Governance Board Meeting

Minnetonka<= /st1:place> Teachers Associatio= n Members of Education Minnesota, NEA, AFT, Minnesota Loca= l #7173
Governance Board Meeting District Service Center= December 7, 2005
In Attendance= :	Joseph Ricke, Jan Nelson, Mary Tingblad, Ramona Anderson, Susan Weber, Margaret Ruffino, P= am Wertjes, Anita Britton, Rhonda Lundgren, Sandy Gosen, Jeri Goodspeed-Gros= s, Mike Matthias, Rachel Consdorf.
Absent:	Debra Drexler, Doug K= ennedy, Heather Stowman. There is a vacancy on the Governance Board for a repr= esentative from Minnewashta.
Guests:	Susanne Alexander (St= owman), Mary Benson and Anita Otten (Teachers’ Rights Co-Chairs), John Borg= en (Education Minnesota Field Staff Representative).
Call to Order:	4:37 p.m., by Preside= nt Ricke.
Approval of Minutes:	The Governance Board requests that printed copies of= the minutes to be approved should be available at the Governance Board meetin= g to ensure that all who are voting have read the minutes. Secretary Tingblad = will bring printed copies to each meeting, in addition to e-mailing the previe= w of the minutes to the Governance Board members prior to each meeting. Motion by R= uffino, seconded by Nelson, to delete the last sentence of “TIP” under “Old Business” of the minutes of November 16, 2005. Motion carried. Motion by Ruffino, seconded by Britton, to approve the minut= es of November 16, 2005, as amended. Motion carried. =
Teachers’ Rights Report:	President Ricke and the Teachers’ Rights Co-Chairs attended a Me= mber Rights Advocate Training provided by Education Minnesota. President Ricke suggested that more should attend future training sessions. Dr. Peterson will be meeting with all buildings this month.
Treasurer’s Report:	Treasurer Anderson will distribute checks at the next Governance Board meeting. If there will not be a meeting, the checks will be mailed or dro= pped off at each building. President Ricke will e-mail the Governance Board regarding rescheduling or canceling the December 21, 2005, meeting.
Open Forum:	MHS MTA members want to attend a School Board meeting to address conce= rns. President Ricke recommends waiting until January. All buildings are experiencing time and stress concerns. Consdorf shared a discussion sheet that was used to collect data on pressing issues at MHS. She will send this as an attachment to the Govern= ance Board members. Workload sheets were given to principals to be distributed to all teac= hers for data collection to be used by the Workday/Work Year Committee. Some members are concerned that these forms are to be returned to the principa= ls, and would rather return them to MTA Building Representatives or committee members. Elementary principals are to observe all teachers using Guided Reading= and the new Math curriculum twice by the end of December. There will be additional observations in the Spring. Ruffino is on the Math Committee a= nd clarified that these are not to be formalized observations and will not be put into teachers’ records, unless the teacher specifically wants reading and/or math as one of his/her formal observations. Teachers’ Rights Co-Chair Benson agreed that this should not be included in TIP. President Ricke met with Minnewashta MTA members regarding their frustrations over too many meetings and time issues. It would be helpful = for them to have a Building Representative on the Governance Board; however no one has stepped forward for that position.
New Business:	EM-RC in March: Secretary Tingblad sent an e-mail to all MTA members informing them that the MTA is allowed to send seven members as delegates to the Education Minnesota Representative Convention, March 17-= 18, 2006. The President, by virtue of office, will attend the convention; therefore, we will be electing six delegates. Members interested in placi= ng their names on the ballot should reply to Mary Tingblad by Friday, Decemb= er 16, 2005, 4:00 p.m. The election will be on January 10, 2006. MTA District Committee Members: Governance Board members on the Calendar Committee include Jeri Goodspeed-Gross, Jan Nelson, and Pam Wert= jes. Sandy Gosen has volunteered to be on the Online Learning Committee. Other= MTA members are encouraged to join these committees. President Ricke will send out an e-mail to members regarding joining committees. Education Minnesota Foundation Grants and Human Rights Award: President Ricke distributed information and forms on Foundation Grants and the Human Rights Award. Audit: The IRS now requires a more formal audit of all Locals w= ith Fair Share non-members. Education Minnesota has suggested a group of nine auditors that will work with Locals at group rates. Teaching Sixth Class at MHS: President Ricke recommends that th= is extra class should still be posted. Motion by Matthias, seconded by Goodspeed-Gross, that President Ricke write a Me= mo of Understanding to allow a specific teacher to teach a 6^th cl= ass for semester 2 only. Motion carried.
Old Business:	Political Organizer: A member at MME may be interested in this position. Field Staff Representative John Borgen recom= mends that we should have a Grassroots Committee with members in each building.= We also need a Health Care Advocate for the MTA. Education Minnesota is pursuing statewide heal= th care. <= /span> Workday/Work Year Committee: The next meeting= will be on December 15, 2005. President Ricke recommends that we get weekly updates on this committee’s work. Anyone interested in joining this committee should contact Jan Nelson. MAPPS Update: The MAPPS Committee is wordsmithing a document and will send out an update soon. Cost Savings: President Ricke will ask Dr. Peterson to detail h= ow savings was achieved with the budget cuts. Distinguished Educators Program Update: President Ricke will ta= lk with Mike Lovett to formalize the process so people can apply for this program.
President’s Report:	Meet and Confer Agenda Items: December’s Meet and Confer meeting will be rescheduled. President Ricke will e-mail the Governance B= oard when the new date is set.
	Motion by Anderson, seconded by Goodspeed-Gross= , to adjourn. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 6:07 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Mary Tingblad, MTA Secretary 1/3/06, Approved as amended 1/4/06