The end of the fall semester is rapidly approaching! We know that everyone is probably very much looking forward to a break at this point in the school year. We have a few items for you to keep in mind during these next few busy weeks:

Site Representative Council Nominations and Elections: All members should have received an email to their work email accounts from Election Committee Chairman Jose Pereyra with attachments including the Announcement of Election, Election Timeline, and Nomination Form (which must be printed out). In addition, you should have received an email from FA President Matt Provost with a Site Representative job responsibilities description. Nominations are due TODAY, Nov. 9, by 1:00 PM, to your site’s Elections Committee representative. Keep in mind, all nominees have the entire following week to think about whether to accept or decline the nomination. For those who choose to accept the nomination and are subsequently elected, comprehensive Site Representative trainings will be provided by our CTA administrator, Andrew Oman.

Lunchtime informational meetings: Your FA Negotiators will be holding brief meetings at each site to update members on the current status of our contract negotiations. The dates and locations are as follows:

ERHS: Nov. 28; lunchtime; in Room 216 (Tracy Davis’ classroom)

Delta: Nov. 28; lunchtime; in the lunch room

PVHS: Nov. 29; lunchtime; in Room 626 (Patty Peinado’s classroom)

SMHS: Nov. 30; lunchtime, in Room 354 (Rebecca Masuda’s classroom)

IEP/504 Plan meeting obligations: This is the time of year when many student IEP/504 plans are being created or updated, and meetings are often scheduled as a result. While we most definitely want to support our students and their academic success, we also need to keep in mind the duty-free time afforded to us during the day to take a lunch break and recharge for the rest of the day. To clarify: As is stated in our contract, and regardless of what a student’s current IEP or 504 plan says, a certificated staff member cannot be required to work during his or her duty-free lunch period. This is the definition of “duty-free.” If a certificated staff member is directed by administration to work during his or her duty-free lunch period, please comply so as not to be insubordinate, but please contact your FA leadership as soon as possible so that we may address the issue.

-Your Faculty Association Executive Board