rescheduled for April 11th. The April meeting is on April 17th.
INSURANCE: No date set for next meeting.
MAKE-A-WISH: Nothing new. Save the date October 5 for the next Walk for Wishes.
MASTER TEACHER: Next writing session will be April 30 at Delisle from 4-5:30. Profiles due May 6 to the BOE.
MOBILIZATION: We need to organize around the state education budget as well as the bills to stop state takeovers.
OFT (Ohio Federation of Teachers): CHTU received scholarships to send Wendy Ward and Yvonne Wallace to the Great Lakes ULI in Wisconsin for training. We would like to send a contingent to the Ohio ULI June 11-13.
POLICY TASK FORCE: Next meeting April 9.
PTA: The next PTA Council event will be a speaker on April 25. More info later.
RETIREMENT: Not only is there no cost of living increase for retirees, but there are STRS employees making massive bonuses. Retiree Liaison Dan MacDonald has been blasting this information out at STRS meetings as well as through the retiree chapter newsletter.
SOCIAL: May 3 @ Nighttown. Invitations are out. Please RSVP to our office.
STRIKE: The 795 Strike Committee will take place April 15 with representation from each building. Topics of discussion include communications, organizing actions, logistics, and member welfare.
SUMMIT: Next meeting April 12.
1. Grievances:
a) Unfair Discipline: A grievance involving a member who we believed was disciplined unfairly will be heard by an arbitrator September 25. Additional dates were October 29 and 30 and December 17. We still await the arbitrator’s decision.
b) Subcontracting – the union filed a grievance on September 26 over sub-contracting of a position at the high school. It ended up with the union filing a notice with the State Employees Relations Board for bargaining unit clarification for this position. We met for mediation in Columbus on February 7. We had a follow up phone conference on February 28 that led nowhere. Awaiting a SERB action.
c) Long-term Substitutes –A grievance was filed Friday, October 26 over a dispute over the reading of the long-term substitute language. We believe that long-term is not necessarily a minimum of 60 days if the substitute is properly licensed and doing all the work of the teacher. The Step 2 hearing was held November 13. The Union waived a deadline for the Board’s response for purposes of clarification. Some language has gone back and forth, but there has been no resolution. A successful Grievance Mediation on April 4 led to a letter clarifying our concerns with no need to change contract language at this time.
d) Caseload Compensation: a member filed a grievance because students who take two different classes in the same period at the high school are not counted on each teachers’ caseload even though they are two separate curricula. A step 2 hearing was heard on January 11 and denied on January 23. A Grievance Mediation April 4 led to a compromise solution that resolves the grievance.
e) Unwarranted Discipline: a member filed a grievance February 13 concerning a written warning she received for videotaping a student. Administration did not consider the destructive and violent outbursts the student had before he attacked the teacher to be an “emergency,” therefore she was issued discipline. A step 2 hearing was held on March 5, 2019 and denied on March 12. A date is being discussed for Step 3 – Grievance Mediation.
f) Abuse of Discretion: a member filed a grievance on March 6, 2019. After 2 adult and 2 students wrote statements in support of the teacher and the video of the non-incident showed that nothing untoward occurred, administration held a fact-finding anyway. Administration dropped the issue soon after, but the member should never have been subjected to the stress involved in having a fact-finding in the first place. No date has been set yet for a hearing.
g) Harassment – a member filed a notice (not a grievance) to the Human Resources Department on March 11, 2019 of allegations of workplace intimidation by the member’s supervisor, which is a possible violation of the Employee Code of Conduct. HR is starting an investigation and will meet with the member after spring break.
2. Fact-Findings:
a) A member was called to a fact finding on October 1 over concerns that deadlines were not being met. Awaiting disposition.
b) A member was called to a fact-finding on October 16 over concerns of untimely response to parent communications. Awaiting an untimely disposition.
c) A member was called to a fact-finding on October 15 over concerns of “patterns of absences” even though the member has a known condition that indicates intermittent FMLA is needed. Awaiting disposition.
d) A member was called to a fact-finding December 11 for concerns over statements supposedly made about a student. Awaiting disposition.
e) Two teachers were called into fact-findings February 14 for “inadequate supervision” issues.
f) A security monitor was called to a fact-finding on February 14 over concerns that the monitor did not respond to a situation properly. A written warning was issued March 22.
g) A teacher was called to a fact-finding on February 22 over IEP concerns. A written warning full of inaccuracies was given March 13, 2019. The member will attach a response and grieve the discipline if the warning is not removed.
h) A teacher was called to a disposition meeting for a fact-finding that we thought had been concluded in November. Words escape any plausible reason for this extended delay. A disposition meeting will be held Thursday, April 11.
3. Heights Coalition for Public Education
As the state budget becomes clearer there will be more action steps. Link to the Coalition Advocacy Page (link)
4. Negotiations –Our third session be April 10. We meet April 23 and 25. Unless there is tentative agreement we will not be publishing specifics until May 13.
5. CHTU Red Shirts – we are patiently awaiting our order
6. Alternative Assessments – we have gathered information from our intervention specialists about time spent outside of class giving alternative assessments and will discuss at Summit.
7. MS SPED concerns – VP Rego has received information from most middle school intervention specialists over concerns they have had this year. Once compiled she will be calling a meeting with administration to discuss.
8. Reaching Heights Spelling Bee May 1 – Thanks to all the spellers who volunteered to be on the team; Laura Lorek, Marian Stephens, Tamara Heldman with alternates Monica Rogers and Maggie McPhee. We would like an organized cheering section. Please help out.