President's Message
February 2024
Tentative Agreement Reached for 2023-24!
I am pleased to announce that we reached a tentative agreement with the District on Friday, January 26. Once again, your negotiators did an incredible job representing you. It is a substantial time commitment to serve as a negotiator. We negotiate during the school day, so they must write sub plans and prep for a day out of the classroom. In addition, they met after school, on weekends, and during breaks. It was an honor to work with them. Todd Siders did an amazing job as our Chief Negotiator. Tammy Elliott, Shana Friedman, Terry Griffin, Jenny Hlebakos, Chris Langerman Toves, Cecilia Valdovinos, and Erinn VanderMeer served on the team. Be sure to thank them when you see them.
The highlights of the agreement are:
Our membership must vote to ratify our tentative agreement. The election will take place on February 5 and 6 at your site. Please see your site rep and cast your vote. I will let you know when you can expect the increase in your paycheck and retro check as soon we are notified by the district.
Measures B & E
PFT held a general membership meeting on Tuesday, January 30, and Measures B and E were the first items on our agenda. After discussing the benefits of the passage of both measures for our members and students, our membership unanimously endorsed both measures. The March 5 election ballot will be mailed to registered voters next week, and each measure must pass by a 67.7% margin. There are actions we can do to show our support for both measures listed below.
Our contract establishes a leave bank for members with a serious illness or other emergency who have used all of their sick leave. The leave bank serves as a lifeline for our members in need. Each year, the District donates 25 days to the bank. Our members donate as well. The Catastrophic Leave Committee (Sandra Larsen, Krista O'Connor, Jason Sutter, and Rachelle Buschman) meets and reviews every case to ensure the criteria are met and donations are distributed as intended. Please consider contributing now. You are eligible to donate if you have 20 days saved up in addition to days from this school year. Please use the attached form to donate for up to two days. You can give your completed donation form to your site rep or send it to Paula Verke, Human Resources at the District Office, via the pony.
Gary Ravani Memorial Scholarship Reminder
PFT awards $500 scholarships to children of “PFT members in good standing” who are graduating from high school in 2023-24 and attending a community college, a four-year college, or other institution with a course of learning. Applications are available at pft1881.org and must be submitted by February 29. Contact me if you have any questions.
Congratulations to Shea Durenberger (Diana Casper) and Noah Meirik (David Meirik) for submitting their completed scholarship applications.
February is a short but busy month. We have an extra day this year because it is a leap year. My father was born on February 29, 1924, and I always think of him even more in a leap year. There was always an extra big celebration when his real birthday came around, and occasionally, there was an article in our local paper. My father was president of his local letter carriers union before becoming the secretary-treasurer of the Texas State Association of Letter Carriers. I grew up thinking that everyone went to conventions, and I didn't know you could take a vacation where you didn't know everyone there. I grew up watching him help people and was always proud to be his daughter. I learned the importance of unions very early in my life. I keep his picture on my desk.
I hope you have a wonderful break this month. As of now, we will have the full week off from February 19-23 if we do not have any emergency closures before that week. Hopefully, you will have time to rest and recharge before the spring rush begins.
Tentative Agreement Reached for 2023-24!
I am pleased to announce that we reached a tentative agreement with the District on Friday, January 26. Once again, your negotiators did an incredible job representing you. It is a substantial time commitment to serve as a negotiator. We negotiate during the school day, so they must write sub plans and prep for a day out of the classroom. In addition, they met after school, on weekends, and during breaks. It was an honor to work with them. Todd Siders did an amazing job as our Chief Negotiator. Tammy Elliott, Shana Friedman, Terry Griffin, Jenny Hlebakos, Chris Langerman Toves, Cecilia Valdovinos, and Erinn VanderMeer served on the team. Be sure to thank them when you see them.
The highlights of the agreement are:
- 9.5 % across-the-board salary increase
- Strengthens safety procedures for our members and students with agreements to update the District Safety Plan accordingly.
- Establishes a protocol for staff members who experience physical or emotional trauma
- Allows for personal property damaged at school to be covered by the District.
- Allows members to advance by more than 1 column a year and extends the day you must notify the District of your intent to advance by one month ( March 1)
- Establishes a committee to examine our insurance plans and explore ways to make them more affordable.
- Ensures that the early retirement option ( Willie Brown) will be offered for the 2024-25 school year.
- Continues the practice of having two flex days ( one as a work day and the other as a professional development day) and extend the deadline for submitting your plan.
Our membership must vote to ratify our tentative agreement. The election will take place on February 5 and 6 at your site. Please see your site rep and cast your vote. I will let you know when you can expect the increase in your paycheck and retro check as soon we are notified by the district.
Measures B & E
PFT held a general membership meeting on Tuesday, January 30, and Measures B and E were the first items on our agenda. After discussing the benefits of the passage of both measures for our members and students, our membership unanimously endorsed both measures. The March 5 election ballot will be mailed to registered voters next week, and each measure must pass by a 67.7% margin. There are actions we can do to show our support for both measures listed below.
- Come to the kick-off event this Saturday, February 3, at 9:00 am at Hedge Realty (103 H Street, Suite B). Wear your PFT shirt and join us. Come even if you can only stay for the training (the first hour).
- Show your support for the measures on Friday, February 9. Wear your PFT t-shirt (contact me if you need a shirt) that day and meet with your admin in front of the school. We will stand on the sidewalks, which are public property, and distribute flyers to parents as they bring their children to school.
- Put a sign in your yard or window if you live in Petaluma.
Our contract establishes a leave bank for members with a serious illness or other emergency who have used all of their sick leave. The leave bank serves as a lifeline for our members in need. Each year, the District donates 25 days to the bank. Our members donate as well. The Catastrophic Leave Committee (Sandra Larsen, Krista O'Connor, Jason Sutter, and Rachelle Buschman) meets and reviews every case to ensure the criteria are met and donations are distributed as intended. Please consider contributing now. You are eligible to donate if you have 20 days saved up in addition to days from this school year. Please use the attached form to donate for up to two days. You can give your completed donation form to your site rep or send it to Paula Verke, Human Resources at the District Office, via the pony.
Gary Ravani Memorial Scholarship Reminder
PFT awards $500 scholarships to children of “PFT members in good standing” who are graduating from high school in 2023-24 and attending a community college, a four-year college, or other institution with a course of learning. Applications are available at pft1881.org and must be submitted by February 29. Contact me if you have any questions.
Congratulations to Shea Durenberger (Diana Casper) and Noah Meirik (David Meirik) for submitting their completed scholarship applications.
February is a short but busy month. We have an extra day this year because it is a leap year. My father was born on February 29, 1924, and I always think of him even more in a leap year. There was always an extra big celebration when his real birthday came around, and occasionally, there was an article in our local paper. My father was president of his local letter carriers union before becoming the secretary-treasurer of the Texas State Association of Letter Carriers. I grew up thinking that everyone went to conventions, and I didn't know you could take a vacation where you didn't know everyone there. I grew up watching him help people and was always proud to be his daughter. I learned the importance of unions very early in my life. I keep his picture on my desk.
I hope you have a wonderful break this month. As of now, we will have the full week off from February 19-23 if we do not have any emergency closures before that week. Hopefully, you will have time to rest and recharge before the spring rush begins.