Natomas Teachers’ Association Newsletter
March 2009
Calendar of Events:
§ Rep Council Meeting – Thurs, Mar. 5th 4:00 pm, LFG, Room 406
§ School Board Mtg. – Wed, Mar. 11th, D.O. 6:30 pm
§ Sacramento Educ. Coalition, Tues. Mar. 10th, 5:30 pm at CTA on Truxel.
Board Member Meetings:
§ Lisa Kaplan - Monday, Mar. 9th, 4:00
§ Jules Tran, Sue Heredia- Monday, Mar. 9th, 6:00 pm
§ Bruce Roberts- Tues. Mar. 10th, 4:00
§ Teri Burns – Tues. Mar. 10th, 5:30pm
Board member meetings will all be held at Giovanni’s Pizzeria (2701 Del Paso Rd) and are generally the Monday and Tuesday before board meetings each month.
Don’t forget to check out the NTA blog:
http://natomasteachers.blogspot.com
Negotiations Update
Negotiations were held Thursday, February 19th You should have received an update last week. T & R, Class Size, Special Education, Compensation, and Calendar were among the items discussed. Please refer to the update or your site rep for the details.
May 19th State Initiatives – 1A through 1F – please vote yes!
Transfer and Reassignment
For this year only, T & R timelines have been extended. Teachers will receive their T & R form by April 20th, to return the forms by May 1st. You will then be notified of first round changes by May 15th. By delaying this process, teachers will have a better idea of what job might be opened for the upcoming year. We advise teacher to put on the list your ideal position because you never know what could open up at the last minute.
Natomas Budget Watch
A community forum was held this week to discuss the opening or delaying of Hight Middle, and the best use of categorical flexibility. There was some Natomas staff that attended, as well as parents that spoke. In general, the teachers/staff that spoke were concerned about spending the million it would cost to open Hight, but the parents that spoke all spoke in favor of opening. And on the catagoricals, GATE parents spoke up for maintaining and increasing GATE, while others expressed concern about a lack of instructional materials and resources for classrooms, recognizing the need to increase resources. Yes, even the parents can see we are short on resources in the classrooms!
Next Wednesday’s Board meeting – March 11th – will be when board members make their final decisions on budget cuts.
Stand Up For Schools
Pink Friday is March 13th – a gathering /event at the Capitol at 4:30 – supporting teachers across Sacramento County, and our schools that have substantially lost precious funding. There will be stickers and signs at the event for teachers to wear and hold. Teachers can wear their NTA shirts to that event, if they have one, so don’t let the “pink” attire thing keep anyone away.
If you are planning to attend, please let your site rep know or email exec bd so that we can let the organizers know.
Did you know that you can save money as a CTA member and Natomas teacher? Here are some ways:
Cell Phone companies will give you a discount on your plan– call them and find out how.
If you have BlueShield PERS Choice – go to their on-line contact and complete a survey and you can receive $50.
THE 2009 BICYCLE AND BICYCLE ACCESSORY REBATE Opened NOW through April 30th
Who is eligible?
Because you work in North Natomas, YOU are!
How do I sign up?
Just fill out an application and visit a local bike shop for a quote! They will help you get fitted for the correct bike for your needs, abilities and body type.
Just looking for an accessory to make your riding better?
A bike shop can help you pick up just what you need to make cycling a reality.
Detailed instructions are on the application and are available online at NorthNatomasTMA.org or in hardcopy in Heidi Van Zant's Office. If you
have questions, contact the North Natomas TMA at 916.419.9955 or sarah@northnatomastma.org.
If you have any association questions or issues please contact your site rep(s):
· American Lakes: Naomi Nakahara
· Bannon Creek: Linda Wells
· Discovery HS: Therese Collentine
· H. Allen Hight: Allyson Kirby
· Heron: Kou Moua, Peter Talbot, Cara Kruse
· Inderkum HS: Patricia Hite-Leach, Ken MacPherson, Scott MacMillan
· Jefferson: Maureen Ramos
· Leroy Green MS: Kristen Rocha, Justin Vorhauer
· Natomas HS: Joel Schweiger, Ruth Ward, Ben Layne
· Natomas MS: Emilio Moran, Anthony Katsaris
· Natomas Park: Lauren Frazer
· Two Rivers: Phil Cox, Jerry Lovejoy
· Witter Ranch: Tanya Praest, Jim Clarke, Kim Chambers
Here are the school board members home
e-mails. Feel free to contact them:
Bruce Roberts bruceroberts4natomas@yahoo.com
Jules Tran jules.tran@sbcglobal.net
Sue Heredia heredias@csus.edu
Teri Burns terib@sia-us.com
Lisa Kaplan kaplan4kids@yahoo.com
Future Events of interest:
Pink Friday – March 13th – Capitol at 4:30 pm
Transfer and Reassignment paperwork and processing – April/May
May 3-9th – Teacher Appreciation Week
California Day of the Teacher – May 13th
Election of NTA Officers – May
District Outlines New Priority List at February Board Workshop
The district outlined at a recent board workshop their own personal wish list of priorities for the categorical flexibility and here is what they mentioned:
1. 90 minute weekly collaboration time ($500,000)- [NTA estimated the cost to be $1,300,000]
2. Hire instructional coaches for ELA, Math and EL – 4 for Elem, 3 for Middle and 3 for HS, at approx. $900,000. [Maybe TESA?]
3. Professional development, Professional Learning Communities, Cultural Competency $100,000+ instructional materials adoption at approx. $1,000,000
4. Basic Core Instructional Materials approx $1,000,000 + intervention, acceleration, culturally diverse pops. $250,000.
These are items we might want to speak with board members and district office staff about. I am not sure what teachers groups were consulted when coming up with these priorities. Maybe this was gathered by talking with administrators. In any case, it doesn’t appear that the catagoricals in Tier 3 add up to these amounts, but perhaps as funds permit these will be looked at to be adopted. Although all of these are aimed at teacher training and classroom materials, I would be interested in gathering further information from teachers as to their thoughts on these items. Please send us your input!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
PINK FRIDAY IS MARCH 13th
Fight Pink Slips, Stand Up For Schools
Join teachers, parents, students and community members and Stand Up For Schools on March 13, the deadline for teacher layoff notices from school districts. Thousands of educators are expected to receive pink slips -- or Reduction in Force (RIF) notices -- this year. In fact, 17,777 pink slips have already been issued!
For more information, please go to http://www.cta.org/
Here is our local activity - please join us:
On March 13 (Fri) we are planning a 4:30 rally of our members converging on the capital. WE would love to have a show of solidary with all of the teachers from districts surrounding the capital to join us. We will ask our teachers to wear their NTA T-shirts or school shirts and we will have stickers and some will wear pink armbands. I know there will be a lot of frustration and anger and this provides an outlet with an organized activity, and it would publicize how teachers are being effected by the budget cuts. Please let us know if this is something you can participate in. Other local districts will be joining us such as Sac City TA and San Juan TA among others. It would be a great show of solidarity for ALL CTA TEACHERS in the area to join together - "an injury to one is an injury to all".
Friday, February 20, 2009
In the Sacramento Bee Today
Stockpile could save Natomas district from making job cuts
By Robert Faturechirfaturechi@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Feb. 20, 2009 - 12:00 am Page 6B
Next month, school officials across the state will notify teachers and librarians that they might be laid off. But at Sacramento's Natomas Unified School District, employees are breathing easy because the district is not expected to send out the warnings, despite one of the worst economic downturns in recent memory. District administrators have stockpiled reserve funds to insulate staff and programs from cuts in state funding. State law requires layoff notices for certified employees – mostly teachers and librarians – who might be let go by the end of the school year.
With deep midyear cuts expected from the state, more of these notes will go out this spring, and from more districts, which makes Natomas' situation even more unusual. For years the district has enjoyed growing enrollment – a major source of funding. It has built a hefty rainy day reserve of more than $10 million, about four times greater than the 3 percent reserve most districts strive for. "This is certainly a rainy day," said board President Teri Burns. "But we are counting on those reserves."
The district expects to use $5.4 million of those funds this school year, allowing it to avoid layoffs. That's a sharp contrast to neighboring districts where dozens, and in some cases hundreds, of employees will receive layoff notifications. By March 15, notices are expected to go to 600 to 700 employees of the Elk Grove Unified district, 100 to 200 at Folsom Cordova Unified, more than 100 at Rocklin Unified, and up to 3,000 at San Juan Unified.
Though districts don't usually lay off all, or even most, employees they notify, the notices can give an idea of the upper limits for layoffs. Natomas Unified's skipping the notices cannot be attributed solely to good planning. Enrollment at the district has grown in recent years as the district rode a wave of development in the area. Propped up by years of prosperity, and motivated by a budget scare caused by overstaffing in 2001, district administrators have been able to slowly build their reserves better than most other districts. "At that time we had vowed we'd start to rebuild reserves and have been steadily doing that since," said John Christ, assistant superintendent of business services. "Everyone's spending a little less than their budget."
Without the reserves, Burns said, some athletic programs and reduced class sizes would likely have been on the chopping block this year. "At the end of the year, if we have extra money, we put it in the reserve rather than just spend it," Burns said. "Unlike the state of California."
By Robert Faturechirfaturechi@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Feb. 20, 2009 - 12:00 am Page 6B
Next month, school officials across the state will notify teachers and librarians that they might be laid off. But at Sacramento's Natomas Unified School District, employees are breathing easy because the district is not expected to send out the warnings, despite one of the worst economic downturns in recent memory. District administrators have stockpiled reserve funds to insulate staff and programs from cuts in state funding. State law requires layoff notices for certified employees – mostly teachers and librarians – who might be let go by the end of the school year.
With deep midyear cuts expected from the state, more of these notes will go out this spring, and from more districts, which makes Natomas' situation even more unusual. For years the district has enjoyed growing enrollment – a major source of funding. It has built a hefty rainy day reserve of more than $10 million, about four times greater than the 3 percent reserve most districts strive for. "This is certainly a rainy day," said board President Teri Burns. "But we are counting on those reserves."
The district expects to use $5.4 million of those funds this school year, allowing it to avoid layoffs. That's a sharp contrast to neighboring districts where dozens, and in some cases hundreds, of employees will receive layoff notifications. By March 15, notices are expected to go to 600 to 700 employees of the Elk Grove Unified district, 100 to 200 at Folsom Cordova Unified, more than 100 at Rocklin Unified, and up to 3,000 at San Juan Unified.
Though districts don't usually lay off all, or even most, employees they notify, the notices can give an idea of the upper limits for layoffs. Natomas Unified's skipping the notices cannot be attributed solely to good planning. Enrollment at the district has grown in recent years as the district rode a wave of development in the area. Propped up by years of prosperity, and motivated by a budget scare caused by overstaffing in 2001, district administrators have been able to slowly build their reserves better than most other districts. "At that time we had vowed we'd start to rebuild reserves and have been steadily doing that since," said John Christ, assistant superintendent of business services. "Everyone's spending a little less than their budget."
Without the reserves, Burns said, some athletic programs and reduced class sizes would likely have been on the chopping block this year. "At the end of the year, if we have extra money, we put it in the reserve rather than just spend it," Burns said. "Unlike the state of California."
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Natomas Teachers’ Association Newsletter, Feb. 2009
Calendar of Events:
§ Rep Council Meeting – Thurs, Feb. 5th 4:00 pm, LFG, Room 406
§ School Board Mtg. – Wed, Feb. 11th, D.O. 6:30 pm
§ Sacramento Educ. Coalition, Thurs. Feb 5th, 6:00 pm at CTA on Truxel.
Board Member Meetings:
§ Lisa Kaplan - Monday, Feb. 9th, 4:30
§ Jules Tran, Sue Heredia- Monday, Feb. 9th, 6:00 pm
§ Bruce Roberts- Tues., Feb. 10th, 4:00
§ Teri Burns – Tues. Feb. 10th, 5:30pm
Board member meetings will all be held at Giovanni’s Pizzeria (2701 Del Paso Rd) and are generally the Monday and Tuesday before board meetings each month.
Don’t forget to check out the NTA blog:
http://natomasteachers.blogspot.com
Negotiations Update
A negotiation session was held Thursday, February 5th (today) so there are no details at the time of this publishing, however we know that the retirement incentive is being discussed. Site reps will be updated as soon as details are known.
Budget Watch
District: The superintendent told NTA leadership that they will post an updated list of possible budget cuts on the website and additionally send through email to employees. As soon as NTA receives any definitive information, it will be disseminated to site reps. If need be, we’ll call a General Membership meeting for our members to get more information and for a forum for you to ask questions.
We believe the board will be discussing the budget at the Feb. 11th Board Meeting, and then again at a special board meeting Feb. 25th. In talking with other surrounding districts (Elk Grove, Sac City, San Juan and Folsom-Cordova) their association leadership have been notified of several special emergency board meetings dealing with possible budget cuts (you may have seen some of this in the media). Ultimately, our own school board will be making these decisions, but in speaking with our superintendent, as of Tuesday, Feb. 3rd, he says he does not plan to do layoffs. He is, however, very interested in categorical flexibility and is likely to recommend this towards CSR. Again, this is up to the board to decide. (Items regarding the contract will of course have to be negotiated and you will be notified of these.) Dr. Farrar says the district’s list will have a lot of ideas on the table. It appears that the superintendents are frequently talking to each other. You can view Folsom-Cordova’s similar list at their web site:
http://www.fcusd.org/budget/Budget%20Reduction%20Brainstorming.asp
If you have any association questions or issues please contact your site rep(s):
· American Lakes: Naomi Nakahara
· Bannon Creek: Linda Wells
· Discovery HS: Therese Collentine
· H. Allen Hight: Allyson Kirby
· Heron: Kou Moua, Peter Talbot, Cara Kruse
· Inderkum HS: Patricia Hite-Leach, Ken MacPherson, Scott MacMillan
· Jefferson: Maureen Ramos
· Leroy Green MS: Kristen Rocha, Justin Vorhauer
· Natomas HS: Joel Schweiger, Ruth Ward, Ben Layne
· Natomas MS: Emilio Moran, Anthony Katsaris
· Natomas Park: Lauren Frazer
· Two Rivers: Phil Cox, Jerry Lovejoy
· Witter Ranch: Tanya Praest, Jim Clarke, Kim Chambers
Here are the school board members home
e-mails. Feel free to contact them:
Bruce Roberts bruceroberts4natomas@yahoo.com
Jules Tran jules.tran@sbcglobal.net
Sue Heredia heredias@csus.edu
Teri Burns terib@sia-us.com
Lisa Kaplan kaplan4kids@yahoo.com
Brenda’s School Visitation Schedule
Thurs. Feb. 5th – Natomas Park Elem.
Tues. Feb. 10th – Leroy Greene MS
Wed. Feb. 11th – Natomas HS,
Discovery HS
Thurs. Feb. 12th – Natomas Middle
Friday, Feb. 13th – Inderkum HS
Wed. Feb. 18th – Bannon Creek Elem.
Friday, Feb. 20th – Jefferson Elem.
Wed. Feb. 25th – American Lakes
Thurs. Feb. 26th – Heron K-8
You are invited
to an
NTA social
WHEN: FRIDAY FEBRUARY 20TH
WHERE: MALABAR RESTAURANT
2960 Del Paso Road
TIME: 2:30PM-6:30PM
Come relax, and enjoy the company of your fellow colleagues
Hors D’oeuvres provided by NTA - drinks on your own
Raffles will be held throughout the evening (must be present to win)
Future Events of interest:
Feb 13th – Budget Action Day (everyone please wear blue in solidarity)
Non-re-elect deadline and RIF deadline (also known as “black Friday”) –March 12th (March 13th is a non-work day in Natomas)
Transfer and Reassignment paperwork and processing – March/April
May 3-9th – Teacher Appreciation Week
California Day of the Teacher – May 13th
Election of NTA Officers – May
State Budget: CTA is monitoring the latest budget activities from the legislature and governor. You can check out the CTA website for what is happening and things that you can do at www.cta.org
Also, CTA is hosting the Sacramento Education Coalition, which will be meeting on Thursday, Feb. 5th at CTA on Truxel, 6:00 pm. The Ed. Coalition includes CSEA, PTA, superintendents, board members… etc. Last year we also worked with state workers, daycare and elder care agency workers, and even firefighters on activities to help get the budget passed (to try to break the stalemate.)
§ Rep Council Meeting – Thurs, Feb. 5th 4:00 pm, LFG, Room 406
§ School Board Mtg. – Wed, Feb. 11th, D.O. 6:30 pm
§ Sacramento Educ. Coalition, Thurs. Feb 5th, 6:00 pm at CTA on Truxel.
Board Member Meetings:
§ Lisa Kaplan - Monday, Feb. 9th, 4:30
§ Jules Tran, Sue Heredia- Monday, Feb. 9th, 6:00 pm
§ Bruce Roberts- Tues., Feb. 10th, 4:00
§ Teri Burns – Tues. Feb. 10th, 5:30pm
Board member meetings will all be held at Giovanni’s Pizzeria (2701 Del Paso Rd) and are generally the Monday and Tuesday before board meetings each month.
Don’t forget to check out the NTA blog:
http://natomasteachers.blogspot.com
Negotiations Update
A negotiation session was held Thursday, February 5th (today) so there are no details at the time of this publishing, however we know that the retirement incentive is being discussed. Site reps will be updated as soon as details are known.
Budget Watch
District: The superintendent told NTA leadership that they will post an updated list of possible budget cuts on the website and additionally send through email to employees. As soon as NTA receives any definitive information, it will be disseminated to site reps. If need be, we’ll call a General Membership meeting for our members to get more information and for a forum for you to ask questions.
We believe the board will be discussing the budget at the Feb. 11th Board Meeting, and then again at a special board meeting Feb. 25th. In talking with other surrounding districts (Elk Grove, Sac City, San Juan and Folsom-Cordova) their association leadership have been notified of several special emergency board meetings dealing with possible budget cuts (you may have seen some of this in the media). Ultimately, our own school board will be making these decisions, but in speaking with our superintendent, as of Tuesday, Feb. 3rd, he says he does not plan to do layoffs. He is, however, very interested in categorical flexibility and is likely to recommend this towards CSR. Again, this is up to the board to decide. (Items regarding the contract will of course have to be negotiated and you will be notified of these.) Dr. Farrar says the district’s list will have a lot of ideas on the table. It appears that the superintendents are frequently talking to each other. You can view Folsom-Cordova’s similar list at their web site:
http://www.fcusd.org/budget/Budget%20Reduction%20Brainstorming.asp
If you have any association questions or issues please contact your site rep(s):
· American Lakes: Naomi Nakahara
· Bannon Creek: Linda Wells
· Discovery HS: Therese Collentine
· H. Allen Hight: Allyson Kirby
· Heron: Kou Moua, Peter Talbot, Cara Kruse
· Inderkum HS: Patricia Hite-Leach, Ken MacPherson, Scott MacMillan
· Jefferson: Maureen Ramos
· Leroy Green MS: Kristen Rocha, Justin Vorhauer
· Natomas HS: Joel Schweiger, Ruth Ward, Ben Layne
· Natomas MS: Emilio Moran, Anthony Katsaris
· Natomas Park: Lauren Frazer
· Two Rivers: Phil Cox, Jerry Lovejoy
· Witter Ranch: Tanya Praest, Jim Clarke, Kim Chambers
Here are the school board members home
e-mails. Feel free to contact them:
Bruce Roberts bruceroberts4natomas@yahoo.com
Jules Tran jules.tran@sbcglobal.net
Sue Heredia heredias@csus.edu
Teri Burns terib@sia-us.com
Lisa Kaplan kaplan4kids@yahoo.com
Brenda’s School Visitation Schedule
Thurs. Feb. 5th – Natomas Park Elem.
Tues. Feb. 10th – Leroy Greene MS
Wed. Feb. 11th – Natomas HS,
Discovery HS
Thurs. Feb. 12th – Natomas Middle
Friday, Feb. 13th – Inderkum HS
Wed. Feb. 18th – Bannon Creek Elem.
Friday, Feb. 20th – Jefferson Elem.
Wed. Feb. 25th – American Lakes
Thurs. Feb. 26th – Heron K-8
You are invited
to an
NTA social
WHEN: FRIDAY FEBRUARY 20TH
WHERE: MALABAR RESTAURANT
2960 Del Paso Road
TIME: 2:30PM-6:30PM
Come relax, and enjoy the company of your fellow colleagues
Hors D’oeuvres provided by NTA - drinks on your own
Raffles will be held throughout the evening (must be present to win)
Future Events of interest:
Feb 13th – Budget Action Day (everyone please wear blue in solidarity)
Non-re-elect deadline and RIF deadline (also known as “black Friday”) –March 12th (March 13th is a non-work day in Natomas)
Transfer and Reassignment paperwork and processing – March/April
May 3-9th – Teacher Appreciation Week
California Day of the Teacher – May 13th
Election of NTA Officers – May
State Budget: CTA is monitoring the latest budget activities from the legislature and governor. You can check out the CTA website for what is happening and things that you can do at www.cta.org
Also, CTA is hosting the Sacramento Education Coalition, which will be meeting on Thursday, Feb. 5th at CTA on Truxel, 6:00 pm. The Ed. Coalition includes CSEA, PTA, superintendents, board members… etc. Last year we also worked with state workers, daycare and elder care agency workers, and even firefighters on activities to help get the budget passed (to try to break the stalemate.)
Saturday, February 7, 2009
BLUE BUDGET FRIDAY
REMINDER
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2009
BLUE DAY
WEAR BLUE IN SOLIDARITY TO MOURN THE BUDGET THREATS
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
