CHSSA Executive Committee
Minutes December 2nd, 2009
Greene Turtle
Minutes December 2nd, 2009
Greene Turtle
The meeting came to order at 4:15 pm. Ed Murauskas welcomed everyone.
Community Relations
Dr. Stone told all members present that it is his personal mission to embark with business and civic organizations in an effort to work to strengthen our school community. He let everyone present know that our opinions are valued that we are the folks working in the "trenches" day in and day out. The Support Staff negotiations are soon to happen and he also is hopeful that the negotiations will go well so that all parties are satisfied. He understands that it is important to be as equitable with the support staff as with the professional staff.
However, it is taking longer to accomplish goals in Cape simply because of the many diversifications that make up our entire district. Our district, unlike any other in Sussex, is covered in the media by 2 Television stations, 2 weekly newspapers, 1 state newspaper, and one radio station. It is believed that with the opening of the new high school things will move ahead with community relations with a positive message to the whole cape community about what we in the cape school district are doing and accomplishing. We will be taking a closer look at our elementary schools and their future very soon. Decisions will have to be made as to whether we refurbish, add new, or otherwise. The board hopes to have the input from the support staff and all staff on how best to serve our students , our community, and how to tackle the future which lies ahead of us. Peggy asked Dr. Stone if he was interested in hearing how our Union interfaces with the community or as individuals, or as employees. Dr. Stone responded that all of it is of interest to him; he knows that we are involved in many different ways and how to best let everyone know is one of his goals. Members advised that we are in the community with our students every day, schools are collecting canned goods, and others are performing hours of community service. It was recommended that we need a PR staff member. Charlie Shaffer disagreed, saying we just needed to make sure the media knows what all we are doing. Charlie also commented that when the employees are more involved with the decisions that take place concerning our schools, students, and jobs, that the employees are more vested in their workplace and will defend the great jobs that we all do. Pride is built when the staff is included in the decision process of the day to day workings of the district.
Woody Stocks advised that the community does support Cape Schools in many ways. In particular the Lions Club gave over $30,000.00 in scholarships last year to Cape Students. He invited Dr. Stone to come to one of their meetings to address the Lions Club as a way to help promote better relations.
Dr. Stone wondered if including information in the Annual Report would be an effective way to advise our area of all that is happening or would it be better to have a separate publication devoted specifically to community relations. A member mentioned how other districts actually have infomercials on the local television station. Dr. Stone finished by thanking us for all of our input and he hopes to see this move forward with support from all the different groups within Cape.
Membership Update
Jean was unable to attend so her report was not available. Charlie gave to Ed the complete membership list he was able to get from the state. Ed will forward to Jean Read to review and return by Jan 15th with any corrections.
Old Business
ESP Dinner - Ed apologized for the lack of sufficient food at Irish Eyes. Members complained of small portions, tough meat, and food being taken away by 6:30 although the dinner was to go till 8:30. Ed explained that our bill came to $1500.00 for 78 people. This is a savings over when we ate at Jakes which cost us $2400.00. It was agreed that we would not return to Irish Eyes. Lisa Thorp suggested instead of a full dinner next year we do drinks and light appetizers. Woody offered to look into using the new Lions Club Hall. He doubts that we would be charged. We could all bring an appetizer and just pay for the drinks. Joan recommended that whatever we decide that the discussion for the dinner needs to start at the end of this school year so that we are not rushed in our decisions. It was suggested that a dinner committee might help. All agreed that we will put this on the end of the year agenda.
ESP Dinner Survey
Lisa advised that out of the 33 responses she had to the
Questionnaire- "what night is best", 31 responded that Wednesday is best.
Negotiation Training
Charlie Shaffer advised that Barbara Campbell from Shields Elementary is the only member from our district that is signed up to attend. He also advised that a booklet will be made for this session for any member who can attend the 2nd and 3rd sessions. Peggy will advise the negotiations team of this new info.
Negotiation Survey
Peggy advised that committees are being formed to review the returned surveys, i.e., Para's committee, secretaries, custodians, etc. Anyone wanting to help tally the results of the survey please contact Peggy. All surveys will be tallied at the January 5th meeting. Charlie was also able to supply copies of the contracts for many of the school districts within our state so that we can actually compare our contract against others. The committees will be responsible for pulling apart the contracts and surveys. Please consider helping with this. Again, contact Peggy at PKirby@cape.k12.de.us , or by contacting her in writing at the High School.
January 22nd In-service
Ed sent an email on Monday,11/30 to Dr. Mike Kelley, with a cc: to Joan, asking for clearance for all building reps to be able to attend an in-service dedicated to Building Representatives responsibilities and how to better represent members. DSEA will facilitate the in-service. Ed explained he has not heard from Dr. Kelley to date. Joan advised that Dr. Kelley had responded to Ed's email on Tuesday and that the in-service was approved. Ed will look into a library location at one of the two middle schools. Due to the fact that not all schools will dismiss at the same time, Ed will also ask building principals for clearance for their building reps to leave their schools in time to attend the in-service. The in-service will be approximately 3 hours.
Wireless Access For President
At the November meeting Ed had asked the union to pay for him to have wireless access at his home. Peggy advised that when she was President she was given a laptop and wireless dial up service at her home. She also advised that the laptop was deemed unusable at the end of her term as the technology was very dated. Charlie Shaffer advised that DSEA gives an allowance to their officers for technology use, rather than purchasing a particular item. That way, that person is free to purchase the item that will best help them to better perform their duties. Charlie also spoke that if this technology budget can better serve another member of the board that that should also be considered. Since the treasurer was not in attendance at this point of the meeting, further discussions and a vote were postponed. Joan advised Ed that his school issued Macintosh laptop will work in each building he travels to and that he should contact Rob Jennings for assistance.
DSEA Used Computer Equipment Sale
Ed advised that the DSEA is selling used but good computer equipment. Please check with Ed or Mary Beth for further information.
For the Good Of The Cause
Meeting locations - Ed made a motion for the next meeting to be at Grottos. He explained that they will turn off the pinball machines and TV's in the room where we meet. A second was not made. It was still felt that the noise level even from the surrounding rooms was too much to compete with. Ed offered that the Coverdale's would prefer to attend if the meetings were at Grottos. A show of hands was taken to see who preferred Grottos or Green Turtle. Although most preferred the Green Turtle, it will cost more, approx. $100/month for our meetings. Grottos cost $75-$80/month. Lisa suggested that we meet in one of the schools, this would eliminate all expense. A motion was made that we would hold our January meeting at the High School. Those present all agreed that a meeting that did not include food might go more quickly. It was also suggested that we discuss rotating our meeting locations, to help keep it interesting and satisfying to all. We could rotate between schools and public settings. This will be reviewed again in January.
Treasurers Report
Mary Beth was able to join us late and advised us that we have a balance of $20,604.00. After all expenses and scholarships are paid we have approximately $11,000.00 at our disposal that we could use.
The meeting was adjourned at 6pm. The next meeting will be at the Cape High School on January 6th at 4pm.
Posted on Dec 10 2009
