Redwood City Teachers’ Association
Rep. Council Agenda for October 15, 2018
RCTA Mission Statement:
The Redwood City Teachers Association exists to promote and protect the professional health
and longevity of its members. It is dedicated to the pursuit and support of excellent teaching,
equity, collective bargaining, and fair working conditions. We are devoted to the education of the
children, their families, and the community of Redwood City.
Date: October 15th, 2018
Location: Red Morton CAB, Redwood City
Time: 3:45 - 5:15
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 4:00 p.m. A motion was passed to
accept the agenda with flexibility.
There was a round of introductions of Executive Board and Site Representatives and our
CTA Regional Director.
1. Socializing and Unifying: There were 27 in attendance. Hawes, and Cloud, Garfield not
represented. All other schools were represented. It was suggested by a rep from
Kennedy that RSP teachers get their own rep.
2. The Budget (Steven) Steven presented the budget and explaining categories. We have
$50,000 in savings. Our total assets are $90,000. CTA would like us to be using this
money wisely to send members to conferences and other organizing activities. We need
to decide how to spend this money to benefit the union as a whole. If people go to a
conference they are expected to come back and share their knowledge. Many CTA
conferences happen in San Jose.
Political Action Fund. Each member pays $1 per month to the Political Action Fund. We
need to educate members about how this money is spent and that this money goes for
local political action. Steven gave each of the reps a form that allows members to opt out
of this fund. If they wish to not have $1 per month go to the fund they must fill in the
form and return it by end of November. Reps should explain this at the sites.
A question was asked about how we communicate with members. Steven said we
counted on reps to get the information out. Dionne said we do doing organizing with
private email, but use district email for simple announcements.
Steven spoke of the importance of communication. Communication is power.
3. The Board Meeting and Community Meetings regarding reorganization plan for RCSD.
If was urged that all attend the Board Meeting tomorrow (10/16) at 7 p.m. at MIT. There
are additional community meetings on 10/22 at MIT and on 10/25 at Taft.
3. CTA Intervention - Greg Bonacorssi CTA Regional Director of our current status in
intervention. These are his main points. Budget Report: Exec Board is charged with
logistics on how conferences are disseminated. Communication: We might want to
think about how we communicate between paper and electronics. There are times when
each may be appropriate. Needs to be thought about and discussed. Maybe have a text
tree.
Gregg is the only current member on the regional board. He reports back to the regional
CTA about what is going on with the chapter. We are not in trusteeship. (This would be a
more drastic step.) We are in intervention because of governance issues. He noted that
we now have a parliamentarian which is perfect. The goal is to get us out of intervention
status.
Gregg: Wanted people to be aware of CTA recommendations on upcoming elections.
The CTA is recommending these votes on the following propositions. Props, 4 YES, 5
NO, 10 YES, and 11 NO.
There are only 6 non members in our association. This is considered a low number for
non members (a good thing). He noted that being our school sites and keeping folks
informed and engaged is vital. Kevin has copies of what CTA sent out regarding the
Janus Supreme Court Decision. Gregg said that we should think of non members as
potential members and that grievances brought forth by potential members should be
treated seriously and vigorously.
Once Kevin is trained on CTA 360 he will have a list of those who are not members.
Kevin added to Gregg’s report: Professionalism is one of the issues that Gregg didn’t
mention. We need to accept all opinions. Need for parliamentarian. We may be
reevaluated by Spring of 2019.
4. The Calendar: A calendar will be sent out to all members of upcoming meetings. This
will be a google calendar.
5. The 10 minute staff meeting and the November elections: Tuck vs. Thurmond. Kevin
shared the packet regarding upcoming elections is available to all rep to bring back to
their staffs. Kevin will ask the principals to be sure to keep time available before or after
staff meetings for union business. This time is very important and a vital time to keep
communication flowing.
6. Immediate committee needs:Kevin:
Bargaining committee: Brian Cagle reviewed members of the team, Michele Washington
(CTA), Michelle Territo, Cathy Shechter. Last year we cleaned up a lot of the language
and obsolete items in the contract. Most important we bargained for compensation and
got 3.5 for this year and 3.5 for next year.
Organizing: We have a chair Mariana Hernandez from Hoover. Need a committee
Grievance: Michelle Territo(interim)
There is a parking lot posted for additional information.
Next Rep. Council meeting: Red Morton CAB 1400 Roosevelt; November 5th, 2018 at
3:45.
7. Dreams, goals, and visions: A homework assignment
Kevin asked that all think about their visions for the future of how the union we can bring our
message to our members.
Adjourn: 5:15
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