SEPTEMBER 27, 2019
Welcome Back!
 
We hope the school year is settling in well for everyone. 
 
Thank you to the bargaining team, zone captains, bargaining support teams, and members that came out to fight for a strong contract that includes competitive compensation, commitment to racial equity work, and increased supports to teach the whole child. The SEA team is working hard to complete the final contract language.  Stay tuned.
 
At our first meeting of the new school year, the SEA Board of Directors confirmed our ongoing commitment to building an anti-racist organization; we will be engaged in this work throughout the year.
 
In November, we will be voting on 4 school board seats. This year's election is critical as we continue to build an education system that focuses on students furthest from educational justice. Please visit the SEA website for more information and contact your Building Rep.
 
Fall always brings new opportunities as we begin to build community within our classrooms and schools.  In that spirit, SEA members are launching the new Lincoln High and Magnolia Elementary schools.
 
Ashley Myers, Computer Science Teacher and Building Rep. at Lincoln said, "It's exciting to be part of a new school with teachers from across the district."
 
Through our collective knowledge, skill and passion, we're moving our district forward for all of our students, members, and community. 
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Meet the New SEA Executive Director!

YVETTE DE LA CRUZ
 
Since the age of 19, when she helped to organize her workplace at the Social Security Administration call center in Auburn, Washington, Yvette De La Cruz has been an advocate for workers' rights.
 
She is a union activist, labor advocate and professional labor educator.  Yvette brings her passion for using education and training as a method to advance the rights of workers to her advocacy work, most recently as UniServ Director with the Pilchuck UniServ Council in Everett, WA, supporting the Monroe, Mukilteo and Skykomish Education Association locals.
 
She has been active with several unions, having held both elected and staff positions with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), an elected position with the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild (WBNG-CWA), and staff positions with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the national AFL-CIO in New Mexico, Oregon, Washington State, and Washington D.C.  Additionally, she served as an Adjunct Professor at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Maryland and as Project Coordinator with the Global Union Federation, Public Services International in Ferney-Voltaire, France.   
 
Yvette earned her master's degree in Labor Policy and Globalization from the Berlin School of Economics and the University of Kassel and her bachelor's degree in Labor Studies from the National Labor College.

Yvette is excited to be taking on this position as Executive Director of the largest EA locan union in the state, and looking forward to working with SEA members, activists, leaders and staff to continue to grow our union and be strong advocates for our students and public education.
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NEW CBA FAQ's

Early Release Wednesdays
  1. Green Days are now Racial Equity Days - Work on these days to follow racial equity action plan to be developed utilizing template created by SEA Center for Racial Equity and SPS Department of Racial Equity Advancement (DREA). Template to be developed and made available ASAP.
  2. SEA and SPS leadership will collaboratively develop a template to be used at the school level in order to communicate what PD/PLC work staff are engaged in on early release days. Template to be developed and made available ASAP.
  3. SAEOP can use yellow/collaboration days for mentorship meetings and or Zone area meeting and trainings.

Members now have 4 personal days!

2 sick days have been converted to personal days making for 4 personal days and 8 sick days total for SEA members. Current contract language still dictates the use of personal/sick time. Unused personal days will be converted to sick days at the end of the year.

Joint SEA/SPS CBA Meetings

Meetings for SEA building reps to attend with their building/program administrator.
ALL TIMES 4:15-5:45PM. *SEA building reps will be paid extra time to attend.*

Tuesday, October 15th - Greenwood ES, Library
Thursday, October 17th - Garfield HS, Auditorium
Tuesday, October 29th - Sacajawea ES, Cafeteria
Tuesday, November 5th - Rainer Beach HS, Library
Thursday, November 7th - W Seattle HS, Lunch Room
Tuesday, November 12th - Cleveland HS, Room 1201
Thursday, November 14th - JSCEE, Auditorium
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Beautiful, empowering and emotional, this 
reflection piece by SEA member Amanda
Hubbard on her experiences at the Ethnic Studies Summer Institute and work with the SEA Center For Racial equity outlines how Ethnic Studies is more than a curriculum.

Amanda shares how pushing her boundaries of understanding her own racialized experiences as a child in her work as an ethnic studies curriculum creator has helped heal racial trauma.


(Re-posted with permission from WAEEthnicStudies.com)
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Check Your Clock Hours!

Several members have reported that SPS did not have accurate records of their clock hours. For certificated employees, clock hours impact your movement on the salary schedule. Fall is a good time to check to see if your clock hours have been recorded correctly.

You can login in to ESS to run a clock hours report by doing the following:


 

1.  Login to your Employee Self-Service (ESS) account.

2.  Click on Reports along the blue bar at the top.

3.  Then, click on Transcript in the blue bar along the side:
     a. It will show you your current Transcript report of all the credits/clock hours SPS has
         received and entered for salary purposes, in HR system.
     b. Clock hours and semester credits are converted to quarter credits for salary purposes.
         10 clock hours = 1 quarter credit. 1 semester credit = 1.5 quarter credits.

4.  Your current totals are at the bottom of your transcript report.


If you are missing clock hours, here is the process to follow for submitting clock hours/credits:
  1. For SPS clock hours, you need to submit the clock hour form with payment ($2/clock hour) to PD department first at MS: 32-181. Once they process your payment, they will give the district your clock hour forms to add to your totals on file for salary purposes.
  2. For non-SPS clock hours, you need to provide the district with your clock hours on OSPI approved in-service form and attach the clock hour/credit application form (attached). Both documents mailed to MS: 33-385 or emailed to [email protected]. You do not need to pay SPS for non-SPS clock hours.
To learn more about OSPI approved providers and documents, please visit their website:   http://www.k12.wa.us/certification/ClockhoursDocumentation.aspx
  • If you earn any college credit, then you need to submit an official sealed (sealed in institute's envelope) transcript and attach the clock hour/credit application form.
  • Note: Grade report/registration form/unofficial transcript/letter from an Institute/OSPI log of hours are not accepted for salary placement credit.
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The updated School Year Calendar (list of dates) for the 2019-2020 School Year has been released, including the Early Release days. Here's the link.

The Early Release calendar for 2019-2020 has been released! Here's the link.
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Don't miss out  on breaking SEA text alerts: text SEATTLEEA  to 41411 to stay informed!
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SICK LEAVE REQUESTS

Thank you all for your generous donations to those who share their need for leave. 

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Ra'Keisha Sampson, Paraprofessional is asking for donated sick leave due to a medical emergency that occurred just before school started, and the doctor has ordered her to not work for at least a month or until the prognosis allows her to return to work. From Ra'Keisha: "I ask any one of my fellow Seattle Public School Co-workers to please help me if you have the extra hours to give. I appreciate your love and kindness in advance."
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 Sheila Lambert, Para @ Interagency, is asking for sick leave donations due to a an longer-than-expected medical issue keeping her from work. She thanks you all in advance for helping in any way you can.
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Members can access the shared leave form to donate hours by clicking HERE. Forms can be submitted to [email protected] or FAXED to 206-252-0021 or mailed to Seattle Public Schools, MS 33-380, PO Box 34165, Seattle, WA 98124-1165.
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Seattle Education Association
5501 4th Ave S, Ste 101
Seattle, WA 98108

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