Each month our VOICE editors use

this space to highlight an issue of particular

importance to our membership. Sometimes

the issue pushes buttons, sometimes it praises

those who resolve it, and other times it simp-

ly informs the reader who may have unan-

swered questions.

This month, we are taking a

“victory lap” (or several) so that our mem-

bership knows what we’ve been spending

our time doing this month and since school

began.

Union Solidarity

First, a huge shout-out to the school

staff that shall remain nameless who realized

recently that they are NOT POWERLESS in

the face of unreasonable expectations! After

a union meeting attended by nearly all union

members (which incidentally total about 80%

of the staff there), the staff took a position

and decided to stand united. It paid off and

only a few days later received an email from

the principal relaxing a “requirement” and

honoring a commitment he/she had made

weeks ago about compensatory time.

THAT is what “union” is all about.

The “union” is not at the office on Midway

Road, but at your worksites where standing

together with purpose makes things better.

Member Representation

Great work has been done by

Worksite Leaders (WSL’s) this month in

representing our members faced with unfair,

unjustified, and unfounded allegations from

parents and students. We are so proud of the

number of WSL’s who are feeling confident

enough to appropriately advocate for the

rights of members when DCF or law en-

forcement shows up to talk. That call you

make to the CTA/CU office for guidance

BEFORE a member walks into a stressful

situation makes all the difference.

Employee Voice

You may not be aware, but the

Union President, by contract, receives every

school’s Faculty Council meeting minutes

each month. As she receives them, she

reads them and often comments, questions,

or even congratulates the school leadership

on items that appear in the minutes. This

practice has been going on for over a year

and as a result, we’ve been able to head off

several violations of the contract before they

happen. Principals who do not turn their

minutes in on time receive a “friendly re-

minder” from their supervisor, because the

supervisor receives a reminder from the

Union President! We’d like to encourage

our appointed Faculty Council representa-

tives to push for minutes that accurately

reflect the discussions of the Faculty Coun-

cil (something was discussed that didn’t

make it in the minutes? Something not rec-

orded accurately? Say something!). The

Faculty Council continues to be a very ef-

fective means of making sure that curricu-

lum and resource allocation decisions made

are sound and include employee voice IF

everyone actively participates.

Taking a “Union Strong” Victory Lap

The VOICE

Volume 11 Issue 3

Nov. 1, 2016

Editor: Maureen Sinnott

371 East Midway Road

Ft. Pierce, FL 34982

S T . L U C I E C O U N T Y C L A S S R O O M T E A C H E R S ’ A S S O C I A T I O N

A N D C L A S S I F I E D U N I T — A F T L O C A L 3 6 1 6

November 8: Election

Day

November 11: School

Holiday—Veteran’s Day

November 16: New Mem-

ber Night at the CTA/CU

office

November 22: Early Re-

lease (10 month)

November 23 –27: School

Holiday—Thanksgiving

Break (12 month work

November 23)

Read to Win!

2

Focus on CU with S.

Rohn, CU VP

2

FYRE Makes Plans

and Gets Active

2

By the Numbers/

Negotiations Corner

3

Know Your Contract:

Comp Time

3

Annual Financial Re-

view and Gold Award

4

Delegate Assembly,

Orlando

Ex-

tra!

Annual Adult Spelling

Bee

Ex-

tra!

Inside this issue:

Upcoming Events

Vine & Barley Bingo

November 15

7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Social Event at Vine & Barley

1680 St Lucie West Blvd. to

play Bingo. Cards are $2 each

and you have a chance to win

the pot of money!

Find out more on Facebook

@SLCFYRE

The VOICE St. Lucie Classroom Teachers’ Association and Classified Unit Nov. 1, 2016

Page 2

Read the Voice to Win!!!

Read, answer the riddles and SEND your answer to

Barbara.Ziegler@floridaea.org by 11/21/2016

1. What must happen if a CU has Comp Time remaining at

the end of the year?

2. Why was the SL CTA/CU given the FEA Gold Medal

Award?

Winners of $10 Gift Card

Answers to October’s Voice Riddles:

1. By what date must all evaluations be completed?

A: May 17, 2017

2. How many hours has the CTA/CU Retiree Chapter pledged of

in-school mentoring”

A: 97 hours

Focus On CU with CU VP Sandy Rohn

There is a very special day this

month: November 18th is National

Education Support Professional Day. At the November 8th School

Board Meeting which begins at

5:00, we will be reading the Procla-

mation that declares November 18th

as Education Support Professional

Day. I hope you can attend the

meeting and hear this for yourself as

you deserve to be recognized Our

members are out there every day at

the schools and district office, sup-

porting students, teachers and par-

ents to help run this district. We are

often on the front line, the first face

the public sees and we can set the

tone for their interaction with our

school system. It is imperative that

we are professional at all times,

even when overwhelmed. It is im-

portant that you take your two 15

minutes breaks and 30 minute lunch

so you can be the best you. We

celebrate you every day and hope

you do also.

On or before November 8th please

make a plan to get out and vote.

This election is important to the

By now, you've probably

seen or heard "FYRE"

but maybe you are not

so sure what it is.

Who We Are:

A group of young educators (both

teachers and non-instructional

staff) who are looking for ways to

make a difference in our chosen pro-

fession, desire

opportunities to lead and connect with

like-minded colleagues.

What We Do:

The core team organizes local informa-

tive sessions (topics range from our

benefits, contract language,

evaluations, etc.) and we organize and

participate in social and community

events. There are also opportunities

to attend FEA statewide leadership

trainings throughout the year and

summer.

Tammy Woods AFK8

future of public education and

our country…you need to

make sure your voice is heard.

We are working on cleaning

up and making some changes

to our contract at this time.

Please take time to read your

contract and send me any input

you may have on it as soon as

possible. There are several

key issues such as subbing in

classes, stipends and break

times that we are working on.

This is your contract and we

need to hear from you. If you

have a coworker that is not a

member, ask them to join us -

the more members we have the

louder we can Raise Our Voice

and make sure we are heard.

I hope you have a wonderful

month and a Happy Thanks-

giving.

Remember, We are

stronger together. Sandy

SLC FYRE: SLC Florida's Young Remarkable Educators

Laura Angell SGA

One of SLC FYRE objectives is giving back to

the community. FYRE members, Christine and

Lucy volunteered by checking in walkers at the

“Making Strides for Breast Cancer Walk”.

The VOICE St. Lucie Classroom Teachers’ Association and Classified Unit Nov. 1, 2016

Page 3

By the Numbers:

Number of SLCTA/CU delegates

attending the state FEA Delegate

Assembly in Orlando :

10

Total number of new union mem-

bers in October:

24

Number of worksites with 80%

membership or higher:

10

Worksites with 100% union mem-

bership:

4

Negotiations Corner Just two quick updates this month.

First, the Union and the district met sev-

eral times in October to work out the details on the process for collaborative

bargaining between the St Lucie CTA/

CU and the district negotiating team.

The goal was to streamline the process

while still negotiating the important

issues that we face.

We agreed that instead of Steering Com-mittee Meetings being held monthly for

an hour or so along with multiple sub-

committees, Steering Committee meet-

ings will now take place quarterly and

last a half day or more to negotiate and

solve issues between the district and

employees represented by St Lucie

CTA/CU. Just like teachers need con-centrated, uninterrupted time to plan, the

Steering Committee needs concentrated,

uninterrupted time to do its work.

This change is not meant to replace the

day-to-day collaborative relationship

that allows us to work with the district to

solve issues as they come up., especially

issues that don’t require bargaining.

The second piece of news is that we will

be distributing (via SurveyMonkey) a

negotiation survey sometime during the

first or second week of November.

Please take time to fill out the survey as

we use the data to help set priorities for

the year’s negotiations. Member input

on this survey informs our work for the next year.

Finally, while the calendar is not a nego-

tiable item, the district asks for input

before making recommendations to the

Board. Look for several questions on

the Bargaining survey about your

thoughts on calendar issues for 2017-

2018.

More information will be given to

Worksite Leaders at our November

meeting to share with you at your

worksite.

Compensatory Time Uses and Abuses: Know Your Contract

In both the CTA and CU con-

tracts compensatory time (Comp Time) is

to be given when an employee is “required

or requested” to work beyond his/her regu-

lar work day. While this seems pretty

straightforward, new administrators and

uninformed employees often are confused

about how Comp Time is earned, how and

when it can be used, and what records are

needed to record and/or use Comp Time.

For all employees, Comp Time is

to be recorded on a Comp Time Log that

should be available to you when you re-

quest it. It is not secret or confidential.

Employees should ask BEFORE perform-

ing work or attending meetings outside the

work day if Comp Time will be awarded.

In the case of emergency situations such as

late buses or parent conferences that run

over, staff should expect to be awarded

Comp Time since it is not feasible to either

ask in advance or stop and ask when the

time exceeds the work day.

In order to use Comp Time, the

employee need only request it 24 hours in

advance (emergencies notwithstanding).

The administrator, by contract, cannot

deny Comp Time “unjustifiably.” That is,

pre-denying Comp Time to all staff on a

Monday and Friday is a violation of the

contract as is saying that Comp Time use is

denied if you can’t find a sub in advance.

Neither of these are justifiable reasons for

the denial of Comp Time use.

Finally, applicable to only the

CU members, YOU (not your administra-

tor) can decide if you want to work beyond

your school day for either Comp Time OR

additional pay. If your administrator says

that only Comp Time will be offered, you

can refuse the request to work additional

time. Also, if you (CU only) have Comp

Time remaining at the end of the year, you

MUST be paid out for the unused time by

your written request.

CTA members must use their

earned Comp Time before the end of the

year or it is forfeited. Comp Time lan-

guage can be found in both contracts by

going to the following link and clicking on

the relevant contract.

http://stlucieteachers.com/wp-content/

themes/CTA/uploads/CTA_Contract.pdf

http://stlucieteachers.com/wp-content/

themes/CTA/uploads/CU_Contract.pdf

St. Lucie Classroom Teachers’ Association

and Classified Unit

371 E. Midway Road

Ft. Pierce, FL 34982

Office: 772-464-6430 Fax: 772-464-7446

E-mail: Info@stlucieteachers.com OR

Vicki.Rodriguez@floridaea.org

Christine.Hill@floridaea.org

Lucy.Bravo@floridaea.org

Barbara.Ziegler@floridaea.org

Maureen.Sinnott@floridaea.org

CTA/CU Executive Board

Vicki Rodriguez, President CTA/CU: CTA Office

Christine Hill, Vice President CTA: CTA Office

Sandy Rohn, Vice-President CU: SGA

Laura Lovett, CTA/CU Treasurer : Records Dept.

Rebecca Petrie, Secretary CTA: SRE

Cynthia Poole, CU Secretary : Student Assignment

David Freeland, CTA Executive Board: FPCH

Tammy Davis, CTA Executive Board: FKS

Alan Mathison, CTA, Executive Board: LPA

Aurea Justo, CTA Executive Board: FLN

Pamela Jenkins, Executive Board CU: SLWCH

Union Staff

Maureen Sinnott/ Member Suppor t Specialist

Lucy Bravo/ Organizing and Communication Specialist

Barbara Ziegler/ Office Manager

FEA Gold Membership Award—Stronger Together!

Congratulations to Worksite

Leaders and Union Leader-

ship and Staff for receiving

the FEA Gold Membership

Award for increasing total

union density by 2% or high-

er for 2015-2016.

Each year, in accordance with the Constitution and By-Laws of

the American Federation of Teachers, the St. Lucie CTA/CU is subject

to an independent financial review. This year’s review was conducted

by the accounting firm of Berger, Toombs, Elam, Gaines, and Frank.

As in the past, they noted a deficiency in that the size of the or-

ganization’s staff “precludes certain internal controls” and noted that the

“Board provides oversight and independent review of the financial af-

fairs of the Association” to compensate. The review determined no ma-

terial weaknesses or other deficiency in financial practices or policies of

the organization. At the conclusion of the fiscal year ending June 30,

2016, the Association’s net assets were $478,837. A complete copy of

the financial review is on file in the CTA/CU office and is available for

inspection by the Association’s members, on request.

SLCTA/CU Annual Financial Review Report

The VOICE St. Lucie Classroom Teachers’ Association and Classified Unit Nov. 1, 2016

Extra! Extra! Extra!

Union leadership, Executive Board members, Worksite

Leaders and members of FYRE attended the FEA Del-

egate Assembly in Orlando

October 20-22, 2016.

President Bill Clinton addressed the D.A. and

advocated for “building bridges not walls.”

Executive Board member Cynthia Poole won

$500 from NTA. Cynthia worked the Delegate

Assembly as a member of the Constitution,

ByLaws and Rules Committee.

CU Vice President Sandy Rohn, CTA/CU President Vicki

Rodriguez and Executive Board member Alan Mathison

participate on the floor of the Delegate Assembly.

SLC FYRE Chair Christine

Cirocco shows off the

Kindle Fire she won from

benefits partner American

Fidelity.

St Lucie delegates at the FEA Delegate Assembly phone banked to remind our members who requested vote-by-mail ballots to

return them by 7pm on Nov 8th. Over 150 members were called in 15 minutes!

The VOICE St. Lucie Classroom Teachers’ Association and Classified Unit Nov. 1, 2016

Extra! Extra! Extra!

12th Annual Adult Spelling Bee sponsored by the St. Lucie County Chamber of Commerce

October 20, 2016

Chris Hill (CTA VP), Lucy Bravo (CTA/CU OCS), Julie Caiazzo (FYRE) and Sylvia Shivers (APFK8), and Naomi & Zac

Kerce were there to cheer on The Ruler Bees: Kim Wagner (SRE), Brian Georgia (PSLH) and Mary Fuller (AFK8) who took

Third Place.