December 3, Consultation Minutes

Instructional Consultation
December 03, 2009


Chapter 37

HFT brought to the attention of administration the violations of state law Chapter 37. Principals in several schools all over the district are refusing to enforce the mandatory removal of students with serious violations including physical abuse requiring removal. HFT will start taking these to TEA as they are more responsive than HISD ever is. CEP referrals being delayed by paperwork is not the problem. The administration stated that they had made no changes in the procedure. HFT stated that to their certain knowledge, principals are being encouraged not to refer and threatened with withholding of funds if students are referred. The financial threat came from the superintendent. The pattern is clear across the district; principals are not referring students for mandatory removal. CEP will take fully mainstreamed Special Ed students.

Excessive Paperwork

The continued demand for excessive paper work in disaggregating weekly tests for TAKS is impacting the teachers’ time to teach. This is a clear violation of state law. Where does all this paper go? The district has demanded the same data for the past two years.

Grievance Procedure

Grievance procedure has no teeth. We keep seeing the same violations; we need some real sanctions to get the attention of the principals. Administration suggested that when submitting an item for review that the region be indicated and the administration will see that the region has a representative present at the meeting.

Credit Recovery

Academic coaches, i.e. graduation coaches, students on credit recovery will take a course on line working with another person other than the teacher of record. The teacher of record will be required to sign off on the students’ grades online. The teacher of record cannot sign off on those grades unless the teacher taught the course and gave the grade her/himself. Administration stated that a teacher needs to certify that the course meets the standards required for credit in the course. That can also be a problem. What happens for a kid who cannot read on level? District is looking to buy software that reads for the student specifically intended for the Special Education student.

Teacher Assistants

TA’s used as teachers. Administration has notified regions to correct the situation. They will double check with the regions.

AP Tests and ASPIRE

There are no current plans to link AP scores to EVAAS but the linkage is being studied.

Meeting adjourned.

December 3, 2009 Consultation Agenda

HOUSTON FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

Please include the following to the December 3, 2009 Instructional Consultation agenda:

1. The use of Teacher Assistants – We first presented this issue in November and were asked for a list of schools where this is occurring.

a. It has come to our attention that many campuses have found a less than legal way to cut their budgets; using teacher aides to teach ancillary classes such as library and computer, and as regular substitutes. Aside from violating NCLB, TEC laws, and HISD policy, this is not moral. Doing so exploits the teacher aides who are directed to do a $45,000.00 a year job for about $18,000.00. Not to mention that it cost a teacher a job.

While TAs or clerks can be used as support and as library clerks, classes cannot be dropped off for ancillary period with the aide in charge. While aides can hold a class for a teacher who is late, or in the event of an emergency such as not being able to obtain a sub, they cannot be used as the designated or long-term sub on the campus.

b. The following schools have reported abuses in the use of Teacher Assistants:

· At Dogan a TA is the PE teacher, and on the ancillary schedule.
· At Davila a T.A. has been in the library as a teacher for more than 2 years. Library is not ancillary. It is a separate class.
· Lewis is using a Teacher Aids for Art.
· Alcott, Frost, Hobby, Tinsley are holding ancillary library classes and computer classes.
· At JR Harris Elementary School TA's are regularly used as substitutes

2. Grievance Procedure

The grievance procedure is becoming increasingly less effective. A principal losing a grievance does not seem to be a deterrent against further policy violations. It is time we look at the current procedure and develop real sanctions against administrators who continually flaunt policy, procedures, and the law.

3. Advanced Placement Scores

With the current push to increase the number of AP courses offered and tests given in order to raise school rankings in the Newsweek magazine list of top schools, is there any plan to use student AP scores as part of AP teachers EVAAS rankings?

November 5, 2009 Consultation Minutes

Instructional consultation minutes
November 6, 2009


Fingerprinting of Employees

Meeting called to order at 4:32 PM. Fingerprinting of all employees was mandated by Senate Bill 9 in 2007 to be completed by September 1, 2011. HISD has been informed by the state that fingerprinting will be done in HISD in the first quarter of 2010. Formal notice will be sent out on December 7, 2009. New hires have been fingerprinted as a condition of employment. All employees designated by the state will be required to be fingerprinted by the 80th day after December 7, 2009 with a break for Christmas until January 11th at which time the clock will restart. If any designated employee has not been successfully fingerprinted by the 80th day, that employee’s certification will be inactivated and they will not be eligible for employment. The state is holding the district responsible, but will communicate directly with the employee. They will communicate through an e-mail from Itsbatch and will have the subject line as “AutoEmail: SB9 Fingerprinting Information Houston ISD” as the subject line.

Employees need to create/update an account with SBEC, verify that the name on their certificate matches the name on their current driver’s license of state issued identification card, update their e-mail address in their SBEC account (this is where their FASTPass will be sent), and follow the instructions to access their FASTPass.

Employees will be fingerprinted on campus at a designated date and time or at a vendor location. Fingerprinting will take 10 minutes for fingerprinting and take picture. Vendor will work from 8 to 5. There are approximately 700 employees who will be required to pay for fingerprinting which will cost $52.00. All others will be paid for by the state.

Organizations are being asked to inform their members of the requirements and how to get the documentation right. HFT requested that HISD consider paying the fee for those employees who are not covered by the state or at least paying for the lower paid employees for whom the fee would be a hardship.

HFT concerns:

1. H1N1 vaccination district plan has not been approved. Plan will follow the CDC recommended policy which is Health care personnel first, persons at risk second, all other last, teachers will have to fall in line unless in high risk group. Nurses will who choose to give vaccinations will be paid $45 per hour.
2. Dispensing medications by nurses from students in residential homes is a concern. Medications are being removed from original container a placed in another container and an adequate supply is not being provided. Students are on occasion missing doses because the medication has not been delivered. This issue will be investigated.

2. EVAAS scores and PDAS

“To my knowledge the professional standards team has not issued any such instruction”

What about the feeder pattern questionnaire that strongly suggested that if a teacher shows no growth on EVAAS then why is there no growth plan. Talking to principals, they are saying that they were told this by regional superintendents, and executive principals. What is the district going to do to clean this up?

Dr. Grier has seen the form. It is a check list that is seeking to ask the principals to look at the data. It is intended to alert the principals to the data available.

What proof do you have that EVAAS is a predictor of teacher behavior? It does effectively predict student behavior. It is not intended to evaluate teacher performance.

“I am not going to answer that question” from the administration. “It is just another piece of information that should be followed up on.”

Is the administration denying the problem, do they even recognize that there is a problem? This is affecting teachers every day. Does the administration even care? Students say at 10th grade “TAKS means nothing to me because if I fail who cares” and we are evaluating teachers on that attitude. A clear statement needs to be made. “I can assure you that Dr. Grier has never given any directive to use EVAAS in this manner.”

When we returned to school in August this was in place. HFT has files where teachers have been taken off MPDAS and placed on a growth plan. HISD knows that TEA has already ruled on this issue at least for termination. Has anyone explained to the principals that you cannot remove a teacher from MPDAS to PDAS based on EVAAS scores? HFT will take every one of these to TEA if necessary.

If this keeps up you will see more teachers leaving with little or no notice. HISD has one of the worst urban turnover rates in the state. No one wants to work in a place that makes them miserable.

3. Deloitte study was not adequate. There are persons who have been demoted in classification and are being paid at a substantially higher rate than their classification and will not receive a raise in the conceivable future. Member bringing issue to consultation has been improperly classified and has been told that she was improperly hired. Her job description is incorrect. She averred that she and five others in her department are all improperly classified. Study was inaccurate in her case. JAQ sent back to her was not the JAQ that she filled out. The culture of HISD has changed. Five years ago this was a great place to work. The culture has changed to a very unfriendly corporate mentality. This needs to be looked at immediately. This is not the final opportunity to look at the compensation. What is going to be done?

4. Teachers in middle school identified their students as English teachers. At beginning of the summer their classification was changed to reading. District avers that the change was not made after the fact; the change was made on recommendation of the advisory committee for middle schools. The argument was that both English and reading teachers prepare for the reading test therefore the teachers should be combined into one group and the rating should be made on the reading test and the language test should be dropped. The idea was passed by the curriculum department. Problem is that the EVAAS scores for reading are substantially lower than language arts scores; this means that the teachers concerned are stopped from transferring. The only thing principals care about is the reading and math scores. These are people that are being affected by arbitrary changes.
Committee will be reconvened in order to look at these issues.

If teacher chooses not to participate in ASPIRE, they are not required to do the ASPIRE training. Principals need to have a memorandum on this issue.

CHT - Tracey Wear stated there are clear guidelines for exiting from advanced academic classes. There is the growth plan and the entrance agreement. Exiting can take place as soon as the student fails to clear a growth plan.

HEA - Renzulli is not mandatory for all teachers on all campuses.

HFT - Teacher Aides on many campuses are being used as a fulltime teacher. It is abusive to the TA to use an $18,000 aide in a $45,000 position. This is generated mostly in the South district. “Teacher Aides should not be assigned full time to a teaching position where grades are given”

District wants list of school’s involved. HFT pointed out that these persons are at will and are afraid for their jobs. They will need a guarantee of protection. In some schools, the librarian has been replaced by an aide. “An aide can serve as a librarian as long as students are not left in her care without a certified teacher.”

A Teacher Aide who works with students daily and has been trained to the same level as the certified personnel. Any Aide who steps into a classroom must be trained.

HFT - Planning time and lunch. Once again principals are violating the law, requiring some teachers to observe other teachers during their planning time. This will be addressed once again. Principals are arrogant about this. It is the law. This issue will be placed on the regional superintendent agenda.

CHT - Parent wants a copy of the teacher lesson plans. Let the principal give the parent a copy.

CHT 2 “Leadership teams” some of whom are not certified campus appraisers are conducting walk-troughs’. Some teachers have had as many as four persons observing at one time. This is getting out of hand; other things are being delayed or not done due to the repeated observations by multiple persons.

CHT 3 Is the administration aware of the amount of paperwork and testing being done in the schools. Weekly benchmarks and common assessments have to be given and then the teacher is being required to disaggregate the data. Some teachers are staying until 6:00 to complete the data. The requirements are stopping any teaching to be done. This is excessive and the data acquired is useless. Is this for real? This is being required.

CHT 5 General guidelines on teacher required at night. Only for parent contact or for educational events requiring teacher participation, i.e. Math night, open house

CHT 6 There is no policy on using teachers as crossing guards.

CHT 7 Teachers training on Gradespeed receiving stipend should get the stipend if they have provided evidence of training on campus and ongoing support.

CHT 9 Principals are aware of the policy on public reprimand. If name of school can be given, then the issue will be dealt with on an individual basis. Is there a way to remind people of the policy? Not only in public, but reprimands in e-mails which reprimand persons for failure to comply with a request sent to every one on campus, and on walkie-talkies.

HEA 1 Board policy is two days after the end of the cycle to enter grades. There was some confusion this grading cycle, we were told one date and locked out two days early. “Gradespeed should not be dictating to the school”. Retakes are an issue with this.

HEA 3 Too many meetings, too much paperwork, and discipline are being demanded of every teacher. This includes doing IEP’s for students failing a benchmark.

The sheer volume of today’s agenda should be a call that things are going on that should not be happening. The problems are with the regional superintendents.

Adjourned at 6:36 P.M.

November 5, 2009 Consultation Agenda

HOUSTON FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

Please include the following to the November 5, 2009 Instructional Consultation agenda:

1. H1N1 Vaccinations

We have several questions regarding the H1N1 Vaccination Clinic Plan:

1. We would like to have a written copy of the "Plan" with all details.
2. How much will the nurses administering the vaccination receive in pay? We have heard $25.00, $35.00 and $45.00. How will those nurses be chosen and who will be doing the hiring?
3. How much will the clerks doing registration duties receive in pay? How will they be chosen and who will be doing the hiring?
4. How much security will be present? There cannot be too much.
5. It is our understanding that the vaccine will first be administered to all HISD nurses at a special vaccination clinic held at the HMS office. We were also informed that the vaccine will then be offered to all HISD faculty and staff, and HISD students, as well as any member of the student's household. This is to be offered at no cost. It is our understanding that HISD faculty and staff, other than HISD nurses, will not receive any priority in the administration of the vaccine and will have to stand in line with parents and students in order to receive their number for the vaccination. If the numbers run out, they will be turned away and not receive the vaccine. We object to this plan for our HISD faculty and staff because of the following:

(a) The clinics will be held between the hours of 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. and on Saturdays between 10:00 and 2:00. On weekdays, this time schedule prohibits HISD employees, specifically teachers, from lining up for numbers, especially for those employees on campuses where the vaccine is not being administered and they have to travel to a regional location.
(b) What plan is being made for the bus drivers, cafeteria workers, maintenance workers, custodial staff, etc. to receive the vaccine? The bus drivers are directly exposed to students in an enclosed area and are working during the proposed clinic hours.
(c) The district has a moral obligation to protect their employees and should offer the vaccine to them first before vaccinating parents and siblings who are not in school. Who will be operating the schools if there is a massive wave of the flu, employees were not able to receive the vaccine and become ill?
(d) While parents are presumably only exposed to their child, teachers and school employees are exposed to hundreds of students per day.

2. Dispensing medication

Can a school nurse request a minimum number of psychotropic medications be delivered to school? At least a one-month supply for example. We have situations when residential homes deliver medications for only four or five days at a time.

3. The use of Teacher Assistants

a. It has come to our attention that many campuses have found a less than legal way to cut their budgets; using teacher aides to teach ancillary classes such as library and computer, and as regular substitutes. Aside from violating NCLB, TEC laws, and HISD policy, this is not moral. Doing so exploits the teacher aides who are directed to do a $45,000.00 a year job for about $18,000.00. Not to mention that it cost a teacher a job.

While TA's or clerks can be used as support and as library clerks, classes cannot be dropped off for ancillary period with the aide in charge. While aides can hold a class for a teacher who is late, or in the event of an emergency such as not being able to obtain a sub, they cannot be used as the designated or long-term sub on the campus.


b. Can Teacher Assistants be used Test Administrators? We have examples of TA’s being directed to sign the Test Security and Confidentiality Oath even though they had received no training and did not understand the testing rules. Is there a difference between a test administrator and a test monitor? If so, are monitors required to sign an oath?

4. EVAAS scores and PDAS

“Principals have not been directed to place teachers on a growth plan based purely on EVAAS scores.” – Dr. Grier

We are uncomfortable with the use of the word “purely”. We at HFT continue to hear rumors that principals have been directed or highly encouraged to arbitrarily take a certain percentage of teachers off of MPDAS and place them on PDAS, and/or put a certain percentage on growth plans based on EVASS or tests scores.

Changing a teacher's evaluation or taking any employment action based on student test scores or the EVAAS scores is not legal according to TEA and the commissioner has already ruled on this issue in Toussaint VS Dallas ISD. If a teacher needs assistance, the criteria needs to be based on observed classroom behavior, not on student test scores or some arbitrary percentage dictated from above.

5. EVAAS Classification

We have received reports that 6th and 7th grade English teachers who had verified their teaching area as English and their class rosters as English students are having their students reading scores used to determine their EVAA ratings. They were told this decision was made after the end of the school year.

6. Deloitte Study job classification

We have members who were demoted to a lower job classification as a result of the Deloitte study. No income was lost but they moved from a salary range where they had room to grow to a salary range where they were at the top of the range with no hope to grow. We will bring an affected employee into consultation to discuss the issue in detail.

7. Planning time and lunch periods

This one never goes away. The complaints this time come from the North and West Regions. Meetings are regularly being required during conference time. These are usually PLC meeting and are required for collaborative planning. Lunch duty is being assigned that reduces the lunch period to 25 minutes. In the West Region we have reports of teachers being required during their planning periods to observe other teachers. Can the regional superintends make this stop or are they part of the problem?

October 1, 2009 Consultation Minutes

Instructional Consultation
10-01-09

Meeting called to order at 4:30 P.M. First order of business is the Approval of Aspire awards for teachers, campus based staff, principals, executive principals and regional superintendents covers items E-1, E-2, and E-3. 43.1 million dollars for ASPIRE awards for the 2008-2009 year.

SPM 4302.1A forms developed for requests for information, and response forms. Question was raised about the minutes of the instructional consultation meeting. We were assured that the minutes would be posted by the end of the week.

HEA question on the SDMC, does every campus have one, what is its function and how is it created. SDMC is advisory to the principal, responsible for professional development for the campus and other issues and is elected not appointed. SDMC should be 2/3 classroom teachers, 1/3 staff and support. Over and over again this issue comes up. This needs to be explained to the principals, again.

Issue was raised of large numbers of older teachers targeted for growth plans. Teachers who have 25+ years of service are over 50 are being removed from MPDAS and placed on PDAS and a serious attempt is being made to get them to retire or resign. Administration will investigate this and check data.

HFT concern H1N1 vaccinations what are the plans? Administration response there are no firm plans at this time. The districts role has not been defined at this point in time. We will advise as soon as we know.

Jury Duty leave policy. There is no change in the current policy. Dismissal at noon, is a problem. Whole day is still possible. What about funeral leave for brothers and sisters? This needs to be addressed. OFF Campus duty is not on the form. Absence form should not be filled out for off campus duty. This needs to be addressed. Length of duty day has been dropped. Sick leave is based of the 7.75 hour day. Administration says it is in the compensation manual and in the hierarchy of importance the compensation manual is lord.

Core works has stopped all reports to principals on teachers; the tool is not mandated it is offered as a resource.

What is a teacher to do? A student runs from room. If you chase your wrong if you don’t chase your wrong. Administration needs more details. Best effort is to notify office that student has left without permission. Really need more information.
Grading policy state law defines failing grade. Complaints from Westside indicate teachers are being directed to consider any grade below 80 failing. Why can’t a simple policy language be followed? Administration will advise principal. Grading policy needs flexibility. One size does not fit all.

Lesson Plans as of two days ago the problem at Ortiz M.S. has been corrected. It is time to grieve these issues. The law is very clear. Principals need to be clued in. When the staff rep cannot get through to the principal then there is a problem.

If you have mandated after school meetings talk to the regional office and the issue should be resolved.

Adjourned at 5:24 P.M.

October 5, 2009 Benefits Consultation Meeting

ON Monday, HFT met with HISD in the monthly Benefits consultation. Of interest to members:

1. HISD is out of flu vaccine. HISD had ordered 10,000 doses of the seasonal flu vaccine to give to employees at campuses. Since HISD cannot store the vaccine over the months that they scheduled campus flu shots, the vaccine was to come in increments. However, the supplier is now out and cannot deliver the remaining doses. HISD said they have been to about 1/3 of the campuses they had scheduled and will now put the rest on hold until and IF they get the remaining doses. HISD stated that the supplier is not confident that they can get more until well into the flu season. One reason HISD ran out is that the program was more popular and more employees got shots than they anticipated from last years' numbers.

If you have not gotten the seasonal flu shot yet and wanted to get one, I suggest that you find a Walgreens or other outlet that still has the vaccine and get one ASAP. We were told that Kelsey Seybold is out and has a waiting list. So stores that have it now may not have it for long. This may be the best 25.00 you spend this year.

What concerned me is that people could get ill from H1N1, recover and come back to work and catch the seasonal flu while they are still weak and get extremely ill. Having one form of the flu does not give immunity to the other.

2. There was no update from HISD on the H1N1 vaccine and if, how or when that may be given at campuses. Again, if you or family members want this vaccine, I would not wait for campus vaccinations but get it when it becomes available to you.

3. NO HISD On-Site Clinic is open yet and there is no date for one to open. This summer, HISD had proposed to take away lower paid employee's benefits of FSA cards and discounts saying that the on-sight clinics would provide low or no cost care for these employees. HFT and HESP (our sister unit for cafeteria, custodial, and bus drivers) fought this and won. Now that HISD has not opened ONE clinic and put the plans on hold to open, we are even more happy to have won this battle or employees who cannot afford HISD coverage would have NOTHING!

4. Open Enrollment for Benefits is Nov. 3-18. Begin thinking about your plan and how it has worked for you and your family this year and changes you may want to make. Then be sure to make any changes before the deadline.

Submitted by: Joanna Pasternak, HFT Representative

October 1, 2009 Consultation Agenda

HOUSTON FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

Please include the following to the October 1, 2009 Instructional Consultation agenda:

1. H1N1 Vaccinations

We are still waiting for the district plans regarding H1N1 vaccinations. An informal poll of our nurses indicates that they are universally opposed to being forced to vaccinate employees and students.

2. Jury Duty leave

Has there been any change in the jury duty leave policy?

3. Core Works

There needs to be a clarification. This program is in direct violation of TEC 11.164. Teachers are being reprimanded for not logging on to the system and making their entries. We are getting complaints from the north and the east regions. We also have a complaint from a teacher who was given incomplete information regarding requirements for a training session and was treated rudely by the trainer.

4. What is a teacher to do?

We need a policy clarification. When a child (usually elementary) runs out of class without permission, and sometimes out of the building, what is the teacher to do? In the South Region we have had two teachers written up for not leaving their classes unattended and chasing after the children. If they did leave the class and actually catch the child are they supposed to physically drag the child back? In each case the teacher did not chase the child but instead called the office only to be told they should have stopped the child? How? Will HISD indemnify them if they grab the children to stop them from leaving the classroom?

5. Grading policy

Part 3 of the new grading policy states “A student shall be allowed a reasonable opportunity to make up or redo a class assignment or examination for which the student received a failing grade.”

Failing has long been defined in state law as any grade below 70%. We have at least one complaint from Westside High School where the principal is requiring retakes for any grade less than 80%. Why can’t very simple policy language be followed?

6. Lesson Plans

We continue to get complaints regarding violations of TEC 11.164 regarding lesson plans. The following is part of a complaint from Ortiz MS:

Not only do we have to submit detailed lesson plans, but we have to send a ROUGH DRAFT on Wednesday. When the instructional coordinator reads them, she makes recommendations to change them. We are spending way too much time on these frivolities. Finally on Friday the plan is e-mailed to 3 more people (they may want changes too). We are planning on Monday; cluster meeting on Tuesday, tutoring on Wednesday, grade level meeting on Thursday and faculty meeting on Friday. When do we have time to make all these plans? Oh, we no longer say the pledge or get a moment of silence. It is work, work, work, HELP!

What is wrong with your principals? Why don’t they get it?

Consultation Committee Agenda meeting

So much for planning ahead. Our scheduled meeting for September 28th is on a school holiday. I've decided to move the meeting to the previous Friday, September 25th at 5:00pm. I know Friday is a lousy meeting day but it is better than a holiday.

September 3, 2009 Consultation Meeting

Minutes of HISD Instructional Consultation Meeting
September 3, 2009

The meeting of the HISD Instructional Consultation was called to order at 4:30. A presentation was made by the Deloitte Compensation Study team. The intent of the study was to develop recommendations for restructuring the pay structure for non-teaching staff in order to make them equitable, competitive and legally defensible. The recommendations would raise the minimum salary, adjust the scale to provide opportunity for more growth (relieve compression in the scale), and increase the maximum salary to allow for growth. If implemented, no employee would experience a pay cut, most would see a pay increase.

Item E-2 a revision to board policy regarding leave and absences. To bring board policy into compliance with Senate Bill 522 text was changed to update the order of use... Intent is to allow the employee to determine from which leave, state or local, days will be taken from. In other terms, the employee may elect to use local sick leave before using state sick leave or may choose to mix the two in any order desired.
Item E-3 Grant authority to adopt the recommendations of the Deloitte Compensation Study.

SPM 4160.2 Details the sponsorship guidelines and procedures for applicants with a temporary work visa. This SPM details the process used for hiring an applicant who holds a temporary work visa.
SPM 4160.3 This SPM is intended to describe the procedures for monitoring the work hours of hourly and part-time employees and to change the status of an hourly employee to a regular employee. This includes hourly lecturers.

CHT concerns were taken up next
First issue was the coffee break for school based staff members. HR stated that there is no update on this for school based employees and the last mention left it to the discretion of the principal. Hr said this will need a decision. They will take it under advisement.

“Content specialist” using a PDAS like instrument for “grading” a teacher. HR stated that if instrument is used only for “peer” evaluation then there is no problem. If the principal is given the document and uses it for PDAS evaluation then that information must be shared with the teacher and the teacher has the right to respond to the information. If the evaluator uses the information and receipt of a copy is not signed for by the teacher and the appraiser, then the appraisal cannot be used. The problem is that the tone of this is threatening. This issue will be addressed at the Regional Superintendent meeting.

E-mail both CHT and HFT listed this as an issue. Letter from assistant general counsel Mario Vasquez, denying use of e-mail to organizations for communication with members. Organizations will be allowed to use e-mail for communication with their members with the exception of political issues and recruiting. A memorandum will be sent out retracting the original document immediately. Use of e-mail is being reviewed, but a retraction will be issued today.

Opening of school an HFT concern. List of issues is the same as in other years. All of these are coming up again. Law is in effect for all of these, teachers are afraid to challenge the principals on their campus. These issues should not be brought up here every year these should not be violated. Big violation is requiring excessive amounts of required paperwork. Big issue is the dialoging required by the CoreWork program. The principals need to reminded of the requirements of the law.

CoreWork costs the district/state $1.455 million. The program has been used in HISD for three years. It is a data gathering, evaluating, and reporting on getting students ready for college. Problem with the program is that it is currently creating a pool of teachers who are not pleased with how the program is being presented to them. Communicate what this is about and be clear about how a teacher can use this program to help her/his students.

Gradespeed had problems getting set up. Changes have been made in this and the system is now working as planned. The attendance roster updates while you are in Gradespeed, the grade book updates when you logout and log back in. Parents want access now. Please be sure that parents know that grades are updated at the teacher’s convenience. Parents will at this time get access on September 28th.

All teachers should have access to a computer as the district placed a computer on every desk when chancery when on line.

The issue of time out is a problem. The program does not tell you that you have been logged out until you try to update work. It needs to warn you or go back to the log in screen.

You need to contact Thomas Longoria or LaDonna Cooley with specific problems.
South Region Pep Rally/Prayer Service the event was offensive. This needs to be noted and next year the time needs to be better utilized. We don’t need to be spending the time creating “cheers”.

Nurses issues

Swine flu vaccine inoculations: Nurses are leery of actually administering this vaccine due to allergic reactions, pregnancy issues, and other legal issues that school nurses are not ready to assume. These vaccines need to be administered by city/county health personnel.

The decision on this has not been made HISD is being asked for cooperation but a plan has not been decided. Issues are being addressed.

There is a shortage of MI nurses or they are not being hired. Regular school nurses are being required to service MI students by either closing her clinic and spending long blocks of time caring for the MI students or having the MI students brought to her clinic and exposing them to the germs brought in by regular Ed students. Recommendation of the district is that the nurses concerned ask for a needs assessment by the nurse consultant for the hiring of a MI nurse. This decision needs to be made on a case by case basis.
Meeting adjourned at 6:40

Employee E-Mail

As you can tell from our September 3,2009 Consultation Agenda an HISD lawyer attempted to prohibit employee organizations from using HISD e-mail. As a result of our efforts in Thursday's Consultation Meeting the district issued the following memo:

From: Smith, Mark
Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2009 6:50 PM
To: Principals by High School; Principals by Elementary School; Principals by Middle School
Cc: Regional Superintendents/Manager; Garza, Thelma D; Garrett, Melinda; Lindsay, Richard; Pola, Michele; Hutchins-Taylor, Elneita
Subject: Use of HISD email by employee groups

Principals-

Please note that representatives of employee groups may forward and distribute emails to other employees on your campuses as long as the emails are intended for employee (including employee organizations) or school business related matters. This process is currently in place and will remain in place until the administration has an opportunity to review this practice and formalize any changes to it.


This was a great win. We must be vigilant during this administrative transition period in order to make sure our hard won rights are not eliminated. The full minutes from the September 3rd meeting will be posted soon.

September 3, 2009 Consultation Agenda

HOUSTON FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

Please include the following to the September 3, 2009 Instructional Consultation agenda:


1. E-Mail

During previous consultation meetings employee groups have been given the right to use the district e-mail to communicate with our members. Our members have also been able to forward e-mails to members in their buildings. In an August 28, 2009 HISD Assistant General Counsel Mario Vasquez unilaterally took it away by threatening our members who used it. Was HISD lying when they gave us permission or is the administration’s communication with their legal department so inefficient as to make a mockery of any promise? HFT expects the administration to keep its word but how does the administration intend to rectify this with the people who were threatened?

2. Nurses

a. Why were school nurses told at the back to school in-service for nurses that school nurses would again be utilized for the Blueprint for Wellness employee health screenings on campuses? It was agreed last year and the year before, etc. that school nurses are not necessary for this program. They should never even be mentioned in any informational email to a principal and, in fact, principals should be strongly discouraged from pulling their school nurses to help employees fill out forms, hold their employee's hands, pass out snacks, set up tables, etc. We are very busy this time of year and our students need us in the clinic.

b. One of our nurses for regular education students is being utilized for MI students who need three nursing procedures per day, along with suctioning and nebulizer treatments throughout the day. That is on top of the 26-40 students that she sees per day along with her other regular education school nursing duties. Last year there was an MI nurse on campus. She was told that there are no MI nurses available and contract nurses cannot be hired.

c. How are school nurses going to be utilized in the event of an H1N1 epidemic? Are there plans to use our HISD nurses to administer the H1N1 vaccine if, and when, it becomes available?

3. H1N1 Influenza – Directive from Medical service

On August 26, 2009 Evelyn Henry issued a directive regarding H1N1 procedures. Per this directive, teachers are to send their students exhibiting signs of illness to the school nurse to assess for swine flu. What are they to do in schools without full time school nurses? It has also been brought to our attention that some schools have cut their MI nurses for their students needing invasive procedures. They are hiring a nurse for 5 days a week and a portion of their salary is coming out of special education funds (typical 40% or 60%). They are relying on that nurse to care for both regular education and special education students. Therefore, some of those nurses are out of their clinics up to 3 hours or more per day performing procedures (recall the nurse at Stevenson who has to run down to the classroom to suction a student when the child can’t breathe as well as perform the tube feedings—that is on the consultation agenda), or they are being asked to perform the special education procedures (such as tube feedings) in their clinics while still caring for any regular education students walking into those clinics. This exposes those fragile special education students to any germs (such as swine flu) walking into those clinics and is really a HIPPA violation because We do not see how a nurse can be performing a treatment and still care for the regular education students at the same time unless they are hiring a full time aide for that clinic whose only duty is to admit students and monitor them in the absence of the nurse—We have not heard of that happening. It is a mess out there and getting worse.

4. Opening of School

As the school year opens there are several negative issues principals can avoid simply by routinely following the rules:

· Classes should be balanced early and class sizes should adhere to legal limits where a law applies and reasonable limits where there is no legal mandate.
· Lesson plans exist to facilitate instruction. They are not a vehicle to document that every imaginable rule or regulation is being followed. The law requires plans to be “brief and general”. Let’s follow the law.
· All teachers are entitled to 30 minutes of duty-free lunch periods.
· All teachers are entitled to 450 minutes planning time during a 10 day period. That planning time belongs to the teacher and there can be no assigned duty during that time.
· The teacher contract specifies a 187-day work year. Those days are approved by the Board of Education when the calendar is adopted. There can be no required duty beyond the contract year.
· The length of the teacher workday is 7 hours and 45 minutes.
· All employees are entitled to all supplies necessary to do their jobs.
· There must be an elected Shared Decision Making Committee in place and actually functioning.

We are having problems with excessive lesson plans and paperwork again. So far this has been reported at Jones HS, Hartman MS (the principal at Hartman says no - but the other administrators are directing teachers), and we have already filed a grievance at Frost Elementary with the new principal who would not listen to the steward, or our staff representative and is disregarding policy by demanding four page lesson plans on legal paper, emails to her. At Helms Elementary teachers are being told to write a daily report outlining their “best practices” of the day.

Also, dress code again, the principal at Young ES is writing teachers up for wearing heel less or open toe shoes.

5. South Region Pep Rally/Prayer Service

On August 26, 2009 South Region teachers were required to attend in-service at Kingdom Builders, which is affiliated with Windsor Village Church. The featured speaker was a representative from the Visionary Leaders Institute. The following is a statement by a person who was in attendance:

The speaker began by saying that he knew about the law on separation of church and state, but he said he would disregard it anyway because he could not separate himself. Then he went into a short prayer. During his presentation, he offered lengthy advice to teachers on classroom management that included, walking the halls before school and exorcising the demons from the campus by touching doors and speaking in tongues; blessing student desks and speaking in tongues; touching students on the head and speaking in tongues, and hugging students. He integrated religion into most of his topics on speaking with parents and co-workers. While I was not offended and found him amusing, the entire presentation felt and was more like a church sermon, complete with a large wooden cross hanging over the stage, than a public school function. I want to know if Mr. Ervin will support teachers who put their hands on students' heads and speak in tongues to discipline them. If paid speakers cannot follow the law on their presentations to public schools, they should not be invited back, and the rules need to be made clear to any who are hired to speak.

6. Computers for Gradespeed

Do all teachers have a classroom computer on which they can easily access Gradespeed?

August 27, 2009 Specially called Consultation Meeting.

This meeting was held to discuss proposed changes to Board Policy DEC (LEGAL) and DEC (LOCAL), Compensation and Benefits - Leaves and Absences. The policy needs to change in order to accommodate SB 522 which reads:

. . . The board of trustees of a school district may adopt a policy governing an employee's use of personal leave granted under this subsection, except that the policy may not restrict: (1) the purposes for which the leave may be used; or (2) the order in which an employee may use the state minimum personal leave and any additional personal leave provided by the school district. (f) A public school employee who retains any sick leave accumulated under former Section 13.904(a), as that section existed on January 1, 1995, is entitled to use the sick leave provided under that section or the personal leave provided under Subsection (a) in any order to the extent that the leave the employee uses is appropriate to the purpose of the leave.

In short this means that employees may now determine if leave time is deducted from state leave or local leave. It will now be possible for an employee to use local leave hours first and accumulate state leave. This is important because state leave is transferable and will follow an employee from district to district. The employee may decide after each absence the number of hours deducted from each of the leave banks. This is a great benefit.

Unfortunately however it appears that HISD can’t stand to see a happy employee. While there is no proposed policy change yet, the district strongly hinted that there will be a change in the district’s Attendance Incentive Plan. Since 1998 employees have been able to sell back to the district any accrued but unused state leave using any one of three listed options. Under the new rules, an employee can use local leave and sell back state leave. The district claims this will be a huge financial liability to HISD and a change in the “buy-back” policy is likely. HFT will oppose any policy change that will prevent an employee from taking full advantage of the new law.

HISD Reneges On Agreement With Unions - Children Lose

HISD BOARD WORKSHOP TURNS INTO FIRING SQUAD AIMED AT UNIONS

Houston ISD Board President Lawrence Marshall invited the Harris County AFL-CIO Council to present information at a Board of Education workshop on Prevailing Wages and the 2007 Bond Agreement Partnership reached in October. The Agreement, that was signed off on by the Administration, called for the use of current U.S. Department of Labor Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wages, Apprenticeship training for HISD graduates to build the new schools, wage enforcement and funding for the Career and Technical Education Programs of the District. The workshop (August 20) was called to explain the agreement to the Board for placement on the agenda. AFL-CIO representative Richard Shaw made the presentation.

Agreement good for the District and the Students

When the Unions arrived, they found that they were facing a firing squad of industry representatives set to attack the agreement and the Unions. Shaw began by laying out the Agreement and why HISD endorsed it at a news conference. Emphasis was made on the Apprenticeship wages in the agreement and enforcement of the wages so that workers would not be cheated. He pointed out that this was not a union-non union issue at all but about good wages, keeping students in school and job training. Shaw recounted the documented shoddy and dangerous electrical installation work performed in 4 recently opened schools where children and staff were put in danger with serious wiring and grounding issues. He recounted a report from Lantrip Elementary where the water fountain was shocking students shortly after it opened. Shaw also pointed out how the undocumented workers who were installing the electrical work were unlicensed and were being cheated out of the Districts low $15.17 per hour wage only receiving $9-11 per hour. Finally, he urged the District to adopt current Prevailing Wages (like the County, the City, METRO and others have done) since their wage are 11 years out of date. He pointed out how such wages attract quality workers and quality construction and also train Apprentices that could be recruited from the neighborhoods. He recounted how the Unions helped win passage of the agreement and how the District benefited from the reputation of the AFL-CIO as an honest broker when it comes to job training and good wages for construction workers. All was going pretty good as the 9 Board members listened intently until industry representatives began.

Industry lines up to protect itself

Leading off the industry speakers was Ber Pieper, representing the HISD Bond Oversight Committee and the Associated General Contractors. His testimony recounted how great Brown and Root is and how the District did not need Prevailing Wages and that the wages were just fine for the workers represented. He also touted the quality of the construction and that there were many undocumented immigrant workers living in HISD who benefited from these low wages. Jerry Nevlud, of the Associated General Contractors was up next. He said that his contractors (most of them non-union) did not prefer to pay prevailing wages and that, in summary, the District was doing just fine with its low wages since school construction was different from other construction. The third representative, Ousley Lacy from the National Association of Minority Contractors admitted that they did not believe in Prevailing Wages and that they would not pay them. None of these industry representatives addressed Apprenticeship training and/or why it was preferable to employ undocumented immigrants (and cheat them too) over HISD graduates who would like high skill and high paying construction jobs. Other speakers included the District’s Business Development person and Finance Department who presented a skewed analysis of the cost of paying workers Prevailing Wage when they could use their outdated and their underpaid wages.

District effectively cancels Agreement

Finally, Richard Lindsay spoke. He said that he had made a mistake in signing the agreement (he had done so at the direction of Dr. Saavedra, who is the outgoing Superintendent) and that he was sorry. He then apologized to the Board for doing so. He said that he would not recommend the Agreement to the Board today. Several Board members responded that he was forgiven and that everyone makes a mistake sometime. It then turned into a virtual love fest for Richard Lindsay and the Bond program. Dr. Abe Saavedra, who negotiated the Agreement, sat silent and lame like a duck.
General tone was degrading toward Unions and members

Overall, the general tone of industry and some of the Board members was degrading and insulting towards Unions and their members. In effect, they spit in their faces after they and the District used Labor to lend credibility to their Bond referendum when very few other community organizations would.
This prompted one Board member, Carol Galloway, from the otherwise silent Board members, to note that Union members were people too and she then apologized to the Unions for the District’s behavior in reneging on the agreement and for the tone of the meeting. Ms. Galloway was not on the Board when the Agreement was reached but had warned the Unions that the District would not honor the agreement. Unfortunately, Ms. Galloway was right.

Board Workshop Results and Conclusions of the Harris County AFL-CIO Council

· The Agreement is dead and the losers are the students and the community.

· HISD will continue to train no one in spending $1 billion dollars to build its schools. Without the HISD construction work, there will not be enough Apprenticeship program slots for HISD graduates.

· HISD will continue to get shoddy and dangerous construction work since they have no controls in place to monitor construction and the construction industry will not monitor itself.

· Construction industry leaders continue to ‘wring their hands’ about the shortage of construction workers but still do not want to train anyone and do not want to pay good wages.

· It is apparent that the Associated General Contractors will not be part of the solution to train workers in much-needed highly skilled and high paid construction occupations. They will continue to enable shoddy and dangerous construction work in the HISD and promote low wages.

· The National Association of Minority Contractors is now on record that they will not pay Prevailing Wages. This too is very disturbing since they are bidding for work on the METRO rail that requires the payment of such.

· The Unions of the AFL-CIO will monitor all construction and report problems directly to the Board and the Community. They will make sure that the immigrant workers are making the correct HISD wage and they will hold contractors, general contractors, architects and the HISD administration responsible for electrical and plumbing licensing, quality work and safe school construction.

· They will hold the Board directly responsible for any and all problems found. They will ask the community to do the same just as they did in selling the 2007 Bond referendum to very skeptical voters.

August 22, 2009
Richard C. Shaw
Harris County AFL-CIO Council

August 6, 2009 Consultation Meeting

August 6, 2009 Consultation Meeting

District items

SPM 4302.1 Consultation Meetings; Guidelines and Procedures Regarding Employee

This is the change in the consultation process HFT has been seeking. It outlines the purpose and structure of consultation meetings but more importantly; the SPM requires HISD to respond in writing to employee items and provides an appeal process if the if the employee group is not satisfied or disagrees with the administrative answer.

SPM 3462.7B Emergency Closing of Schools, Facilities, and the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center; Guidelines for Employees Regarding Storm Related

This SPM clears up some of the confusion regarding who is required to work during emergency closures and at what rate they will be paid.

EIA (Local) Academic Achievement Grading /Progress Reports to Parents

This is the much-anticipated district grading policy. The changes in current policy are minimal. The changes in their entirety are as follows:

The district grading policy includes the following provisions:

(1) A classroom teacher shall be required to assign a grade that reflects the student’s relative mastery of an assignment.
(2) A classroom teacher shall not be required to assign a minimum grade for an assignment without regard to the student’s quality of work; and
(3) A student shall be allowed a reasonable opportunity to make up or redo a class assignment or examination for which the student received a failing grade.

That’s it. That’s the entire policy. Anything you have heard about mandatory assignment weights or minimum grades are simply not true.

BOARD ITEM E-1 Approval of the Amended Aspire Award Model for Teachers and Campus Based Staff for 2008-2009 School Year.

The cost of this bonus program is projected to be $38.2 million. The changes are as follows:

· Moving High School Registrars from Category I (Operational Support) to Category G (Instructional Support)
· Clarifying the eligibility requirement on attendance to specify a latest-possible hiring date for first-year employees and that time missed as a result of school closures due to Hurricane Ike and swine flu will not count as absences
· Using TAKS reading for the value-added analysis for both Reading and English Language Arts (ELA) teachers in grades 7 and 8, same as is done in high school, instead of using the Stanford for the ELA teachers; this will result in four subjects rather than five on which Strand II of the award is based for these teachers
· Reducing the minimum number of students per subject per grade on which value-added reports for teachers are generated from 10 to 7
· Providing an additional bonus from the state D.A.T.E. grant supplemental funds equally distributed to all award winners that are classroom teachers

BOARD ITEM E-2 Approval of Revised Compensation Manual for School Year 2009-2010

The Compensation Manual is available on the Employee Portal but I will mention a couple of changes.

Compensation Philosophy

· Compensation position: For non-teacher central/regional administration and business support positions, HISD targets compensation and benefits at market competitive levels for which HISD competes for talent. Compensation for teachers is targeted at the top quartile for large urban Region IV school districts.
· Labor markets: Primary labor market is the greater Houston metropolitan area with an emphasis on education. HISD will consider general industry pay practices for administrative and business operations.
· Employees identified as high performers using value-added data should be rewarded. The District must establish levels of compensation and differentiated salaries driven by performance, value added data, and accountability for all employees.

The district will organize all jobs into nineteen job families. The district will establish and define the role and responsibilities of a Compensation Committee.

Salary Changes to the following employee classifications:

· Employees paid on the Master Salary Schedule (1.5%)
· Bus Drivers (1.5%)
· Food Service Employees (1.5%)
· All hourly employees (1.5%)

BOARD ITEM G-6 - Approval of the Revised 2009-2010 Teacher Salary Schedules and Amendment of the 2009-2010 Adopted Budget.

The district will comply with the state law regarding the salary schedule.

BOARD ITEM G-7 - Authority To Negotiate and Execute Contracts and Contract Amendments with Service Providers regarding Pharmacy and Wellness Program

There are several changes to the pharmacy program through CVS-Caremark:

· The program will cover only generic medications when there is a generic alternative for a specific medication. An employee can elect the brand drug, but will be required to pay the difference in cost.
· Prior authorization will be required for ADHS/Narcolepsy medication and oral antifungal medications.
· There will be a managed drug limitation for antiemetic, migraine products, proton pump inhibitors, and sedative/hypnotic medications and will require prior authorization for therapy that exceeds the recommended coverage limit.
· Custom care retail and custom care mail programs will be replaced by CVS/Caremark’s newer programs called enhanced retrospective safety review and drug savings review.
· HISD will expand the $0 co-pay program to include generic Antihyperlipidemic medication.
· The program changes in total are expected to save the four medical programs $784,000, and will be made effective January 1, 2010.

It was also recommended that HISD modify the wellness incentive program from the current model of $120 per year incentive that provides a rate reduction of $10 per month for the first six months for completing a health risk assessment and $10 per month for the last six months for participation in either a disease management program or a on-line health improvement program, to a new points reward program managed by WebMD. The new program will award points based on various activities by employees enrolled in one of the four Aetna medical plans. Upon completion of certain point levels, employees will receive a direct incentive payment as a part of their payroll check, up to $129 per year. The new program is designed to encourage members to utilize the new wellness vendor services to improve their health and control future medical costs.

August 6, 2009 Consultation Agenda

HOUSTON FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

Please include the following to the August 6, 2009 Instructional Consultation agenda:

1. Educator Training

What training opportunities are available to teachers AND para educators for working with autistic students?

2. Deloitte Study

What is the update on the Deloitte study for unsurveyed employee groups?

Veteran Teachers Correct Raises Are Restored In the Revised 2009 - 2010 Salary Schedule

July 29, 2009

Late today HISD placed the following statement on their Web Site:

"Teacher Salary Schedules for 2009–2010 Revised
Teacher Projected Pay tool deactivated since it is no longer accurate

July 29, 2009

In order to meet the requirements of the State of Texas’ American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Stabilization Plan, and as set forth in House Bill (HB) 3646, HISD is required to use its 2008–2009 teacher salary schedules for the 2009–2010 school year and increase each step by $960. Accordingly, the 2009–2010 HISD teacher salary schedules have been revised to reflect these changes.
All teachers, nurses, counselors, librarians, speech pathologists and evaluation specialists will be paid based on the revised schedules.
Because HB 3646 requires a complete revision of the previously published 2009–2010 teacher salary schedules, the information provided on the Teacher Projected Pay tool on the private portal is now inaccurate. For this reason, the tool has been deactivated.
To access and view the revised teacher salary schedules, visit the Human Resources Web site"

The district has decided to comply with the law. The revised and correct salary schedules are available on the employee portal.

HISD Ignores The Law In Passing 2009-2010 Salary Scedule

At the June 25, 2009 meeting of the HISD School Board the Trustees adopted a salary schedule that essentially screwed those teachers with 6, 15, or 30 years experience. Teachers in those experience ranges were expecting a step increase for this year but instead the Board chose to insert additional steps, making the teachers work an extra year to earn the salary they expected this year. Yes this is complicated, but the result is that a year has been added to the amount of time it takes a teacher to reach the top step and his or her maximum earning potential. On the Bachelors scale it moves from 30 to 31 years, Masters 29 to 30, Doctorate 27 to 28. Remember, depending on when a teacher was hired, TRS will average either the last three or the last five years of service to determine a retiree’s pension. Lengthening the time it takes to reach maximum could affect an individual’s income for the rest of their life.

Should we surprised the HISD School Board has no regard for teachers, especially veteran teachers? Of course not, but this gets worse. During the last legislative session, the legislature passed and the Governor signed a bill giving teachers a pay raise that amounted to $960 for HISD teachers. There was a clear mandate in that bill that this raise had to be given in addition to any raise or step that a teacher would receive under the 2008-09-salary schedule. The raise and the requirement to include expected step increases was contingent on the state plan for the stimulus money being approved by the Department of Education.

“Somehow HISD looked into their crystal ball and determined that the Department of Education did not intend to pass the plan and because of that they were not bound to meet the mandates of the law,” stated HFT President Gayle Fallon. “They reduced three steps and cheated teachers out of $760 - $3,550 of their state mandated raise.”

On July 20, 2009 the Federation filed a class action grievance against HISD for cheating over 1300 teachers out of their full raise. On July 24, 2009, TEA released the announcement that the state stimulus plan had been approved.

“HISD is out of excuses now that the plan has passed,” said Fallon. “The district expects its employees to follow the law and the employees expect the district to do the same. The fact that individual board members disagree with the law is irrelevant. Once the state plan was approved, the law became clear.

The Federation is demanding that HISD bring its salary schedule into legal compliance and include the full step increase for all employees paid on the teacher schedule.

Once HISD makes the adjustment to the schedule the union will withdraw the grievance and cancel impending legal action.

“Hopefully egos will not get in the way of following the law,” concluded Fallon. “At this point it would be a waste of both legal effort and taxpayer money to fail to adopt an adjusted schedule.

Just before casting his vote Trustee Harvin Moore stated “We have been told today that we are breaking the law with this salary schedule, I’m still going to cast my vote for what I believe is right”. This arrogance is appalling. Moore is up for election in November. It is time to build a better school board.

Consultation Minutes July 7, 2009

Submitted by Darilyn Krieger

Meeting called to order at 4:37 P.M with discussion of board item D-17 reducing the size of the ACP program due to reduced participation. Program is self-sustaining and as the numbers of applications have dropped then the program needs to be reduced to align with the number of candidates that are on line. All staff will be reduced; persons dropped from the program will be found a place in the district. There are 29 other ACP programs in the area. Four are major competitors; the other 25 programs are less competitive.

Board item D-20; grading policy highlights of the changes are:

1. intervention is still in
2. guidelines for grading have been changed
3. responsibilities are basically curriculum based
4. faculty approval required 2/3 majority
5. recording failing grade cannot be mandated by any one
6. 15% for final
7. resolution of incomplete
8. extenuating circumstances for long term absence
9. must be published to parents within first three weeks of school

Every school must have a grading policy. What if 2/3 majority cannot be attained? What is the default then?

Principals must develop this policy with SDMC and faculty approval. There is really no need for this policy. State law requires intervention, but the rest of this policy is is not necessary. This policy will cause serious issues and grievances due to principals who do not follow the rules.

How are we going to calculate semester grades with the change to 15% final? Can we find out what the state EOC will cover? Is it possible to drop the A/B designation and go whole year course?

The issue of the incomplete, could this have a committee similar to the attendance committee to rule on extending time? Contract year would interfere with incompletes that end after school is out in the spring. Principal and teacher should confer on this and reach a consensus on removing an incomplete.

Board item G-10 establishes a policy for paying emergency personnel who work during emergencies.

Board item H-1 Changes to the code of student conduct

Addition of language to reflect state law on gang –free school zone. Clarification of factors, which must be considered in disciplinary action involving suspension, explosion, or removal to AEP are, made.Statement made that mandatory may not be mandatory. Define cyber-bullying and “sexting” as forbidden and punishable activities.Zero tolerance reports to law enforcements listing offenses are removed.
Special Ed students whose parents refuse Special Ed services then HISD is deemed to have no knowledge of special ed status. Special Ed students who are disruptive, seriously disruptive in the classroom and the building need to be thoroughly documented so that removal can take place. There needs to be a place for these children. We need good options for these children. We need a real program not a patch. The reality is that there are many of these children in the district

Consultation SPM will be brought back next meeting

Question from CHT Literacy coaches funded for two school year 9-10 and 10-11 school years. Funding will cover one coach for each school with more than 400 students
It is a teacher position with no stipend or extra pay.

They are not eligible for teacher ASPIRE as they are considered instructional support. It is a teacher contract position.

HFT question Wellness program district is still looking at program for transportation only. It becomes an issue of cost. We are looking a negative funding for benefits next year. Probably will be funded for transportation only.

Meeting adjourned at 5:42 P.M.

June 18, 2009 Consultation Minutes

Consultation Notes
June 18, 2009


The consultation meeting was called to order at 4:32Pm.
First order of business was the proposed EIA on grading and progress reports to parents. Changes form original proposal were as follows
1. Require intervention for students having difficulty in mastering district objectives. Discussion on this noted that the IEP fir special education will override this if there is a conflict.
2. The campus shall make all decisions relating to grading with the full input of the SDMC and faculty and staff. Parents shall be notified during the first three weeks of the school and the plan shall be reviewed and revised as needed yearly.
3. Campus/departmental grading plans shall include categories of which are not inclusive others may be added as needed
a. Classwork
b. Homework
c. Quizzes
d. Tests/Performance Assessments
4. Choice of categories and weighting for each category will be made by the campus or department in consultation with the principal. All courses will have weighted categories.
5. The principal on each campus will work with the SDMC, Faculty and staff to set an average number of grades per subject/course for the school or for the departments. Regardless of the number of grades it shall be applied uniformly across the entire department or campus.
6. Opportunities for reassessment, submission of late work, the number of grades dropped per cycle shall be determined by the principal in consultation with the SDMC, faculty and staff of each school.
7. A minimum grade for any assignment may not be established by the district or any school.
8. High school final exams shall have a weight of 15% for all credit courses.
9. Students failing to complete assigned work shall be given an “incomplete” for the cycle which must be resolved by the end of the next cycle.
10. Students found to have engaged in academic dishonesty shall be subject to penalties as defined in the student code of conduct. The principal shall work with the SDMC, faculty and staff to determine penalties that will be given to students engaging in academic dishonesty.
Intense discussion ensued high points are
1. SDMC has no power it is opinion only and the vast majority of decisions are already made when they are presented to the SDMC. If this is to truly be a faculty /staff decision then there must be some process fro a faculty/department vote.
2. Be sure that for high schools that this is a departmental decision and for elementary schools possibly grade level.
3. make sure that the final campus policy requires a faculty vote. And sign off
4. Look at department and add PLC
5. Possibly pull off the academic dishonesty issue.

Second order of business was the budget
Issues were
1. new buses
2. no tax increase
3. delinquent taxes are down
4. State 73% local 27%
5. adding new charter school
6. reduction in staff 14 and below 15.2positions 15 and above 25.13positionsfrom central office
7. Teacher salary schedule state mandates $60 dollars per WADA which for HISD is $960 per teachers. Districts want to override the legislature and develop a contingency salary schedule. State requires that this be on top of the step. District wants to renege on this. Wants to adjust the schedule and revamp. Board wants an option. Possible changes in schedule to compress the schedule.
8. Basic increase is $960 we need to consistently fund the steps.
9. Insurance changes if federal program comes through District has not started planning as no plan is currently clear.
10. No increases in health insurance rates but the incidentals are increasing in price.
Meeting adjourned 6:30

D. Krieger

NOTE:

The grading proposal was pulled from the June 25,2009 HISD School Board meeting. Another revision is now in the works. The board passed a $960 pay increase for all teachers but did not give the state mandated step increase to all teachers. They increased the number of steps from 17 to 21 forcing teachers at the top of the schedule to take two years instead of one to get the promised last step increase. They also inserted steps in the middle of the schedule.

Instructional Consultation Minutes June 4, 2009

Instructional Consultation Minutes
June 4, 2009



Instructional Consultation was called to order at 4:30 in room 3C12 of the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center. The Gradespeed demo was not possible due to technical issues with the presentation. Handouts prepared for the demo including the timeline for implementation, a list of teacher generated reports, and the teacher instruction manual were given to persons present. Several features of the program were pointed out including the “rollover” feature for attendance. The teacher will enter attendance in Gradespeed and it will automatically be posted to the chancery system. Changes in schedule for students will be seen within fifteen minutes of the change being entered. Teacher trainers will be trained in late July, early August. Representatives from the organizations will be invited to attend. Teachers expressed interest in having features such as automatic e-mails to parents and notifications when grade falls below a set level.

RFP for cancer care has been issued. There will be a slight increase in cancer care plans with a low, medium, and high options Voluntary plans continue to increase in cost but will not see an increase. With the flu shot program the request was that it be offered earlier in the year. Places for the onsite clinics have been identified for four locations, the store front in front, Fleming Middle School, Sharpstown Middle School, and Thompson Elementary next to the Police Department. The fifth has several options but none has been firmly identified.

Wellness program is looking at five scattered schools rather than feeder pattern. The feeder pattern was very effective with the non-instructional unit.

Basically there will be no change in cost in the voluntary plans cost with the exception of the Dental PPO and FSA administration.

As far as medical is concerned there is no increase for next year. Aetna will continue with the plan administration. WEBMD will be the main portal site for all health issues. The intent is to establish a single sign on portal for all health issues. Caremark will continue as the pharmacy for the program. SHPS will handle the nurseline, and navigation through the health programs.


Grading policy changes, policy changes are in direct violation of state law. This will go the TEA if it is passed by the board. Most of the proposed document is either poorly conceived or in violation of state law. It is highly offensive. Proposals are

Grading
· Intervention required for students no achieving mastery
· Requires a minimum of one grade per week and no fewer than 6 grades per reporting cycle for all subjects
· Requires grades based on achievement
· Requires categories for grades
o Classwork
o Homework
o Quizzes
o Tests/Performance Assessment
· Requires weight assignments for all categories in determining cycle grades
o Two sets of weights
§ Core content
§ Performance
· Homework – no more than 10%
· Quizzes and Tests/Performance Assessments – no more than 50%
· No one grade can count more than 20% of overall cycle grade
· Final exams will count 15% of semester average
· Requires a campus grading plan to be developed, reviewed annually , and communicated to parents before the first progress report
· Plan must include school-wide procedures for
o Categories
o Weights
o Reassessments
o Number of cycle grades
o Submission of late work
o Dropping grades
o Minimum grades for an assignment
· “Incomplete” will be assigned as the cycle grade for students who do not turn in all required work for a cycle.
· An “Incomplete” will convert to a 50% if unresolved at the end of the next cycle
· Teachers determine whether or not to record a grade
· Grades may only be recorded one time
· Procedures must be developed for submission of makeup work and late work
· Allows options for grading late work
· Reemphasizes “incomplete” for grading cycle for students due to excused absences and other extenuating circumstances.
Severe objections were raised by every employee group without exception. No reasonable rationale was raised for the establishment of these procedures. District is setting the guidelines and campus is setting the rules. There is no rationale for this. Let the departments set the grading scale. Shows no trust for teachers at all.

SPM 4604.1A Adds procedures for having non-employees register for inservices and all issues with attending

SPM 6303 D Campus security additions to guidelines including classroom doors that open directly to the outside be locked.

SPM 6306C Guidelines for school walkout, disorder or demonstration general cleanup of language

SPM 6702D Student disruptions change to procedure which requires parent-student conference upon return to campus. Policy requires a maximum three day suspension.
Weakens the policy

SPM 7401C Complaints against teachers Updates SPM that principal first, regional office must send complaint back to the school if parent goes directly to regional office.

Status of school budget relies on HB 3646 passage.
Budgets $1.9 billion for public schools. Governor’s plan has to be approved by feds before it can be implemented. We should not adopt a salary schedule until this is approved. We will get the $120/WADA. We should have some answers that will provide clarity on this issue. If nothing from state then current salary schedule stays in place. If HB3646 passes then $60/WADA must be passed to teachers as salary. Then teacher salary will go up by $970 dollars per year. Final answers will probably be forthcoming by June 25th. Board may have to come back and revise in July.

Will send information on number of schools not having a nurse, librarian, or a PE teacher. Concern is that principals are making budgetary decisions and cutting these important ancillary positions.

End of year checkout, there is no standard form. Principals have full authority on this. Safety is sometimes an issue on this.

Pay for special-education summer school teachers, In the North District special education teachers are being required to be on duty form 7:30AM until 2:30 PM which is a seven hour day. They are being required to be with students for the full seven hours. Teachers are not being allowed to leave campus. Teachers are working seven hours and being paid for 6.5 hours. This issue is not specifically a special education issue. North region is not paying for seven hours. Issue will be investigated response will be forthcoming.

Will get back soon.

Meeting adjourned

Submitted
D. Krieger

June 4, 2009 Consultation Agenda

HOUSTON FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

Please include the following to the June 4, 2009 Instructional Consultation agenda:

1. School budget

What is the status of the school budget? Employees need to make their plans for the next school year.
Is there a ballpark figure on pay raises? Also, is any consideration being given to the proposal we have made several times that will require and centrally fund a basic staff for all schools?

2. School nurses, librarians, and PE teachers.

We would like the exact number of schools that did not have a nurse, librarian, or a PE teacher assigned full time to the school during the just completed school year.

3. End of year checkout procedures

Is there a standard HISD employee checkout form or are principals allowed to make-up the things an employee must do before he or she may leave for vacation?

4. Wellness Plan – Walking To New Orleans

What is the status of this program for next year?

5. Pay for special-education summer school teachers in the North Region

We brought this very issue into consultation in March hoping to avoid this situation. On Tuesday Betty Williams told teachers tat will be teaching in the North Region's Extended School Year Special Education program that they are expected to be on duty at 7:30 AM to meet busses and will be required to stay until 2:30 PM when the last bus is expected to have left. This is a total of 7 hours. When asked about pay she said the "school board "will only pay for 6.5 hours, "they will not pay the teachers to eat lunch". There is no duty free lunch in summer school; teachers of special-ed students are expected to assist these students at lunch, yet they will not be paid. This situation must be corrected immediately.

School Nurses

May 16, 2009

For some time now HFT has been the strongest advocate for nurses and nurses issues in the district. One of our Nurse’s Task Force main issues is to require a full time nurse at every campus. The health and safety benefits to students and staff are obvious. In a quick survey of our building stewards taken yesterday HFT has identified over twenty schools that do not have a full time nurse. The Swine Flu epidemic we are currently experiencing has demonstrated the obvious need for a nurse in every building. HISD has responded to the epidemic by agreeing to place a nurse “temporarily” at those campuses that need one. This is at best a stopgap measure intended mitigate the public outcry should this negligence become common knowledge.

There is currently a common sense bill stalled in the Texas House Public Education Committee. SB 158 (Ellis) would require schools without nurses, not to get a nurse, but to inform the parents of that school that there is no nurse. This bill passed the Senate 31 – 0 on March 24th but has been stuck without a hearing in House Public Ed since March 31st. This simple notification legislation has met stiff resistance from the school districts. One of our traditional friends on the committee, Rep. Scott Hochberg has refused to support this bill even though he supported the same legislation in 2007. It is time to move forward with this bill and begin working on legislation for 2011 which will actually require a nurse on each campus.

Instructional Consultation Minutes May 7, 2009

Submitted by Darilyn Krieger, HFT

The meeting was called to order at 4:35 P.M... Administration, HFT, CHT, and HEA representatives were present.

First order of business was a proposed change in the PDAS/MPDAS calendar for 2009-2010 school years. The proposal is to advance the final date for observations 10 days to April 3rd. This would allow ten extra days for second observations to be made, in case of the need for a second appraisal, before the last 15 days of instruction. State law mandates that no observations can be made during the last 15 days of instruction.

HFT made note of a problem some principals have with using walk through as a punitive or intimidation tactic. HFT noted that some regional and executive principals were setting quotas for walk throughs. The administration representative responded that the intent of a walk through. They are intended to be an informal observation a snapshot, meant to lead to professional dialogue on teaching practices leading to teacher improvement. All principals have been trained but specific training on walk throughs has not been done in some time. Training on the walk through protocols will be included in the 2009-2010 training for principals et al.

HFT also mentioned the problem of principals asking teachers to sign for their assessments with the last three domains left blank. HFT stated this is contrary to state law. Administration agreed and will take note of issue.

SPM 3606C regarding district owned vehicles. The change is in authority for vehicles being driven home to require prior approval from the superintendent of schools.

SPM3607C Changes here are a title change from Executive General Manager to assistant superintendent.

Both SPM 3606C and 3607C ensure the use of district-owned vehicles for business purposed only.

Administration took HFT agenda item on school staffing out of order as administration respondent to the item had another meeting to attend. The district has currently staffed those schools without a school nurse with nurses paid for at district expense through the end of the school year. The issue of staffing for the 2009-2010 school year will need to be addressed by the district.

There will be a full time nurse at the Sam Houston Ninth grade Academy next year. The district has committed to this for the next school year.
SPM 3613D This SPM addresses Special Education Transportation and adds a form for requesting a transportation attendant and procedures for including the form in the ARD?IEP and copies to be forwarded to transportation services.

SPM 4603A This SPM regards Staff Development and is language intended to update to allow for varied delivery systems. It changes”Inservice and Activities” to “and Professional Learning Activities”.

CHT agenda items were addressed

First item was questions regarding teacher contracts and a request for the ratio of three year to one year contracts in past years.

Administration responded that they had no accessible data on the ratio requested but would obtain the data as soon as possible. The representative believed that the norm at the current time is a one-year contract. The HFT representative pointed out that when the district went to the term contract employees where in consultation guaranteed that there would be no one year contracts. Now we are seeing one year contracts and there are no criteria for contract term. It is strange that most new teachers are on two year contracts and when the two years are up they go to a one year contract. This indicates a philosophical change in how the district views the profession. Teaching is rapidly being deprofessionalized. We are not developing new teachers as the thinking is that it is less and less a career and more and more a stopgap to another profession.

Second item. Is there a policy on the number of night events that can be required by a principal? The former policy was three events, some principals are being unreasonable. Need an SPM on this to bring some reasonableness to the issue.

Third item Eligibility for transfer No changes have been made in the last year. One domain below then ineligible for transfer, Brochure is not clear. We need a flyer that spells out the requirements for transfer. Clarify the transfer rules and procedures. CHT suggested that the district consider extending the time for open transfer to the first part of June to allow HISD teachers to find jobs in the district instead of being forced to look in other districts. HFT agreed.

HFT Agenda items

Grading standards

This issue is under study and has been since March. This is in draft form, conversation is ongoing. Fallon stated that the commissioner has already stated that any policy requiring that a teacher not give a grade lower than a 50 will not be acceptable. Administration stated that weighting of grades should have the majority weight given to test, quizzes, projects and major assignments. Lower weight should be given to homework, practice and daily work. HFT said most teachers would have no problem with that except for mathematics teachers. The administration also stated that some categories are questionable for assessment such as participation or extra credit and should be looked at. Administration will add employee group representatives to the focus groups. HFT mentioned group work grades; Texas plan for G/T requires group work on a regular basis. Grade Speed does not assign a 50 minimum grade except for the final grade period average.

Teacher training for the grade speed program will train campus trainers the last week of July and the first week of August. Those trainers will train campus level teachers during training days before school. Parent training will take place before the first progress report. Will provide demo at next meeting

Worker’s comp injuries issue of injured choosing his/her own doctor. No reason for a statement on this.

End of year packing, letter going out to principal with details on this issue.

Consultation minutes are on the employee portal as of 5/7. Minutes for today will be up by end of the week.

Meeting adjourned.

May 7, 2009 Consultation Agenda

HOUSTON FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

Please include the following to the May 7, 2009 Instructional Consultation agenda:

1. School staffing

The Swine Flu has laid bare the ill-conceived budgetary decisions that allow a school to go without a full-time school nurse. We will continue to emphasize the necessity of developing a budgetary philosophy that will require all schools to have a basic staff. The staff of each school must include a school nurse, librarian, physical education, and fine arts teachers. These positions must be funded by the district as part of a basic allotment for each school. No principal should be forced to sacrifice the health or well being of a student for budgetary reasons.

2. Grading Standards

It is our understanding that a twenty-six-member committee was organized in March to develop grading and promotion standards. After viewing a draft document of the committee’s work it is evident that they have developed a highly centralized grading system that removes the flexibility for individual teachers and schools to develop grading guidelines that meet the needs of their students in individual courses, grade levels, subjects, and programs. As an organization HFT was excluded from the steering committee and so we must once again react to work already completed.

· In order to maintain consistency in grades, grading policies should be developed in the school at the grade or department level. Questions such as weighting and mean or median are best made at the school level.
· The district already has a minimum grade of 50% for an individual reporting period. While there may be an argument of a minimum grade for 50% on individual assignments, this decision can only be made by the teacher. Any mandate that forces a teacher to assign grades that don’t reflect the actual grade is illegal coercion. Most teachers feel very strongly that a zero should be given if a student does not turn in an assignment. A student who does not do the work should never receive the same grade as a student who does the work. A mandate to assign any grade where no grade is evident is an illegal mandate to falsify records. Late work policies should be school-based.
· Homework should be assigned only to cover or practice specific curriculum items. How much homework to give should be a decision made at the grade or department level. There should never be a minimum number of assignments per grading period.

3. Workers Compensation Injuries (previous issue)

Last month we requested a written statement from the district informing employees they may use a doctor of their choice for workers compensation injuries. Has there been any progress on such a statement?

4. End of year packing (previous issue)

May we have a written statement from the administration that gives guidelines for end of the year packing?

5. Consultation minutes (previous issue)

This is getting really old. Why have we gone an entire year without minutes?

April 30, 2009 Emergency Consultation on Swine Flu

We had a meeting today regarding the district’s plans in dealing with swine flu. Karen Garza chaired the meeting. There were several HISD administrators present but only Evelyn Henry, Dick Lindsey, and Brad Bailey made significant contributions. The key points affecting employees are as follows:

· The decision to close schools will be made by the County Health Department after there is a confirmed case of swine flu. Schools closed will likely stay closed for at least week as there is a four-day incubation period before symptoms will appear. They want to make sure anyone exposed has had a chance to become symptomatic before anyone returns to school.

· If HISD closes a school because of multiple suspected cases and the CDC determines none are Swine Flu, the school may reopen immediately.

· Teachers who cannot go to work because a school is closed will not be docked either pay or time from their sick bank.

· Employees who stay home do to any illness while the school remains open will be docked a day from the sick leave bank.

· Employees with children at a closed school may attend work if they are not symptomatic.

We had less success dealing with the protocols for schools that have no full-time nurses. We asked this same question by e-mail on Tuesday and received no solid answers then either. As best as I can make out, school personnel will call a sick child’s parents. It is then the parent’s responsibility to get treatment. Even though there is a published protocol that states the a student who is even suspected of having the flu can only re-enter school the nurse, we were told that if the County clears the school, a child can return without going through a nurse. I guess in the mind of the district; that takes care of the problem of not having a nurse on-sight. Evelyn Henry also told us that if a school without a nurse made a request, she, or another member of her staff would go to that school to assist.

We ended our comments by stating that we have for years been calling for a full-time nurse on each campus and that the district needs to look at this crisis as a lesson for future budgeting decisions.

Benefits Meeting April 6,2009

Today's was a very short meeting. It was announced that the three finalists for medical coverage are Aetna, United Healthcare and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Mercer will be conducting final interviews in the next week or so. The finalists for the Wellness RFP have not yet been selected.

The Chips law has raised the minimum salary for a family of four to $22,050.

Lastly it was announced that a mistake by Mercer has caused 2,257 employees to receive the $5 discount meant for those who completed the health survey. This has gone on for seven paychecks. I asked if HISD intended to get the money back from the employees and was told "that has not yet been determined". I strongly suggested that because it was Mercer's mistake it is they that should eat the loss.