When sending emails, be sure to CC the Superintendent and the Board, and the entire Cabinet for that matter.
Maybe that isn't a good idea, but before you send an email it is a good idea to think who your audience might be. Remember, our email system is owned and operated by the district. They have the legal right to open and read any email you send or receive.
Email also has a catch 22. You should be checking your email throughout the day, but you should not be spending your day sending emails.
Many have been asking why not continue with 12 month pay? Other districts are doing it.
MTA posed this question to the Administration and received the following response:
When we go to single track, people leaving the district between school years become problematic. If Mrs. Apple leaves effective August 1st, she would have already been paid for the month of July. The district would have to spend money and man hours to recoup the money paid to Mrs. Apple. If Mrs. Apple pays the district directly, the DO still has to go through the paperwork of recouping benefits paid out on Mrs. Apple’s behalf for STS, insurance, 401K etc.
As you are aware, we will receive monthly salaries uninterrupted until July 2010. From that month forward, we will no longer be receiving a July paycheck.
MTA has been approaching the prospect of an eleven month pay cycle on several fronts and will continue to do so until we have established a structure in which everyone feels comfortable. Our first objective of course is to dissuade the district from adopting the eleven month plan and continue with the twelve month cycle. Simultaneously, we are looking at securing a payroll savings plan through a secure and reputable institution. In these financial times, that is not as easy as it sounds. Out members can opt to join or not join. It is our hope that by using just one institution, most transactions would then be handled in conjunction with our own payroll department. Thirdly, we continue to investigate alternatives that would address the concerns of the district administration and minimize and disruption to the employees of the district.
The issue of 12 month pay will be discussed again at the Representative Council Meeting on August 13th.
We thank everyone for you input. We have shared your concerns, your questions and your ideas with Mr. Compton and the Superintendent. Mr. Compton asked that we forward your concerns directly to him. Without your written permission, we would not do that. However, please feel free to email Mr. Compton directly or, we will continue to speak on your behalf.
You will still get paid on a twelve month cycle, but there will be some mathematical juggling. The district wants to pay us on an eleven moth rotation, but for explanation purposes a ten month cycle will be used.
Assume your total pay is $120. Currently you are being paid $10 per month. On a ten month cycle, you will get paid $12 per month, the additional $2 per month will be "banked". In effect, you won't see the $2, but will have that $20 rebated back to you... half in month eleven and the other half in month twelve.
There are still many details and questions MTA is working through with the Administration. Several issues remain as to who becomes the "bank"? How will other payroll deductions be handled? Will this have any impact on other programs such as Section 125?
Hopefully 2008/09 will not be as frantic as 2007/08 which saw mid-year cuts, the closing of one school, the opening of two schools and a drop from twelve percent growth to just three percent.
For 2008/09 we will be getting ready to move from four tracks down to one. This change is already fraught with inherent problems. The consolidation from four tracks to one will mean greater efficiency and may mean fewer overall classroom positions. Gone will be most combo classes as well the smaller classes in grades four and five. This in combination with the reopening of Menifee Elementary and the opening of our third middle school will necessitate another year of mass movement across the district.
Learning some very hard lessons from last year, MTA is already taking steps to assure that the transition from multiple track to single track is objective, fair and completed in a timely manner.