How to Help Protect the Jobs of Scarborough Custodians and Food Service Employees

You can help protect the pay and benefits and retain our custodians and food service employees

The custodial/food service employees need your support.  The School Board wants to drastically reduce their wages and benefits to below a “living wage.” Now is the time for ACTION!

These employees’ contract expired in June 2012.  Traditional negotiations for a successor agreement came to a halt when three bids came in to outsource the custodial services.  Talks then shifted in response to the Board’s interest in saving money.  After a great deal of research, the Association recently presented the Board with ways to reorganize staff and increase efficiency of operations for a potential savings of approximately $300,000.  These proposals would have preserved bargaining unit staff at their current wages and benefits.

The Association’s proposals to save in the ballpark of $300,000 were rejected by the Board in a recent meeting.  Instead, the Board proposed cutting not only custodial, but also food service, wages and benefits to generate a savings comparable to the $300,000.

As we plan our next steps for community and Association Member support we will need to keep in frequent contact with you. Please connect with us:

·         Find us on Facebook “Scarborough Education Association”

·         Follow our blog: http://scarborougheducationassociation.blogspot.com/

·         Follow us on twitter: SEA_Maine

·         Email us: seamaine@gmail.com and we can add your personal email to a distribution list

·         Let us know if you need paper copies of information mailed to your home. Leave a message at 730-4600 with your address.

 

We need you to take action!

·         Talk to other staff members, parents and community members about the importance of keeping our schools safe for students and staff with valuable employees we know and who are invested in their jobs.

·         Write to and call the Scarborough School Board members and tell them you do not support their consideration to drastically cut wages and benefits for the custodial/food service staff and that you do support paying school employees a living wage comparable with other school communities in the area.  As taxpayers and/or an Association member show your support for quality employees and the safety of staff, students and community members in your schools.

o   Please make your voice heard and contact your Board members today:

Board Members, Email Address and Phone Numbers

Christine Massengill               cmassengill@scarborough.k12.me.us         885-1288

John Cole                                 jcole@scarborough.k12.me.us                      239-0268

Aymie Hardesty                      ahardesty@scarborough.k12.me.us             883-5742

Donna Beeley                          dbeeley@scarborough.k12.me.us                883-3993

Jacquelyn Perry                       jperry@scarborough.k12.me.us                    883-2451

Kelly Murphy                           kmurphy@scarborough.k12.me.us               883-9610

Christopher Caiazzo                ccaiazzo@scarborough.k12.me.us               883-6482

Sadie Tirrell, Junior High School Student Representative

            Katherine Elliot, Senior High School Student Representative

o   All Board members receive post mail at the following address: Scarborough School Department; Attn: “school board member’s name”; P.O. Box 370; Scarborough, ME; 04070-0370.

The community support we build throughout this crisis will be critical to keeping our fellow employees in good jobs with a living wages and benefits. Please join us in keeping the Association strong and prevent the loss of the jobs of fellow employees we count on every day to keep our school safe and running smoothly.

More suggestions and actions will be posted on this blog. With the support from members, taxpayers and the general public we can beat this plan which would result in the loss of our valued staff.
 
Crystal Goodrich

SEA President

Negotiations Move to Meditation

The Scarborough School Board has disappointed the Association by persisting in its efforts to save significant dollars in relation to the custodial and food service employees. 

The Board's interest in outsourcing the custodial staff has led to their effort to have the in-house employees perform work at wages comparable to the outsource companies that are less than a living wage!  And, then they go beyond the sub-par wages and attack benefits as well. 

The parties are proceeding to mediation.  MEA and SEA are committed to doing everything we can to preserve this unit of dedicated employees.

Keep Posted!

Staff throughout the school system have been asking how they can help support the custodians and food service employees as we continue to negotiate their contract.

SEA Members will be receiving communications from the MEA office with more information.

SEA is committed to supporting every one of our members and negotiating fair contracts with good wages and benefits. The negotiations team is meeting again with the School Board soon. SEA will keep you all posted.

Thank you, Crystal Goodrich, SEA President

Find us on Twitter: SEA_Maine
Find our group on Facebook: Scarborough Education Association

Member Check-In for 2012-2013 School Year!

It's almost time to welcome everyone back to school for another year! 

Wed. August 29th at the High School is the annual Opening Day Celebration hosted by Dr. Entwistle and the Administrators. From 7:45 - 8:30 breakfast will be served and SEA will be there to check in members and give them their annual packet of information. SEA will be arriving around 7:30 to get you all set up so early birds can get checked in before breakfast!

Building representatives and members of the Executive Board will be there to check you in and have you confirm your contact information on the roster. The Membership Chair, JoEllen Clive, will be there to sign up any new members and answer any questions you might have. 

Please keep up to date on what SEA is doing at this blog. Emails with communications are also sent to members. 

If you have any questions you can ask your building/department representative (their names will be posted in the teachers' rooms in your building) or email seamaine@gmail.com. 

Thank you and see you all soon!
Crystal Goodrich, SEA President

Not Another Cent - MEA Pledge Cards

From MEA's informational handout "Not Another Cent". For the full document please go to: http://www.maine.nea.org/notanothercent

In the last 20 years Maine's average teacher salary fell from 31st in the nation to 44th. Pensions and benefits under the Maine Public Employee Retirement System (MePERS - previously known as Maine State Retirement) were cut and frozen. Health Insurance plans provided by MEA's Benefits Trust are threatened by a legislative attack that could increase rates and lower coverage.

MEA is asking members to sign pledge cards in support of retirement benefits, insurance rates and to stop cutting, capping what we have worked so hard for. 

The cards will be delivered to the MEA office and then will be delivered by MEA to the State Legislation.

Please make sure they are received by Crystal Goodrich by next Friday:  Jan. 20^th.

If you do not have a card from your building representative please use the following link, fill out a pledge card and return it to Crystal at Wentworth Intermediate via interoffice mail or to your building rep. They will deliver the cards to me.

FOR A PLEDGE CARD GO TO:

http://msg6svc.net/static/neame/images/pledgecardv_111411.pdf

Once the cards are received by MEA they will be delivered to the State Legislature. Our goal is to have at least 90% of our membership complete a pledge card and have it sent in.

Please participate in this simple action to help protect the benefits we work so hard for. It will only take a few minutes of your time and your voice will be heard.

Thank you!
Crystal Goodrich
MEA President

SEA Notes Before Summer!

Hello SEA members -

 

1. I have received a couple of questions about this year's change in schedule for the last day of school. The last day for students is Friday, June 17 - this will be a full day with students.

 

The contract changed this year.  The last day of school was 1/2 day for students and 1/2 day for teachers to wrap up their room. Since the Board changed the last day, all Administrators have been asked by the superintendent to use the 1/2 day  (2 hours) for professional development. Several of the buildings have had meetings on the last day, so this is new for the high school to be in line with the rest of the school district.

 

2. The request for the MEA attorney to review the school board policies was overlooked (that is why there has been such a long wait for an answer), but I finally have an answer. The attorney said after reviewing the policies that the policies, as they are written, are legal and reasonable. If people have further questions about the policies please ask me directly. The reps. have fielded several questions and there are not new answers for these questions but some people may want more clarification. Please email me if you do.

 

I do understand that these are changes and for some of us they may be difficult to adjust to but they are important to follow under our contract. If you have more concerns please let me know, but as they are they are within the scope of the contract. If any one has had difficulty with the School Board policies the best thing to do is contact me or a representative right away. I have not heard of anyone having any difficulty following the policies, so I am assuming this is not a problem.

 

3.  After a lengthy process of working on the Reduction In Force list Jo Anne Sizemore and I met with some staff on Tuesday, June 21. I can't stress enough how difficult this process has been - our job is making sure we follow the contract while trying to balance the needs of the schools and the students as well as the staff within that contract. Other SEA members and I have been involved every step of the way and I feel confident the contract was followed as it was written.

 

Many members have expressed concerns regarding how RIF is written, what trainings and committees can be submitted as points / qualifies as points, and what to turn in. This summer I will be working with Jo Anne and administration to come up with a "training" or workshop where members can come and learn more about RIF and what they should submit so the points next year are accurate. Those meetings will be sent out at the beginning of next year. Check the Sweb in the fall for dates and times.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions,

 

Thank you, and I hope the last couple of weeks of school go well for everyone.

 

Crystal Goodrich

Anne Sheehan Honor Grant Available for Teachers Seeking Graduate Degree

For 2012-2013 the Maine Education Association-Retired is again sponsoring an honor grant through the legacy of Anne Sheehan, a former member of MEA-R. The grant has been increased from $750. to $1,200 for the next award in 2012.

The grant may be used to defray any expenses occurred.

The applicant must:

• be a full time educator practicing in Maine
• be enrolled in a graduate program in the area of political science, government, public policy, or a closely related subject
• be a member of the local teachers' association, a member of MEA, and a member of NEA

The application for 2012-2013 will be available after August 1st, 2011.

Please follow this link to Maine Education Association - Retired and click on the "Sheehan Honors" link for more information.
Please remember the application will not be available until after August 1st, 2011.

Annual Meeting of MEA Rep. Assembly, 83rd Annual Meeting

A hot topic in the Scarborough Schools (and all schools in Maine) right now are the Highly Qualified Teacher regulations imposed by the State of Maine. Just the paperwork to submit to the State can be overwhelming to some teachers.

In addition there is pressure from the national, state and local government levels for teachers' evaluations to be changed to determine not only continuing employment but to determine "merit pay" - success of students determined by test scores = the rate of pay for a teacher. If your students score higher you get paid more, the opposite would also be true.

At the MEA Representative Assembly meeting this Saturday and Sunday (special thanks to Bob White and Amy Taylor for giving up a weekend to attend with me!) we learned more about the policy NEA has been developing for "Teacher Evaluation and Accountability".

The primary purpose of this document is to have NEA take more of a leadership role to create fair and measurable criteria for evaluation of teacher performance. Their goal is to promote the improvement of teacher accountability to ensure a high quality public education for all students.

I will be scanning the document that was shared at the meeting and emailing it out to you, but some of the highlights are:

• Indicators of Teacher Practice
• Indicatiors of teacher contribution and growth to a school's and / or district success
• Indicatiors of teacher contribution to student learning and growth

Other goals: Meaningful evaluations that are fair, conducted by trained and objective evaluators, and evaluations that are reguarly reviewed. High quality teacher accountablity systems - with the teacher being supported to meet expectations and improve their performance if needed.

A significant portion of the policy statement addressed probationary teacher status and the need for support for teachers in the probationary status so they "thrive and not merely survive".

Also noted was the responsibility of career teachers to "reflect and enhance their own practice and to support and enhance the practice of their colleagues, particularly probationary teachers" (NEA: Proposed Policy Statement on Teacher Evaluation and Accountability, May, 2011).

After I scan the document and send it out via email let me know if you would like a paper copy and I can get you one as well.

- Crystal Goodrich, SEA President