April, 2010
Volume 18, Issue 8
EYES ON THE BOARD
KEEPING YOU INFORMED
April 26, 2010
1. The first meeting of the day started at 1 p.m.—interviews and ranking for insurance and employee benefits—a company named Willis won the ranking in a very close vote. The importance of McAllen AFT attending these meetings is the details. The new company will evaluate the entire benefits program—to AFT that means the clinic (lots of discussion about the clinic)—so be ready for an important alert from us.
2. Then a discussion of the 2010-2011 budget—administration went over paper work which we can’t get until the meeting is over (we have requested in open records).
3. Next a discussion of the McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium—a few concerns—stadium needs updating ($10 million), needs to attract more events to make money, City of McAllen is not interested in buying stadium for $41 million (city put up money for assessment of the stadium)—stadium study will continue. The meeting was over at 4:30 p.m.
The second meeting of the day began at 6 p.m. There were a large number of sports awards.
Hats off for Teresa Casso, Girls Basketball Coach at McHi, she is retiring this year. We are proud of her Winner’s Record. Congratulations.
Many items we reported on several weeks ago—just to review—memo of understanding between MISD and Hidalgo Head Start; technology purchases through Texas Department of Information Resources; physical therapy and occupational therapy services for special education; auto repair parts and related products; printing services; HVAC; tires and related products; architectural design services; AV equipment; fire services.
Other items—Insurance and benefits services up in May; continuation of collection of taxes with Hidalgo County; budget amendment; Intra-District Transfers; student activities commencement. Approved new buses; voted to support the city of McAllen’s bond election; purchase of chillers and cooling equipment for McHi; naming of McHi Big Gym (notice in newspaper).
Administration mentioned again that they would apply for a class-size wavier.
April 12, 2010
The MISD Board met at 6 p.m. Thanks to all of you who came out to support the McAllen AFT.
Avecita Roach was named the new Assistant Principal at Rowe.
So far only one (1) person has been formally non renewed by the McAllen ISD Board—this was done by vote of 6-0 (Board member Moore was absent) by the board last night. If you are formally non-renewed, you will find it very difficult to get job anywhere in Texas.
One interesting development out of the waiver for more than 22-1 (some schools have 31 students in the classroom) in elementary grades K-4 was discussed. It seems that 700 students are not attending the school they are zoned for.
Letters will be sent to parents regarding their children being in the wrong school. Board heard the consideration of and possible approval of FDB Local Policy regarding Intra-District Transfers (First Reading).
The MISD Climate Survey (for teachers) done in January, 2010 was presented. One elementary (Jackson) had more participants in the survey than they had employees. That was a challenge to explain. Some of the IDEA recommendations from the survey were as follows: Non-renew the contract with Sharp School; attempt to eliminate or reduce redundancy and streamline paper work requirements; establish a formula for allocating copiers to the campuses based on student enrollment and standardize paper and copy allocations across campuses.
The three (3) traditional high schools expressed concern for class sizes, substance abuse, and number of times administrators are pulled off campuses, and quality of district staff development. AFT has been hearing about the lack of planning and prep period and excessive paperwork.
The middle schools concerns were Sharp School, number of district-wide initiatives, class size, counselors don’t have time to work with students, and problems with copiers. AFT has been hearing about the lack of planning and prep period and excessive paperwork.
The elementaries biggest concerns were class sizes, number of district-wide initiatives, excessive paperwork, and counselors don’t have time to work with students. AFT is hearing lack of planning and prep period, only 20 minutes for lunch, and excessive paperwork.
There was a long discussion presented by Delinquent Tax collections. Lilia Ledesma of Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Samson presented the following:
Non-Suits—Cases—Amount
Release of Judgments —Cases—107—Amount $428,482
Judgments Taken—Cases—28— Amount—$108,509
Pending Litigation—Cases—908— Amount—$7,414,968
PRESENTATION TO THE
MCALLEN ISD BOARD
OF EDUCATION
April 26, 2010
Good evening. The McAllen AFT represents employees from the teacher to the custodian.
During this school year the administration received a waiver on class size in elementary from TEA. The waiver has not been best for students. Rooms in elementary have been crowded, illnesses have been spread, students have trouble focusing, and mainstreaming is a challenge for special education students. We ask that you not repeat this very bad decision for next school year.
This spring the McAllen ISD Board approved no tuition for out of district students. In a recent meeting it was made known that 700 students are not attending the school they are zoned for. Teachers are being told that their children cannot attend the school they teach at. What a difficult burden the McAllen ISD Board has put on teachers—it is like a slap on the face.
Teachers want what other parents want—a safe and secure environment for their children. If the teacher has their own child at the school they teach in, they can feel secure regarding continuing to work after school. If the teacher’s child is at another school, they may have to run and get them—disrupting after school tutoring. The idea may look good on paper, but in reality is not good for children.
We again want to talk about IB for all schools in McAllen. IB is a very expensive program. We shared the budget amounts with our members and were told that IB for all is grossly under- funded. Will libraries be properly equipped? Will there be adequate technology? Will there be adequate maintenance of computers? Will there be adequate new software appropriate for IB? Instead of such a heavy investment in IB, why not give a $4,000 stipend for Math and Science. You are going to lose you Math and Science teachers to other districts if you don’t make a smarter decision.
Lastly, McAllen ISD Administration continues to break the law. Teachers are not being given their conference period appropriately. They also continue--especially in elementary--to not be given their 30 duty free minutes for lunch. Most elementary teachers only get 20 minutes for lunch—they have to drop off and pick up students—thus using at least 10 minutes of their 30-minute lunch. Administration needs to follow the law.
Thank you.