Dear Members,

A few different items to share.  First, if you have a stipend position for the union, please complete a timesheet and send it to Kathy DeChane at Jaworek to get your stipend check for the second half of the year.  The timesheet is available on the MEA website.  Make sure you fill in what school you are at to make it easier for Kathy to send you your stipend.

Second, the one-time COVID vaccination payment will be paid out after June 1 to those who gave their building principal a copy of their vaccination card by May 1.   This payment will be in one of the June paychecks.  I haven't been told which one yet but will let you know once I am told.  Your building principal recorded that you passed in your vaccination status in Aspen.  This is not something you can see on your end but only accessible by your building principal.  For those that missed the May 1 deadline you can pass in a copy of your vaccination card by September 1 and receive the one-time payment after October 1.

Last, Brendan and I are proposing a change in the MEA leadership for next year.  We are proposing to have co-presidents rather than the two separate positions of president and vice president.  The job of the president has increased greatly over the last few years with the increase in staff and the increase in the number of schools.  

The Eboard felt it was important to bring this proposal to the whole membership rather than having the Eboard make the decision.  Below is a link to a Survey Monkey that asks for your opinion on this change.  This is a change that is being proposed for next year and will be reevaluated at this time next year to discuss if the configuration is working or we need to go back to the two separate positions.  Please take a moment to complete the survey.  This will be open until Sunday, May 8 at 5pm.  More information will come next week for any other members that would like to add their names to the ballot as a team if this change is accepted by the membership.  

​Look for the survey monkey in your home email. 

Dear Members,

The MOA for the 2021-2024 contract  passed tonight.  87.5% voted YES and 12.5% voted NO.  232 members voted.

Thank you to all of you that took the time to vote.  The Negotiation sub-committee of the School Committee will be voting on the contract this Tuesday at their last meeting.  More information will be coming to you once that step is completed.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Best,
Eileen Barry

Dear Members,

The tentative agreement from the Negotiations Team is now available to view in the Negotiations Blog or the "Contracts & Agreements" section of the website.  Please read it over and address any questions you have to the negotiations rep from your building.  We will have a general MEA meeting tomorrow June 15th at 4:00 via Zoom in order to present the changes to the contract the MOA is proposing.  I will send out a link later today for that meeting.  

The Negotiations Team and Eboard are hoping to have the MOA ratified before the end of the school year.  With that being said, we would like to suspend the 10 days posting by-law in order to have the voting done on Friday.  We have done this all year with the numerous MOAs that have been done this year.  Please speak to your negotiations rep if you have any questions about this.


Thank you and have a good day!

Best,
Eileen Barry

Dear Members,
There will be a General MEA meeting on Tuesday, June 15th at 4:00pm.  The meeting will take place over Zoom.  The original plan was to have the meeting this Tuesday, June 8th.  The Negotiations Team needs to have one more meeting this week to finish up our bargaining.  We are hoping to be able to share a tentative agreement with the membership late this week or early next week.  Pushing the meeting off one week will give members a chance to look over the tentative agreement and come to the meeting with questions.  The Zoom link will be sent out by next Monday. The meeting will be recorded.
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The link below is important for anyone who needed to postpone their licensure renewal due to the state of emergency because of the pandemic.  
LIcensure Renewal is back!

by Center for Education Policy + Practice
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Next year's Eboard members will be the same as this year with the exception of Parliamentarian.  Fred Massicotte will be in this position for next year.  Fred teaches at Whitcomb.

Building elections will occur in early September at all the buildings due to teachers moving from building to building and having teachers return from remote to in-person.

The last monthly raffle will be done later this week.  The winners will be receiving a gift card to Trombetta's on Farm Road.  It can be used for ice cream, mini-golf or plants.
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Thank you for all that you do!
Best,
Eileen Barry

Dear MEA Members,

Below is the link to the voting ballot for next year's District Executive Board. The link will be available until 6pm on Wednesday, May 19th.  We do not have anyone running for Parliamentarian. Please consider putting your name in as the write in if you wish to hold this position for next year.  

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BL5H7NZ

Building elections will happen at the High School and Whitcomb before the end of the school year. Building elections for the elementary schools will be occurring in September. There is quite a bit of movement with the elementary staff. Eboard made the decision to hold the elementary elections after the beginning of the next school year to give staff a chance to settle into their new positions and have the opportunity to hold a union position in their new building if they choose to do so.

Negotiations for our new 3 year contract is beginning this week with a training for the Interest Based Bargaining that will be done.  Our first official date to start the negotiations is Wednesday, May 26th.  We have other dates scheduled for May 27th, June 2nd and June 3rd.  We hope to be able to have a new deal to vote on before the end of this school year.  Any questions please reach out to your building's negotiation rep.

As a reminder for anyone that needed to take a sick day due to COVID vaccination side effects, the form to fill out was emailed out a couple of weeks ago and is posted on our MEA website.  Fill out the form and give it to your building principal to sign and be sent to Doug Dias.

A spring MEA general meeting is being planned for early June.  When a date is solidified the membership will be notified.  

Raffle winners were chosen for May.  The following members will be receiving a gift card to Zarape Restaurant on Maple Street.  Congratulations to Tina Petty (Goodnow), Erin Kelly (Kane), Erin Casey (Whitcomb) and Frank Travassos (Whitcomb).  There will be one more raffle for the year in June.

Thank you for all that you have done, are doing and will continue to do for the remainder of this school year.

Take care!

Best,

Eileen Barry