Bellevue Education Association

LID

As you know, our Learning Improvement Day (LID) was part of the cuts made to education during this legislative session. While initial conversations between BEA and BSD during Meet and Confer indicated that the district was going to try to allocate funds to retain this day, BEA was informed at our last meeting that they will be unable to do so. A joint memo will be forthcoming with more specific information; for now you need to know that this day is no longer on our calendar. The first required work day for the 2010-11 school year is Monday, August 30^th. As always, supplemental hours can be used for your own personal prep and class set up, but there will be no district or school level meetings prior to the start of the school year. Additionally, since our contract specifies that observations cannot occur until the principal has done a review of the evaluation process (previously scheduled as a part of LID), no observations can occur until this training takes place at a regularly scheduled staff meeting after the start of the school year.

Race to the Top

At multiple meetings this winter, Rep Council and Exec Board discussed the pros and cons of signing on to Washington State’s Race to the Top Grant Application. It was decided that we would do so under the following conditions:

• BSD must sign the Memorandum of Agreement regarding bargaining rights

• Focus on the Required Elements of RttT, not optional programs

<!

• Given the relatively small dollar amount Bellevue would receive if the grant is awarded to Washington State ($22 per student, approximately $398,000 per year). Initiatives should be narrow in focus.
  
• Initiative should support required work or work in progress, not create additional work.

As the deadline approached, it seemed we would not be able to come to agreement on this issue as the Superintendent was most interested in looking at the optional items of RttT which included required provisions for “incentives”. BEA could not sign on with this on the table. The Superintendent indicated she would turn in the application without our signature. On May 17^th, however, BSD indicated they were willing to sign M of A with a few adjustments which were acceptable to BEA. They dropped the interest in Optional elements requiring “incentives”. They agreed to focus efforts on the “Great Teachers and Leaders” criteria. This is an area we must work on anyway between now and 2013-14 school year, as our current evaluation model in Article 12 does not meet the new state requirements. With all of our parameters met, BEA agreed to sign the application. The Memorandum of Agreement is part of the ratification vote outlined below.

Election and Ratification

On Tuesday, June 8^th and Wednesday, June 9^th voting will occur in your buildings. With the passage of the amendments to our Constitution and Bylaws, we can now take two days for voting to occur. You will be voting for two positions on the BEA Executive Board. Candidate statements have will be made available.

• There is a one year term for Secretary. This opening is the result of Mark Morrow being elected to the position of Treasurer. This election fills the position for the remainder of the term.

• There is a two year term for the newly created At Large Specialist Rep position representing art, music, PE, librarians, CTE, curriculum and technology.

In addition to the Executive Board election, you will be voting to approve the amendments to our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiated throughout the year this year. This includes the following:

• Memorandum of Understanding regarding BEA Release Days: Article 5, Section 9 of the current CBA provides a maximum of 55 released days per year for association business. We have been exceeding this limit for several years. The MOU increases the number of days to 90.

• Memorandum of Understanding regarding New Employee Orientation: Realigns the orientation days for new employees to match what actually happens with hiring.

• Memorandum of Agreement on Race to the Top: Outlines the bargaining provisions should Washington State receive a Race to the Top Grant.

• Memorandum of Agreement on Race to the Top Evaluation Pilot Grant: Outlines the bargaining provisions should Bellevue receive a Race to the Top Evaluation Pilot Grant.

Unfortunately we will still have items for ratification when we return to work in the fall.

We do not have next year’s healthcare rates available yet.

The District has not run the new salary schedule yet. You can expect the following impact on your compensation

• Approximately .5% loss due to lack of funding to for LID

• 2 days, approximately 1% increase to Incentive pay portion of your supplemental pay (per negotiated agreement)

• 2 days, approximately 1% increase in technology pay applied to the T and R portion of your supplemental pay (per negotiated agreement)

Robinswood

Despite eloquent, heartfelt, logical testimony from staff, students, graduates and parents, the Board of Directors for the Bellevue School District voted 4 to 1 in favor of closing Robinswood on Tuesday evening. The question of past accreditation practices for all of our high schools was raised by audience members. BSD is currently compiling information from their archives. BEA has requested these documents and the request was made from community members that the district place this documentation on their website.