Since there so many links in these meeting minutes, here’s the entire document for you to review, brothers and sisters. Please check out the links, there’s a lot of good stuff on the other end of them. :-)

If you prefer a copy of the minutes, here they are!

April 19 Rep Council Meeting Minutes           

3:30-5:00 @ Jepson library

Members present – Moira McSweeney, Alyson Brauning, Brenda Hensley, Corey Penrose, Samantha Dubs, Sylvia Aquino, Todd Blanset, Karen Peters, Tracey Begley, Sofia Calderon, Megan Morris, Mike Ensley, Tammy Parker, Sharon Riehl, AnnMarie Woehler, Dawn Waid, Russ Tucker, Julie McGee, Mark Richardson, Helen Blood, Lisa Cusi, Becky Wylie, Jenni Brown, Glenn Branaman, Jouli Jara, Erin Gordon, Chris Fickes, Julie Timmerman, Miranda Merino Kelly, Sylvia Shepard

Members absent – Karen Beeby, Linda Covey, Cyndi Marshall, Lotty Chavez-Anemoto, Gregg Gallagher, Cathy Valdez, Greg Gmahling, Cindy Bray, Kiley Walen, Michelle Fraser, Scott Bassett

• Mark Frazier attended to discuss school start time and grading policies for 2016-2017.  His presentation was very well received by our membership.

1)- Approval of the minutes – the minutes were approved.

2) – Approval of the agenda – after adding state council to committee reports, the agenda was approved with flexibility.

3) – President’s report – Moira reported on the following:

• Intention to return letters – the district will be sending out the intention to return letters   Members will be asked to sign by June 30^th.

Motion – direct state council representatives to develop an NBI to remove this provision from Ed Code – seconded and approved.

• Displaced teacher pool – was held on April 6th. Movement between sites will happen next.

• Election for State Council – will be held from April 20^th to the 28^th. Please pick up the materials and run elections at your individual sites.

• Emerging leaders training – will be held at Jepson on May 18^th. Please promote this with your members and Dean Vogel will be in attendance!

• Grading Committee Update – Sylvia Aquino updated council on the conversations in the grading committee and outlined the proposed grading policy changes for this fall.

• Maternity/paternity information – Sylvia and Samantha updated council on the status of their committee work regarding the professional issues associated with pregnancy and pregnancy leave.

• CTA May 4^th walk-in – Alyson discussed the focus of the event with council and discussed some of the events happening around the state.

4) – Treasurer’s report – after reviewing the treasurers report, outgoing expenses, rep reimbursement, and the proposed budget for 16-17, the treasurers report was approved.

5) – Committee/Chair reports

• Action– The new website section on opting out, the school start time survey, information on the NEA-RA, and the report from your board member Jerry Eaton were shared with council.  The report finished with feedback about the weekly website update and ongoing efforts to meet with various coalitions in Vacaville. The up-to-date survey on school start times will be posted as soon as the webmaster gets home.

Motion – donate $150 dollars to the Chamber of Commerce GOTCHA event recognizing outstanding student achievement – seconded and approved.

• Bargaining– The full report can be found here.  Brenda reported on tentative agreement #1, tentative agreement #2 and took some questions from council about the next steps in the bargaining process.  The next session is scheduled for April 21st.  The report finished with a discussion of short term independent study contracts for the spring.

Motion – direct state council representatives to write an NBI advocating for a five year evaluation pause for unit members with ten years of service credit – seconded and approved.

• Grievance – none

• Equity Team– none
  

• Health Care– Alyson reported on that there is a workshop on health insurance on May 10^th and we will be attending it. 
  

• Labor Council– The full report can be found here.  Corey reported on the phone banking planned for this Thursday from 5-8 pm at the teamsters hall located at 445 Nebraska Street in Vallejo and invited VTA members to attend.  Glen reported on the Rebuilding Solano smoke installation project scheduled for May 14^th from 8:30 to 1 pm.  For more information on this event, click here.

• Member Engagement – Pictures of our most recent event can be found here. Information on our April 26^th Taco Tuesday can be found here.  The day of the teacher is on May 11^th!

• PAC– The new section of the website rented by VTA-PAC can be found here.  Corey and Tracey also solicited feedback from council on Campagin 2016.

Motion – endorse the CLC slate of Canidates – seconded and approved.

• Special Ed – Tammy discussed ongoing special Ed issues in VUSD and the challenges facing our members who work in special education. The logistics of the next special Ed meeting were finalized and discussed.  The report finished with a few questions. 
  

• State Council– The full report can be found here.. If you have any questions, please talk with Corey and Alyson. 
  

• Leave Bank and Julie Davis Scholarship– none
  

• Membership– none

6)- Business – none

7) – Conference reports – reports on the GTC North were shared with council.  Pics from the event can be found here and on Twitter using the hashtag #ctagtc

8) – Others – none

9) – Raffle – A ten dollar Starbucks card was won by Erin Gordon and Miranda Merino

10) – Adjournment – the meeting was adjourned at 5:18

Respectfully submitted, Corey Penrose