On Tuesday, May 29, the LZEA, Board of Education, and District Administration met to discuss any changes or amendments to our current contract. This process, known as a 4.19 (after this section of the contract) is made up of issues / concerns that come up over the course of the year pertaining to working conditions, salary changes, etc…
Minutes
4.19 Meeting
May 29, 2018
We agreed for a stipend to be paid to organizers of the district wide STEAM event
This stipend will be equivalent to Lane I (MS Club). This requires a minimum of 20-39 hours of time and at least 15 student participants. This event attracted approximately 250 families from the district and was held on a Saturday.
We also agreed to pay teachers who supervise or run events $58.30. This is equivalent to an event supervision under 5 hours per the contract.
Staff Absences
We discussed a process by which teachers could “trade” class coverage with a colleague in order to eliminate the need for an internal sub or the need to take a full half day absence. This process would need to be clarified in terms of documentation, limits on number of times per year, and is not available to elementary teachers (only MS and HS) due to scheduling differences. Lisa and Karen said they would explore a way to address the concerns of documentation and tracking. NO ACTION TAKEN.
Skillful Teaching Course
There is a current course being offered in August/Fall of this year. There are a few problems moving forward. 1) Laura Cooper informed Jodi that the course does not work well as an Institute Day strand. 2) Elementary teachers were told that they would have the opportunity to take the class as a strand, but this is not recommended. 3) Laura Cooper is moving out of state and the new instructor is not assigned to LZ yet, therefore no plans can be confirmed for Jan./Spring course.
There are about 100 teachers left to take the class, so the course might not be needed twice per year in the near future.
Tuition Reimbursement/Salary Lane Advancement
Some teachers are not submitting for pre-approval before taking classes for lane advancement. The district has been lenient as far as courses leading to a Master’s Degree, but additional hours past that are problematic. Courses can change status as far as counting towards official lane credit, therefore teachers really need to apply BEFORE taking the course.
Moving forward, HR will give teachers ONE YEAR from the START DATE of the course to turn in the approval form. Teachers should not be waiting years before turning in all the hours needed for a lane change. LZEA will work to remind teachers of the process.
Elementary Team Leaders
The salary increase accounts for the additional duties the elementary leaders have to complete for this position. The middle school team leader/plc position remains at the salary for team leader because this position requires daily tasks as well as leading the PLC team for the grade level.
Extra-curricular Salary Lane Placements
There is an ongoing discussion about the accuracy of extra-curricular positions and how many hours are required vs. voluntary hours. There was a discussion of pay for scouting and hours required outside of the activity (yearbook) that aren’t student-contact hours. JB has an updated spreadsheet with season dates and hours. The last update was 2011. There was a request for additional information in order to understand how the salary for each lane is calculated and how accurate the data is. Moving forward there is an understanding that a yearly update/audit will occur to make sure the positions match the lane. The job descriptions for each coaching position is available on the Intranet. This was a question brought up at the contract extension presentation. This item will continue to be a 4.19 discussion point.
Lake Zurich Education Association 