Board of Directors Meeting January 25, 2023

HEA Board of Directors Minutes

January 26, 2023 

 

The January 26, 2023 meeting of the Board of Directors was called to order by President Tim Briggs at 4:15 pm. In attendance were President Tim Briggs, 1st Vice President Barry Davis, 2nd Vice President Liz Briggs, Treasurer Lauren Sanguedolce, Secretary Deb Russell, ESP Unit Representative Maureen Zuber and Clerical Representative Vicki Steed. 

The following buildings were represented by their Building Representatives: Bradford, Consentino,Haverhill High,Hunking,Moody, Pentucket Lake,Silver Hill, Tilton,Whittier and Walnut Square.

 

Acceptance of Agenda for the January 26th Board of Directors meeting:Motion to accept the agenda was made by Vicki Steed and seconded by Liz Briggs. Motion passed.

 

Acceptance of the minutes for the December 8th 2022 meeting. Motion was made to accept the minutes by Maureen Zuber  and seconded by Barry Davis. Motion passes.

 

1. ESP Report

1. New bargaining team had their first meeting. 
   1. Things we wanted keep in the contract
   2. Things we wanted to loose in the contract
   3. Things we wanted to improve in the contract
2. General ESP membership survey is going to go out in order for ESPs to voice any concerns. 

 II.Clerical Unit Representative Report

1. First Bargaining session scheduled for February 7th and one on the 28th
2. Clerical meeting on the PD day (Feb 8th) at Nettle School
3. 10 month Clerks – passed and received their retro pay

III. Membership Chair Report

1. Membership Meeting- 
   1. keeping the lists up to date
   2. New units – Katelyn is working on recruiting OT, PT etc. Starting the conversation.

IV Treasurer’s Report

1. Membership Numbers as of 1/25/2023

• Clerks 38
• ESPs 203
• Teachers 762
• Total Members 1,003

1. Bank Information as of 1/26/2023

• Checking Account $236,912.61
• Money Market Reserve Account $238,806.64
• Scholarship Account $142

• Total $475,861.25

1. Projects and Duties

• Attended meetings for the E-Board, Grievance Committee, Membership Committee, and Scholarship  Committee.
• Deb and I will chair the Bylaws Committee.
• Deposited a check for $12,878.10 from the MTA for Local Office Support.
• Deposited a $5,000 check from the Andover Education Association.
• Emailed all ESP Clerks about changing units. Their new dues rate will be deducted on February 3.
• Paid the State of Massachusetts General Fund $110,000 with a cashier’s check. This covered the two strike penalties of $50,000 and $60,000. There was an $8 fee for the check. 
• Called Verizon to dispute two charges on the old landline and internet account and to stop payment on future payments. Both charges were refunded. There was a $30 stop payment fee. I will call to dispute that.
• Began calculating and examining funds for next year’s budget. I will be recommending an increase in dues for all members due to the money owed to the state ($110,000) and the city ($250,000) from the strike.

1. Secretary’s Report- 

1. Bylaws Committee- Email was sent to those members interested in the committee and hope to schedule our first. We would like to have more members
2. HEA Calendar- Irina is going to be working and updating our HEA calendar. 

VI 2nd Vice President’s Report

1. Food Drive- HEA 2nd Annual Food Drive- teacher driven. February 1-14th. Donations to go to Sacred Hearts and Backpack68 program
2. Scholarship- after February Break we will begin asking for Scholarship donations
3. HEA Gear- form is being sent out to order apparel besides the 

VIII. 1st Vice President

1. Grievance- 
   1. Preliminary meeting
      1. Won a grievance for a member that had not been paid correctly. 
2. MTA Events
   1. MTA bargaining summit
   2. Winter Skills
   3. Community Outreach for Parents-Opting out of MCAS
   4. Conscientious Objector-for the MCAS
3. Wearing HEA T-shirts
   1. Motion was made by Barry Davis to bring back wearing our HEA shirts, seconded by Deb Russell. After a discussion it was decided to wear them on Wednesdays. 

1. President’s Report-

1. Old Business
   1. Copier is up and running. Need to get it to be able to print. 
   2. The Security Contract was signed and got their retro pay.
      1. We need to sign them up for the union
   3. BARR at Haverhill High- demand to bargain and a cease and desist order. We have not heard back nor has it stopped
      1. 26/28 Freshman teachers and 24 of them do not have professional status.
   4. Safety Committee
      1. Sent an agenda for the next meeting and asked if the district would like to add to the agenda. They requested that attendance be added to the agenda
      2. Main place to find communications for teachers
      3. Asked for an organizational chart so people know who was in what position and their role.
      4. There are things that are happening in the buildings and the School Committee are not aware. They are not recognizing that we have little kids with big problems.When an incident occurs a report is to be given to the Superintendent and then the Superintendent is to report these to the School Committee. A school committee member has stated that they have not been given any such type of report or document. We need to send a request for information for a list of all incidents (assaults) and ask the School Committee if they have received a list. 

 

1. New Business
   1. $110,000 was delivered to the Labor Board. We are still fighting it in the court. MTA has pay $50,000 for refusing to denounce the strike.
   2.  ULP filed against us by Attorney Connolly – we unfairly used the leverage of these illegal actions to bargain at the table. 
   3. We filed a ULP against them for refusing to bargain. We have put forth a request for information. 
   4. City Council- debt exclusion for Consentino. We can not get back into the Hale Hospital debt situation. Flyers can go out to families to get the information out.
2. MTA legislations
   1. Governor Healey has already replaced the Secretary of Education. 
   2. MTA and the Right to Strike: issues are still out there
   3. MCAS Thrive Act- to do away with the MCAS.
   4. Cherish Act- Higher Education
3. CAT Team
   1. Get the committee back up and running. 
      1. Motion was made by Barry Davis to reinstate the CAT team seconded by Nicole Sanchez. A meeting to be held the following Tuesday. Motion passed unanimously.
         1. To start planning climate and culture surveys in buildings. 
      2. Motion to start wearing HEA shirts on Wednesday made by Suzette DiTonno and seconded by Dana McNamara. Motion passed unanimously. 

1. Problems and Concerns

1. Mutual Concern Committee- the contract does not state when and how often the committee meets. Barry will be the chairperson. Update?- No, there is no update. Tim-we agreed to this in lieu of our Joint Labor that we had last year. It has been put off. Have not heard from the administration.
   1. Deb Russell- requests that we need to make an effort to get this started. 
   2. Barry Davis-District has shown that they have no interest in addressing mutual concerns. Use this committee as a way to inform the public. To give them a seat at the table and then they stonewall. 
   3. Result of discussion- if they reach out to us then we will put forth an agenda. 
2. Title I- people that are working Title I events have not been paid until just recently. GH has had an event in the Fall and no one has been paid. A principal has stated that people should be getting paid. 
   1. Barry Davis-the fact that the coordinator is to get a stipend we need to talk to coordinators and ask them if they are willing to file a grievance. 
3. Intern-hired through Opportunity Works
4. ESP’s doing WIN blocks- this is a grievance because they are the only adult and should get paid.

 

Motion to adjourn was made and passed. Meeting was adjourned at 6:24pm. 

Respectfully submitted,

Deb Russell

HEA Secretary