Minnetonka Teachers Association

Governance Board Meeting, September 1, 2004
Minnetonka Middle School-West

In Attendance:

Joseph Ricke, Jan Nelson, Mary Tingblad, Melanie Casiday, Linda Morantez, Margaret Ruffino, Pam Wertjes, Katie Tuthill, Heidi Bunde, Jeri Goodspeed-Gross, Doug Kennedy, Sonja Saunders, Mike Cutshall, Miles Mortensen.

Absent: 

Sara Macke, Sandy Gosen. There is still a vacancy on the Governance Board for a representative from Clear Springs.

Guests:

Mary Benson and Anita Otten, Teachers' Rights Co-Chairs. 

Call to Order:

4:39 p.m., by President Ricke.

Meeting Location:

President Ricke scheduled the first Governance Board meeting of the year at Minnetonka Middle School-West. The Governance Board discussed pros/cons of meeting at DSC vs. each building taking turns hosting the meeting. President Ricke will check into scheduling the meetings at DSC.

Approval of Minutes:

Motion by Casiday, seconded by Goodspeed-Gross, to approve the minutes of June 2 and June 29, 2004. Motion carried.

NEA/AFT Reports:

All MTA delegates attending the NEA and AFT Conventions in July will submit articles for publication in the September issue of the MTA newsletter. Mary Benson and Anita Otten were delegates to the AFT Convention. Mary Tingblad and Jan Nelson were delegates to the NEA Convention.

Teachers' Rights Report:

Grievance: The grievance is at level 3. A meeting is scheduled with a School Board member on September 3, 2004.

Policies 524 and 525: The district will ask all to sign a form regarding these policies. Building Representatives reported that some schools have heard about this, while others have not. Members are concerned about nebulous wording and mixed messages. President Ricke will follow up on these policies with Sue Hine, Craig Hintz, Janet Swiecichowski, and Education Minnesota Field Staff Sue Vento.

Treasurer's Report:

Treasurer Casiday distributed the MTA Monthly Budget Report dated August 31, 2004; and the MTA Checking Account Statement, August 2 to August 31, 2004. President Ricke reported that the MTA audit would be done later this month.

New Business:

Negotiations: Superintendent Peterson would like negotiators from both sides to participate in an interest-based bargaining training session in January. President Ricke will ask for more information regarding this before the Governance Board will agree to this.

MTA Survey and Brainstorming: Doug Kennedy will summarize information from the MTA Survey and the Brainstorming document and sent it to the Governance Board members. The Building Representatives will share this with their building members and ask for their input.

Constitution/Bylaws Review Team: tabled until next meeting.

IB Program at MHS: Some of the IB and AP classes have been combined into one class. The teachers are expected to be teaching two classes with different curriculum and expectations within the same class period. Students in these classes are also frustrated because they had expected smaller classes in the AP and IB programs. This will be taken to Contract Administration and Meet and Confer.

Prep Time: An elementary teacher has been asked to sign an agreement regarding shorter prep every other day. President Ricke will talk with Education Minnesota Field Staff Sue Vento about this.

Old Business:

Teachers have asked about the Education Minnesota calendar posters. We did not receive them this year due to Education Minnesota budget cuts.

Relicensure Chair Update: The Relicensure Co-Chairs have submitted a document with their requests to the district, and are awaiting a response from Superintendent Peterson and Mike Lovett.

Flowers/Cards For Governance Board Members: This policy can be set through the Constitution/Bylaws Review Team process.

Clear Springs Building Representative: President Ricke has spoken with many MTA members at Clear Springs, however we still do not have a Building Representative for that building.

 

President’s Report: 

Grievance at Level 3: The MTA is following the established process and working with Sue Vento and an Education Minnesota lawyer.

Packing/Unpacking Time Sheets: President Ricke has requested that teachers who had major work done in their rooms over the summer should document the actual hours it took to pack up at the end of the year and to unpack at the beginning of the year. Building Representatives should inform the teachers to submit all hours on the time sheets. This issue may be taken to Meet and Confer.

School Board Report:

Mary Tingblad submitted reports on the regular School Board Meeting held on June 3, 2004; and the School Board Study Session held on August 24, 2004.  Jan Nelson suggested that the MTA President and Vice President attend the School Board meetings and report back to the Governance Board, and that the School Board Reporter line item be cut from the MTA budget. President Ricke recommended that we address this at the next Governance Board meeting.

Others:

MTA Calendar Change: The Meet and Confer meeting has been changed to September 20, 2004, 4:30 p.m.

Motion by Cutshall, seconded by Ruffino, that the Governance Board meetings be scheduled for 4:30-6:00 p.m., and that if it must go beyond 6:00 p.m., a motion must be made. Motion carried. Governance Board members are expected to attend the entire meeting.

Motion by Nelson, seconded by Cutshall, to adjourn. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Mary Tingblad, MTA Secretary
9/9/04, Approved 9/15/04