Bedford Education Association
Executive Board Meeting
March 19, 2015
Executive Board Members Present:
Kristen Tracy, President
Allison Hammer, Vice President
Cassie Dresser, BHS
Tova Margolis, BHS
Bonnie Klein, JGMS
Lenore Zavalick, Lane
Gretchen Dick, Lane
Heather Kurzman, BHS
Jennifer Foster, Davis
Lisa Campana, Davis
James McLernon, Treasurer
Jill Beers, Davis
Paul Harrington, JGMS
Meeting was called to order at 3:35
President’s Report
School Committee has approved an earlier start for the 2015-2016 school year. The
school calendar has been released. August 27th and 28th are new teacher days. All staff
will attend August 31st. No precedent is set with this change; this early start is for one
year only. There will be an additional workshop day in November.
There is a projected GIC deficit of $160-190 million. There are changes coming to our
plans that could trigger bargaining. The town may be able to slide people to other
plans. People can change during plans during open enrollment.
The board approved donations to the Tenacity Challenge as well as the Poetry Slam. This
is good public relations for the BEA. BEA name and logo will be on fliers, in the Boston
Globe, and on the Tenacity T-shirts.
PARCC Testing: A lot of issues have come up surrounding PARCC testing including
time. Technology, faculty/staff rights, and student privacy. Three weeks of testing is
taking away from time on learning; the MTA is pushing back on this.
JGMS is concerned that the assistant principal (usually responsible for discipline) is not
available due to testing responsibilities. All of the technology used for testing limits
technology use for the whole building during testing times. To prepare students for this
test, teachers need to teach content and the use of technology but teachers do not have
access to technology during this testing session.
Other issues that have come up include:
-Many teachers have ELA and Math goals aligned with PARCC- some student testing
scores were invalid due to being kicked off test, etc.
-Timed test- can’t stop during testing (this is a pilot year)
-Students don’t use the same resources to test. Some students use iPads, computers, or
laptops. This accessibility limits their view of the questions and how they participate.
-There’s no signal (page turn) that students are actively working and may not have even
started the timed test.
-MTA and some superintendents pushing back on having scores on evaluations and
DDMS. Outcome of this will be that they could use the context of the text instead (what
is the teacher doing? What strategies have they used?) Teachers do not have to tie their
goals to test scores. You can be encouraged to use the goal but are allowed to push back.
-Special education teachers do not service their other grade level students for weeks when
proctoring this lengthy exam.
-Faculty/Staff rights: District asking to sign agreement with 3rd party. This hinders people
being able to speak freely about PARCC. Lane will not sign these and JGMS is shredding
their documents.
Schools Our Students Deserve initiative- People are still encouraged to share stories and
anecdotes.
MTA Annual Meeting: Friday and Saturday May 8-9 at the Hynes Convention Center.
Please let a building representative know if you are interested in attending. There are only
1 or 2 spots left!
MTA Website Survey (also, check out toolkits)
-Take the survey to determine what you want to see on their website.
-massteacher.org- quick fact sheets about important issues.
Schools Our Students Deserve initiative (reminder)
-Publication-We want what’s best for students.
-Collect stories about what our students are doing.
-Collect stories about what we are not doing because of autonomy, funding, testing, etc.
-We want to collect these stories and create a publication. Email or meet with Kristen.
Vice President’s Report
No grievances Things are going well.
Secretary’s Report
Cassie made a motion to approve the February 2015 minutes. Jill seconded. The minutes
were approved unanimously. They will be posted to the BEA website.
Please encourage people to friend request Bea Sec on Facebook for BEA and MTA
related information.
Treasurer’s Report
The BEA has paid $136,00 in dues to MTA and received $133,652 from the district.
Stipends were paid out- $6600 for officers and $1400 for reps. The budget is $56,966
after bills paid and stipends. Applications are still missing from new hires for the MTA.
EA/TA Report
An antibullying training was scheduled for 3:30-5:30pm. The district is responsible to
compensate teaching assistants for working outside of the school day or they can have the
training during the school day. The training will be held during faculty Wednesday.
Building Report, Davis
Not much going on!
Building Report, Lane
Conferences, PD day, and report cards happened together and timing was not well
thought out.
Special education IEP meetings are causing teachers to miss their lunch period or prep
because coverage is not provided for teachers.
Health concerns-Lane needs to be tested for mold.
Building Report, JGMS
PARCC-Special ed teachers are not providing services to students when proctoring.
There is inconsistency with homework on religious holidays.
Building Report, BHS
IEPs are being held during teacher Wednesdays. The time should not be used for parent
meetings.
RETELL- Next year is the last year for paid spots. After this, teachers need to take the
course on their own or take the ELL test for $150. EDCO offers a RETELL course over
the summer. The Professional Development Committee may reimburse the cost for
RETELL. Some specials or elective teachers do not need to take RETELL, such as school
psychologist. Special educators do need to take RETELL.
Fingerprinting needs to be done by teachers and EAS/TAS- it’s $55. There is a specific
vendor used because they put your prints into a correct database. MTA is working on
passing a bill to make up for this cost when teachers apply or reapply for their licensure
(get licensure for free).
Leveling conversation and midyear exams- no free discourse at these meetings.
New teacher evaluations-Teachers do not have to upload documentation into teachpoint.
Just have examples as needed. Teachers are recommended to reflect on their
goal/progress by writing a summary/reflection. In three years, teachers should have 1
piece of evidence per indicator.
Ten Minute Meeting Topics
-School Committee approved earlier start
-Projected GIC deficit: go to massteacher.org/GIC for information
-Schools Our Students Deserve initiative (see below)
-MTA Annual Meeting: Friday and Saturday May 8-9; Hynes Convention Center
interested? Email kmatracy@gmail.com 1 seat left!
-Stay informed through massteacher.org; check out the MTA Toolkits, website
survey
-As always, suggestions for negotiations: contract/eval/TeachPoint language
-As always, call for building issues; remind folks they can see you at any time!
-The Education Practice and Policy Committee is looking to collect stories and
anecdotes from members for possible inclusion in a document outlining a shared
MTA vision of “The Schools Our Students Deserve.”
Do you have an anecdote or story from your current or former district that you think
should be shared with members? With the public? Your example could show the way
people create good learning experiences, OR could discuss the rules and conditions that
make it difficult to teach and what would help change this to create the schools our
students deserve.
Your story, name, or district’s name will not be used without your explicit permission.
Feel free to tell your story to an officer or a building representative or to email your story
to kmatracy@gmail.com.
2015-2016 First Days Schedules
M
T
W
Th
F
24
25
26
27
28
31
1
2
3
XX
XX
8
9 (¾)
10
11
27th and 28th- new teachers
31st- welcome back all staff
September 1- first day of school
September 4 and 7- no school
In lieu of having two workshop days before school starts, there will be one on November
3
Cassie made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Jill seconded. The meeting was adjourned
at 5:03 pm.
Minutes taken by Cassie Dresser