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Panorama | Oct 2009 |
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Panorama | Oct 2009 |
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President's View by Marisa Hanson
This month just flew by. I have been out at many
sites meeting with members on varies issues and concerns. I also had
the chance to have lunch with both WC Overfelt and James Lick. I
plan to continue to meet with staffs during lunch. It is always a
nice time to share a good meal with your colleagues and get to know each
other just a little bit better. It
has been difficult doing my job with the district still not choosing a
direction for our Superintendent on administrative leave. I find
myself dealing with issues that have never come up in the past or that are
taking longer to resolve. I am not pleased with the direction the
district is trying to take ESTA. I sincerely hope that by my next month’s
issue, things will have changed. I
must admit the death of yet another ESTA member is extremely sad to me and
I find myself wanting to help all of the current members better prepare in
the event they become ill as well. This is why I reminded everyone
to join the Sick Leave Bank or to give additional days to the Sick Leave
Bank. ESTA wants to make sure everyone is prepared in the event they
become ill and cannot work and that the Sick Leave Bank is there to help
as well. I
also want to remind everyone that the Standard Disability and Life
Insurance will have open enrollment in November. This will only be for the
month of November, no exceptions. For one month, anyone can apply
for the insurance and not be denied and this includes women who are
currently pregnant. This offer only happens every five years, so I cannot
stress enough how important it is for everyone who does not have this
insurance to sign up. It is the cheapest way to guarantee yourself
an income in the event you have an accident or are diagnosed with a
serious illness. The Standard representative will be having lunch meetings
for any site that would like him to come out. He will bring
food! Each Site President will have the opportunity to invite him to
answer questions about the insurance plans. Believe me, anyone can come down with a serious illness no
matter what age, and the Standard representative will tell you himself,
his own fiancée is dealing with breast cancer and she is very young!
So, I hope you consider applying for the insurance so if something happens
to you, you and your family are financially covered for up to two
years. Don’t wait, request an application now from your Site
President today. It needs to be turned in between November 1 – 30 to be
counted as part of the open enrollment. If you miss your site lunch, any
ESTA member can come to Mt. Hamilton CTA on November 12 from 3:30 PM –
5:30 PM to ask questions or to fill out an
application.
ALA Board Wendy
L. Stegeman, ESTA PAC Chair, Board
Meeting of 10/08/10
6pm:
District Office: Your intrepid reporter is preparing for hours of
torture-by-crummy-chair! But you are worth it… 1. Roll
Call. They were all there. 2. Closed
Session. I wasn’t invited. Report under section 19 (end of evening and
agenda) indicated no major actions or expulsions. 3. Pledge
of Allegiance. Done. 4. Welcome
and Explanations: translators provided in Vietnamese and Spanish (good to
let your parents know if they want to attend), three minutes to address
board, and you need to fill out a goldenrod sheet to speak – give to
secretaries before your issue is up. 5. A
few things (Hanson Bridgett Law Firm report on Supt) pulled from
agenda. 6. Special
Recognitions! Dedication
of Sand Volleyball Court at HIS. National
Merit Scholarship Program Semi-Finalists: AH: James Tran. EV: Tsu-Hsien (Jeff)
Chan, Josh W. Chen, Akash A. Gupta, Lichen Han, Lucia Y. Huang, Katie J.
Kim, Neha Palacherla. IHS: Abby Wang.
OG: Jeannie N. Tran. PH: Alan Chang,
Jefferson Lai, Benjamin Le, Cathy C. Wu. ST:
James H.
Leet. 7. Student
Board Liaisons: Nice presentations by Gabriel Valdez and Company from FH
and Quyen Huynh and Friend from Andrew Hill. Students have the option to
go home and do homework after their presentations, or stay and get a fell
for Life on the Dias. 8. Public
Address: An upset mom spoke of having police question and take her
special needs child without the school notifying the parents when no child
abuse was involved. No school name or people. Moser will look into it.
Board will look for info. 9. Instructional
Services: Kirsten
King presented a colorful representation of CST scores. Basically, we are
doing better but have to do more betterer. Achievement gap is widening,
but with higher numbers. The 2014 goal of all children proficient is still
unrealistic. A growth model would be more reasonable to show
progress. Socio-economics may not be as much of a deciding factor as
previously thought. 10. Williams Act public hearings: Looks like everyone is ok in the book department. Moved to next board mtg. Adopt resolution on books: looks like books ok. First reading of board policy about travel expenses. Apparently ther board is doing better. THIS IS IMPORTANT Solar project was sent out for contract – to come back on 20th at Sp Board Mtg. Chevron offered to make district whole on monthly savings estimates for 15 years instead of three years!!! This is a big deal. Lots of construction people – mostly our parents and neighbors – want to go work and put in solar to save us money!!! Welcome to the new century, ESUHSD!!! Garofalo has turned down solar in the past, but this looks like it will fly. If not done by 10/22, the rebates shrink and we lose the $200,000 non-refundable deposit. This has been in the works for a year. At the last Assembly mtg ESTA voted to support the measure. Marisa spoke to it. It passed. It is a good thing!!! IMPORTANT First reading of audit committee charter. This is worth looking at. It is something other districts don’t have, has the potential to create substantial expense for the district with questionable returns. Is encouraging a business model that does not take into account the difference in education law, mandates, and funding as opposed to regular businesses. No employees may be on it, and it could be a springboard for new board members with the potential for misuse of information. The public hearing will be 10/15 at HIS. The district pays for an external annual audit that goes to SCCOE already. We are not required to have an internal auditor per Bruce Berg, ed code, and Deputy Supt of SCCOE. This would be a major expense for the district and seems to be the goal of the audit committee. Your intrepid reporter has sat on the committee at each meeting. Two board members will sit on the committee – which explicitly prohibits the board president from participating. Wonder if that will change as the board presidents change? IMPORTANT: Response by Board to Grand Jury on
issues of Board benefits and expenses – witten by Dan Moser and Attorney
Rogelio Ruiz. Board believes
they need their fully paid benefits because they work “countless”
volunteer hours and need the benefits to attract and retain the best
qualified folks for the positions.
[ed. note - Yes, that makes sense – for everyone in the district.
Glad they understand that finally.} Expenses: it is
important for the board to continue to go to conferences and meetings
because they learn neat stuff and it helps them do their jobs better. [ed. note - Yes, I am sure we all
agree – but could there be a goose/gander issue here???] Actually some of
the argument may have been in the board policy section, but it all runs
together… The board would
like to see future responses prior to submission or board
meeting. Pat
Roach being nominated for CA Latino Sch. Bd. Ass’n (CLSBA) Candidate
At-Large. 11. Student
Svcs: Alan
Garofalo reported that everything was Ducky in sports – and Lan Nguyen won
a Ducky prize. Monies still being reported. 12. Human Resources: RATIFY TENTATIVE CSEA CONTRACT! Okay drivers for Sped Students. 13.Business Svcs: Get
rid of obsolete stuff. Bond
sale ok’d. Donations/Grants/Awards. Warrant
register for Sept. (new process in last few months – shows where the money
is going and how) Budget
transfers. PO’s. Professional
Svcs under $50,001. Professional
Svcs over $50,001. Approve
MOU’s. 15. Adult Ed: Good presentation of Adult Ed by Cari Vaeth, Look at their scores and funding. 16.Consent Calendar. Parts not pulled previously in 5.0 or now, approved. 17. No Written Reports or Recommendations. 18. Pretty much no comments from members of board. Too late to kibbitz (sp.) 19. Closed session (see 2.0) 20. Adjourned about 10:40. ***NOTE: Lots of OT to tech guys. Board’s own policies suggest a much earlier quitting time. There is some possibility that people may have all of their blood rushing south after sitting for too long – causing them to lack oxygen to the upper brain! Perhaps bring in Richard Simmons for 3 minutes ever hour or two…the board always seems to have plenty of money to spend in incidentals, OT, attorney fees, possible new admin or management positions, etc., and given the new PE standards, maybe this would be helpful! Other
Next Meeting 9a.m. to 1p.m.: special meeting on the achievement gap The
Board want to understand problem, numbers and implications. If you have a
solution, come on down!!! Or just come and
listen! |
A
Farewell to Arms By
Ralph Giannini, ESTA ORGANIZING CHAIR
I had some free time lately and I decided to reread one of my
favorite books, Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. I think you remember that it is an
autobiographical novel about Hemingway’s service during World War I as an
ambulance driver, prior to the United States entry into the war. I always liked this book a great
deal, because it is really a story about an individual who has a set of
ideals and values and acts upon them, even in a hostile
environment. A lot of us older types working in the district had the same
opportunity during the Vietnam War, even though some surely entered the
Armed Services because they were drafted. Many others volunteered to
serve. It seems surreal to
think about those days and the ebb and flow of the war. It certainly wasn’t the best time
in American history. You may be asking how are these two events are tied to the
present-day world. We are
headed into a new year that is going to be fraught with pitfalls, mine
fields and intense disagreement about the future of the district, ESTA,
and the upcoming negotiations for a new contract. Much like World War I and Vietnam
there will be those on each side of the
issues. I, for one, think that ESTA has already stepped forward and
taken an extra three students per class. We saved the district a lot of
money. Unfortunately, the
district does not consult us when they choose to spend their (our) money.
Who knows if the money is being well-spent or not? I think it is our member’s
money they are spending—approximately 100 teachers lost their jobs or
weren’t replaced this year.
My guess is that it might be another year of additional students in
2010-11. The Board of Trustees made an initial offer to CSEA this
year; their offer included furlough days and attacks on health
benefits. CSEA stood up and
the district backed off. I think that their offer to CSEA was an opening salvo on
every bargaining unit in the district. I am a committed union person and personally furlough days
and attacks on our health benefits are ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE. We have a signed contract in
place for this year, but we will have to bargain a new agreement for the
2010-11 school year. It is possible that we will go into the next school year
without a contract. That
means that the current contract stays in place until both parties agree on a new
contract. That means fully
paid health benefits and no furlough days. It is time to get ORGANIZED
and start making our voices heard. It is time to stand up and
be counted. It is time to
prepare ourselves for the impending conflict. BE
PREPARED FOR OUR CALL.
I
am reminded of a couple of posters that were prominent during World War
II, Uncle Sam Needs You and
Rosie the Riveter. ESTA
NEEDS YOU. Be prepared to
answer the call. Show your
pride in our union and in yourselves. There is strength in
numbers. UNITED WE STAND,
DIVIDED WE FALL. The time is coming when we may well
need ALL of you.
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