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Governance Board Meeting,
March 2, 2005 |
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In Attendance: |
Joseph Ricke, Jan Nelson, Mary Tingblad, Melanie Casiday, Linda Morantez, Margaret Ruffino, Pam Wertjes, Anita Britton, Rhonda Lundgren, Sandy Gosen, Jeri Goodspeed-Gross, Doug Kennedy, Jean Peebles, Mike Cutshall, Miles Mortensen. |
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Absent: |
Sara Macke, There is still a vacancy on the Governance Board for a representative from Clear Springs. |
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Guests: |
Mary Benson, Teachers' Rights Co-Chair; Education Minnesota Field Staff Representative. |
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Call to Order: |
4:32 p.m., by President Ricke. |
| Open Forum: |
Rally at the Capitol: We have received positive
feedback for sending two busloads to the Capitol Rally on February 28, 2005.
It was disappointing that more people did not participate.
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| Approval of Minutes: |
Motion by Casiday, seconded by Peebles, to approve the
minutes of February 16, 2005, as amended. Motion carried.
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Teachers' Rights Report: |
President
Ricke, Vice-President Nelson, Teachers' Rights Co-Chairs Benson and Otten, and Education Minnesota Field Staff
Representative have been meeting with Mike Lovett to discuss questions
regarding staffing. They are preparing a new document that will be in the
March MTA newsletter. The first set of postings will be available on March 15,
2005. The abovementioned group will meet again on March 17, 2005, regarding
the postings. Lovett reports that he has already spoken with people that will
be affected by staffing changes. |
| Treasurer's Report: |
Treasurer Casiday distributed the MTA Monthly Budget
Report, dated March 1, 2005; and the MTA Checking Account Statement, February
3-March 1, 2005.
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New Business: |
Crosby-Ironton Strike: Right now, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades are in session with strikebreakers teaching the classes. Motion by Lundgren, seconded by Casiday, to send President Ricke and Vice-President Nelson to Crosby-Ironton on March 11, 2005, with money and food donations collected from MTA members. Motion carried. President Ricke will send out an e-mail to all MTA members and all Building Representatives will follow up with specifics to their own building members. Donations should be collected by March 9, 2005.
Update on Executive Board Meeting: President Ricke, Vice-President Nelson, Secretary Tingblad, and Treasurer Casiday met on February 21, 2005 to begin work on updating the MTA Vision, Mission, and Goals, and the MTA job descriptions.
UniServ Meeting: Delegates Melanie Casiday, Rhonda Lundgren, and Jan Nelson attended the UniServ meeting on February 24, 2005. The UniServ voted to increase dues from $5 to $8, for 2005-06. They also discussed the Bylaw Amendment proposals that will be voted on at the Education Minnesota Representative Convention.
Health and Physical Education Lobby Day: The American Heart Association is sponsoring a Health and Physical Education Lobby Day at the Capitol on March 10, 2005. There is bipartisan support for a bill to strengthen and clarify Minnesota Health and Physical Education standards. Motion by Tingblad, seconded by Goodspeed-Gross, to send Department Chairs Sandy Gosen and Mark Chalupsky to represent Minnetonka teachers at the Health and Physical Education Lobby Day, using Association days. Motion carried. Sandy Gosen will coordinate the distribution of a letter and petition for staff members to sign in support of Health and Physical Education.
AFT Conference: President Ricke sent out information regarding the AFT Civil, Human, and Women's Rights Conference. One member is interested in attending. Motion by Casiday, seconded by Ruffino, to send the member, using funds from the Conference budget, requesting a follow-up presentation or write-up. Motion carried.
Election: On March 8, 2005, MTA members will vote for District H state-credentialed delegates to the NEA-RA. Vice President Nelson will send a message to Secretary Tingblad to be forwarded to all MTA members.
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| Old Business: |
2006-07 Calendar Recommendations: President Ricke
will request that the MTA members on Meet and Confer develop a list of
priority items to be considered when preparing the 2006-07 calendar.
State Health Insurance: A School Board member requested a letter from the MTA regarding the State Health Insurance proposal. President Ricke will not send a letter.
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| President's Report: |
Alternative Compensation Update: There is a renewed interest due to the Governor's proposal. President Ricke will gather and present more information at the next Governance Board meeting. He will also meet with Mike Lovett to discuss this further. Buy-Out/Early Retirement Proposal: There is some interest, but the final numbers are not yet available. Interest Based Bargaining: The MTA Negotiators will attend an Interest Based Bargaining training session, however a date has not yet been set.
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| School Board Report: |
At the last School Board meeting, there was a lot of
discussion regarding the International Baccalaureate program and the Theory of
Knowledge course. A School Board member reinforced that all the teachers
involved in IB are highly qualified. The MTA is concerned because specific
names were used and that does not follow the School Board's rules. This will
be brought to Meet and Confer.
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| Open Forum: |
Communications Department: Members are asking
what does the Communications Department do? There are concerns regarding
interactions with the staff, media and publicity. Some questions are not answered
specifically and there have been some omissions of information.
Motion by Lundgren, seconded by Casiday, to adjourn. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 6:02 p.m.
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Respectfully submitted, |
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