PESPA Summer PRIDE - July 7, 2010
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PESPA Summer PRIDE
Vol. 2, Issue 1 July 7, 2010
Attention PESPA Members!
We need your help as PESPA strives to keep members up-to-date on PESPA and Pinellas County Schools activities during the summer. Let PESPA members know about the Summer PRIDE electronic newsletter. They can sign up by calling PCTA-PESPA at (727)585-6518 or by e-mail to robin.haines@floridaea.org. They can also access the Summer Action from the PCTA-PESPA homepage on our website www.pcta-pespa.org. The link can be found in the column on the left side of the homepage.
Bargaining Update
The Bargaining Leadership Team (BLT) met on June 28, 2010 to discuss the Pinellas County Schools 2010-11 budget, Humana health insurance costs for the 2011 calendar year and the implications these issues have for collective bargaining and the 2010-11 school year. The BLT is comprised of leaders of the four unions representing Pinellas County employees, the Pinellas Administrators Association and the school district administration. The unions are PCTA, PESPA, SEIU and the Suncoast PBA.
The school district is trying to reduce its operating budget by $26 million to meet revenue expectations. The proposed 2010-11 continuing expenses being used in the budget proposal include the cost for step increases previously negotiated for the 2010-11 school year. Fred Matz, PCS Chief Financial Officer, presented the issues being reviewed by the School Board as possible reductions. The possible reductions being considered are as follows:
Staff reductions $5.0 million
Health insurance $2.3 million (See below)
Transportation plan $3.0 million *
School improvement funds $1.2 million
Discretionary funds $2.0 million
Additional duty days/overtime $0.5 million
Literacy Success $0.5 million
Extended learning $1.0 million
Contracted services $2.0 million
Travel reimbursement $0.1 million
Math/Science coaches $0.8 million
Blackberry use $0.2 million
Job titles/redesign $0.3 million
Substitute teachers $1.4 million
*Due to school board’s reversal on the school start times, the estimated savings in transportation will change to $ 900,000.
These issues alone do not meet the goal of saving $26 million. Consideration is being given to an early retirement incentive for instructional personnel, but details and potential savings must be analyzed to determine its feasibility.
More painful cuts have been calculated and involve mandatory unpaid leave (MUL)/furlough days, although this has not been formally proposed by the district at this time. PCTA-PESPA adamantly opposes any unpaid leave for instructional and support professionals.
PCTA-PESPA is asking the School Board to reduce its “cliff” reserve which was established in 2009-10. This reserve line was created as an effort to prepare for the end of federal stimulus funding after next school year. The amount of the “cliff” reserve, approximately $12-14 million, will not solve the $50-plus million deficit in the school district’s expected revenues in 2011-12. Using part of this budget line will allow for a balanced 2010-11 budget but does not change the fact that 2011-12 will be disastrous without legislative action to address Florida’s revenue shortfall.
Note: The BLT will meet again in July prior to the School Board’s first budget hearing on July 27th.
Health Insurance
Humana has proposed a 6% premium increase for the 2011 calendar year which would maintain the current benefit structure. The Employee Well-Being and Satisfaction Subcommittee has recommended an option that would mean a 2.9% premium increase with plan design changes, i.e. additional co-insurance and out-of-pocket expenses. This option saves the $2.3 million indicated in the above referenced list. The option would increase premiums, beginning December 2010, for most employees with single coverage by $4-5 per pay period, two person coverage by $8-10 per pay period, and family coverage by $20 per pay period. Note: Humana POS would be between $16 and $40 more per pay period. There is another option that has been proposed that would slightly reduce the employee’s family coverage cost. That option saves $2 million, instead of the $2.3 million.
The BLT did not take action on health insurance at the June 28th meeting. All four employee unions felt many of the other issues, especially unpaid mandatory leave, are important to consider and resolve prior to reaching final agreement regarding health insurance.
Meeting the Highly Qualified Standard
The PESPA office is receiving calls from members concerned about the timeline for meeting the Highly Qualified Standard for ESE Associates and Teacher Assistants. Administrators notified the Associates in the newly designated Title I secondary schools that they must meet the standard before the next school year. This is due to the designation of Title I for their school and means they must meet the standard now instead of by next summer (when the deadline for the rest of the Associates in non-Title I schools must be HQ). PESPA works with the district to ensure that support is in place for every current employee to be successful in this effort. Carolyn Smith has been holding classes since spring to help you become familiar with the types of questions on the test and to get support in those areas your pretest indicated you need a refresher. The district has provided more intensive workshops to help you with the math skills necessary to achieve a passing score on the ParaPro. They are currently developing workshops to help with the Reading and Language portion as well. We suggest you take advantage of the support opportunities available to you. Register on LMS for the current classes.
The PESPA office also has a study guide for the ParaPro developed by NEA. Members may stop by the office and pick up a copy. This book is available to members only. The office is open Monday -Thursday from 8 am to 6 pm during the summer.
PESPA will provide a workshop called ER&D Meeting the Standards for Paraprofessionals in early August to provide the alternative for those who have not been able to get a passing score on the ParaPro. This workshop will be provided during the school year, but the August offering will be open only to those in Title I schools so that they will be prepared to return to work at their school August 16. Personnel will contact those eligible for the August ER&D classes. You will need to put some effort into passing the ParaPro prior to attending the ER&D classes.
Information For Displaced Personnel
At this time schools/sites should be aware of what their current openings are. You should have been given a form to complete and turn into personnel if you are displaced from the position you held during the 2009-2010 school year. It is important that personnel has correct contact information for you as now that positions will be open, schools and supervisors may contact you about the positions available. If they do not have current information, they will not be able to get in touch with you to offer you the positions at their sites. Administrators and Supervisors are asked to look at the list of current displaced employees to fill openings they have. Only positions in areas where no current employees are displaced may be posted on the district website.
Feel free to contact schools in which you would like to be placed to see if they have or anticipate any openings. You may also contact the person in personnel who handles placements for the school where you last worked. They will be assisting you with finding a placement for the next school year.
If you are not placed by the time school begins, you will be put on pending placement for 90 days. You need to be diligent about looking for a position within that 90 days, if you are still not placed and wish to maintain your benefits, you will need to pay the entire cost of your benefits to the district.
Calling All Association Representatives
Please mark your calendars and plan on attending our Annual Faculty/Association Representative School of Instruction, Date: August 21st.