Sullivan

Sullivan County Overwhelmingly Votes to PECCA

(Collaborative Conferencing)

98% Vote for PECCA

Teachers in Sullivan County voted to enter into Collaborative Conferencing with the School Board.  The yes vote was 98% in favor of the conferencing.

The team will consist of 10 members representing the School Board and 10 members representing teachers.  The SCEA captured 8 seats on the team with the remaining 2 going to PET.  Even though both organizations will be on the team, the SCEA has to bear 100% of the expenses of the training, thanks to the way Lt. Gov. Ramsey set up the irritating law.

The 98% vote in favor shows the support for the bargaining that Sullivan County has done since 1979 and sends a message to Sen. Ron Ramsey who spent almost the entire legislative session last year trying to repeal the Professional Negotiations Act that had served Sullivan County well for 32 years.  Maybe now Tennessee's legislature can concentrate on creating jobs for Tennesseans, which is what most legislators ran their 2010 campaigns on.

The SCEA has managed to jump through all of the hoops that were set up to make it difficult to get the process going.  Training will be sometime in the spring and the conferencing will begin next fall for the 2012-2013 school year.  We will keep you posted!

SCEA Initiates Collaborative Conferencing Procedure

Vote coming soon

The SCEA has taken the first steps according to the new law to initiate Collaborative Conferencing in Sullivan County.  SCEA President Athena Warren presented Dr. Yennie and Board Chairman Ron Smith with the petitions signed by more than 35% of the professional staff to start the process.  Only 15% was necessary to initiate the procedure.

Dr. Yennie has appointed Board members Betty Combs, Robyn Ivester and Jack Bales along with SCEA President Athena Warren, PET President Kim Blevins and Sherri DeVault to the Question Committee.  That committed will design two questions that will be put to all professional staff before the end of November.  The first question will be do you want to have collaborative conferencing?  At least 50% plus one of the professional staff will have to answer yes to that question for the process to continue.  The second question will apply only if the first is approved and will be who do you want to represent you?  The choices will be the SCEA, PET, Unaffiliated, or None of the Above.  None of the Above will get no representation, the SCEA  and PET will appoint their respective members and Unaffiliated members will be appointed by the Board, not by teachers.

Training, paid for by the SCEA will be held after January, 2012 if the process is approved and conferencing will be begin in the fall of 2012.  If you have any questions, please see your SCEA rep or contact the SCEA office at southhs@hotmail.com

SCEA/TEA/NEA

Going Strong

- more reason than ever to belong

Even though the Tennessee General Assembly has done away with bargaining, the SCEA is still going strong.  After all, we were here long before the 1978 Bargaining Bill passed.

SCEA President Athena Warren will still be meeting with Dr. Yennie each month - bringing your concerns.

You will still have representation in your building through your SCEA Association Representative to keep you informed and should you ever need them to attend a meeting with you.

The TEA will still be working to defeat bills that are bad for public education and help pass bills that will improve education in Tennessee.  Our TEA UniServ rep Harry Farthing will still be with us to help you solve any conflicts you have.  The TEA will still be lobbying in Nashville for raises and improvements to our retirement system.  Our education specialist lawyers are still available to serve you in legal matters.

The NEA will still be working to bring about needed change to No Child Left Behind and to help secure federal funding for public education.  Your $1,000,000 liability policy is still intact.  You member discounts through TEA and NEA are still there.

What is different?  Well, for one, we no longer have a contract.  Before, we were required by law to defend everyone against a contract violation regardless of whether they were a member or not.  Not any more.  All non-members are on their own.

With the new evaluations having 50% based on student performance and all of the pieces still not in place, it is important for you to stay a member so we can help you with any appeal that you might need.  Without a contract, you will need the SCEA/TEA/NEA more than ever to protect your interests and employment.

On behalf of the officers and faculty representatives of the SCEA, welcome back to a new school year.  If we can be of any assistance to you, please don't hesitate to contact us.  Our first contact is Steve Thompson at 423-416-0492.  He is located at Sullivan East High School (423-354-1900) as graduation coach if you need to call him or email him at southhs@hotmail.com.  He sill direct you to the appropriate person to help you.  We hope you have a great year and we are looking forward to serving you! 

Here We Go Again!!!

Legislature/Governor on the Attack Once More

Gov. Bill Haslam has laid out his legislative plans for this year.  In one sentence the Governor said he wanted the legislature to ease up on attacking teachers this year after everything they went through last year (loss of bargaining and contracts and new, untested evaluations) and then he proceeded to say he wants to do away with the state minimum salary schedule and increase class sizes.  

Under current law a high school teacher, for example, has a maximum class size of 35 along with a maximum average of 30.  The Governor wants to do away with the average class size so teachers could have the maximum of 35 in all of their classes.  He claims this would allow systems to hire fewer teachers and therefore free up money to pay the "best" teachers more.  Problem:  The state would only be sending money for the fewer number of teachers and there is no guarantee that the larger sized classes would be taught by the higher paid "best" teachers.  Stay tuned as this newest fiasco unfolds.

Also, the State Board of Education wants to require that reprimands to teachers for anything from living with someone to having to file for bankruptcy are permantly placed in a teacher's employment file and can't be removed.  If a teacher's license is suspended for some reason and then reinstated, that is removed from the file.  Under the new proposal, there is no provision for allowing the teacher to explain or contest the reprimand.  Make sense?

Ahhhh - Tennessee.  Give us the worst education laws AND be among the lowest paid teachers in the country - a good recipe for attracting the brightest to teach!

Board Approves 1-yr Extension and 5% Raise for Dr. Yennie

The Sullivan County School Board approved a one-year extension to Dr. Yennie's contract along with a 5% increase in pay retroactive to July 1, 2011.  Teachers and support staff only received a 1.6% and that was only on the state portion of their salary.  The $6,000 raise was granted in spite of the fact the Board said last month that the budget was tight and therefore they couldn't approve the SCEA's proposal on a fair payment for insurance premiums when both spouses work for Sullivan County.  Also, the Board entertained, on a recommendation by Dr. Yennie earlier this year, cutting the benefits of kindergarten aides and cutting their hours way back.  The Board did finally agree not to do that this year, but left it on the table for next year.

SCEA representative Steve Thompson commented after the meeting that he is looking forward to the Board granting teachers and support staff a 5% raise for the next school year. 

Dr. Yennie Says No Decision Made Yet on Closing Weaver

SCEA Goes to Bat for Couple Insurance Rates

Dr. Yennie told a crowded Board room that no decision has yet been made on closing Weavers Elementary at the end of this school year.  He did say, however, that funds have been withheld to rennovate the school.  Several parents spoke on behalf of their school.  Sullivan County is looking at consolidating/reorganizing several schools in the county.

SCEA representative Steve Thompson spoke to the Board about the unfairness of the recent change to the insurance premiums for employees who have a spouse also working for the county.  Up until July 1st, those employees paid no premium for a family plan.  Thompson explained that the policy came out of it being cheaper for the county to do that when we were self insured.  However, with rising rates in the family plan, that is no longer true.

Thompson said that those employees understand they need to pay their fair share.  The SCEA disagrees with the current policy as to what that fair share is.  Thompson presented the Board with a plan where the county would pay the same amount it pays for an individual plan to each spouse and then they would have to pay the difference in the cost of the family plan.  This amount would be over $200/mo for the plan.  The Board will consider the proposal and, hopefully, make a decision at the October 3rd Board meeting since the open enrollment is from mid-October to mid-November.

Sullivan County School Board Meets to Discuss Possible

School Closings

Sullivan Middle & Weaver Possible

The Sullivan County School Board will meet at 4:30 on Thursday, August 25th in a work session to discuss possible future school closings.  Dr. Yennie had mentioned that Weaver Elementary in the East zone and Sullivan Middle in the South zone were being looked at for future closings.  The meeting is in the Board room on the first floor of the Education/Health building on the Blountville by-pass.