have time to relax and refuel. The work we did as a union in 2017 was remarkable in many ways. I
feel so fortunate to be able to call you my colleagues. I look forward to working with you in 2018.
AFT Membership Letter
Are you aware of the benefits your membership to AFT provides? You can find a list of these
advantages at aft.org/benefits. You do need your membership number to take advantage of the
offers.
We have members that no longer have their membership card and they do not know their
membership number. This year, I requested a new membership card for all our members. AFT
informed me they no longer send out new membership cards in mass, instead they generated a
letter for every member. You will find your membership number and instructions for requesting a new
card in this letter. These letters were generated from our database. If there is anything that needs to
be changed on your letter please notify me. I will make sure we update our information and request
a new letter for you.
Contract Update
Our contract was ratified by the board on November 14 and is now is effect. The retroactive payment
for 2017-18 was included with your November paycheck and the 2016-17 retro payment was paid in
the December supplemental paycheck on December 8. The new salary schedule is online on the
Petaluma City School Website under the Human Resources Tab.The District is in the process of
preparing the final contract for review and signatures. Once the contract is prepared, we will be
providing a hard copy for each site rep. The contract will be available online as well. The District
expects to have the contract ready for publication by the end of January.
It's Scholarship Time!
The Petaluma Federation of teachers will sponsor multiple scholarships that will provide a one-time
payment of $500.00 to children of “PFT members in good standing” who are graduating from high
school to attend a community college, a four year college, or other institution with a course of learning
resulting in a diploma or certificate of completion. The scholarships are for those graduating from high
school in the 2017-18 school year. The Petaluma Educational Foundation (PEF) will administer the
scholarships. The graduating student must submit the application no later than February 28, 2018.
This is intended to be an annual scholarship however, since the number of applicants will vary from
year to year the scholarship will be reviewed each fiscal year in the total context of the PFT budget.
Applications are available on line at the PFT Website. Please email the PFT President
at [email protected] about your intent to apply. PEF will notify students of the scholarship
award and all of the details encompassing.
All completed applications should be submitted to PFT President,Sandra Larsen, no later than
February 28, 2018. Submissions may be done via email, postal mail, or brought directly to the PFT
office. Late submissions will not be accepted.
California Federation of Teachers Convention 2018
The CFT Convention will be held March 23- 25 at the Hilton Orange County in Costa Mesa. We will
begin the process of electing our delegates in January. If you are interested in attending the
convention be on the look out for nomination forms. There will be more information in the next
newsletter.