e-Bulletin November 5, 2018
School Board Election
Election day is tomorrow! We need a school board that will continue to support students and teachers! Parents trust your opinion as their child’s teacher, so any actions you take can have a big impact.
Here’s how you can help:
1. Put your sign for Juza, O’Connor-Ratcliff, or Zane in front of your sun shade when you park in the school lot tomorrow.
2. Wave a sign (wear a PFT shirt if you can) on a public sidewalk next to the school driveway before or after school tomorrow.
3. Remove any PFT campaign signs you see after the election and give them to your PFT Rep. We may be able to use them again.
Don’t forget to vote! ?
Health Insurance
Out of Pocket Costs: After a successful negotiation between PFT and the district, there will be NO CHANGE to tenthly out of pocket costs for teachers with families for the 2019 insurance plan year. This includes coverage under either of the two basic plans, Kaiser or Aetna Value.
NEW Dental HMO Option:The district has added a new option for dental insurance, with lower out of pocket costs for members with families. This may be the best option for you and your family, but you still may wish to carefully consider the level of coverage and the list of providers prior to deciding to change.
Employee Benefits Open Enrollment: Now through next Friday, Nov. 16. Reminder: Some items need to be re-submitted every year if you are interested in taking advantage of them. For example, deciding to Opt Out of PUSD insurance (because you have other coverage) or to use a flexible spending account (funds set aside as part of your pre-tax income for alternative spending for things like medical expenses or child care, in order to decrease your income taxes).
Filling out your P-9 Absence Slip
Questions about how to mark your P-9 Statement of Absence? Please see the attached “cheat sheet.” Contact your PFT Rep with any additional questions. Click here for cheat sheet
Homework Study Group
A group of teachers, administrators, LSS, and PFT is being formed to study the research on homework, make recommendations regarding best practices, and draft revisions to PUSD Board Policy Administrative Regulations. The work of the group will begin in December and end in March. Teachers on the study group will be paid on Certificated Salary Schedule II for this period. Look for details in an email coming soon.
Specialized Academic Instruction Initiative (SAI)
PUSD is looking for 3-4 volunteersites across the district to pilot a new instructional delivery model to serve students with disabilities in the least restrictive setting (LRE). In this model, instruction is delivered by a special education teacher (or under the supervision of or in collaboration with), ideally at the students’ home school. Representatives from each site have attended or will attend a meeting soon to find out more. These representatives will share the info they learn with your staff (classified and certificated). Your staff will then talk together and decide through consensus whether to volunteer for this pilot. If a site decides by consensus to volunteer, they will then work together to draft a proposal for the model they’d like to implement, including appropriate supports. There is no pressure to volunteer and staff consensus is required to volunteer. It’s important that teacher voices are at the table as the district explores this new instructional model, and that PFT is deeply involved to ensure appropriate caseloads, class sizes, and supports are negotiated for any sites who choose to volunteer.
State and PUSD Budget
California: Revenues are up by 1 billion, which is 3.8% higher than projected. These gains are due to personal income tax (PIT). UCLA forecasts a 1/6 chance of recession in 2019 and a 1/3 chance in 2020. The ballooning deficit and potential for trade wars at the federal level could impact California.
PUSD: Enrollment is down by 123 students, resulting in 2.88 million less in LCFF revenue than budgeted. The enrollment loss is mainly at the elementary level, with some loss at the middle school level as well.
IBPS
The PFT/PUSD IBPS Team met on October 25. The main topics of discussion were the state budget, the PUSD budget, the SAI Initiative, data on the impact of the SERP from last year, Health Insurance for the 2019 plan year, the Other Post-Employment Benefits account (provides health care to teacher retirees until they reach 65 and are eligible for Medicare), and a comparison of our fair share formula to those of four other districts (Oxnard, Salinas Valley, Ojai, and San Jose). The team is considering using a new fair share formula to ensure both parties agree on the calculation and what it means.
Veteran’s Day/No School next Monday, November 12
Thanksgiving Break begins November 17
In Unity,
Kelly
