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from the lighthouse in the west to the lighthouse in the east the beacon boces educators of eastern suffolk union local 3037 president s report thelma shaw volume 25 issue 4 february 2012 inside this issue numbers don t always add up president s as i celebrated the start of a new year at 12:01 on january 1 2012 i report reflected on many things i thought about what this new year was going to mean not only for me personally but for our membership in general and a couple of for the future of eastern suffolk boces in his public address governor clicks cuomo stated that teachers evaluations are key to cash at the end of the power of the day no evaluations no money in addition he focused on a new unionism cheaper pension package for future employees he spoke of a new 401k style retirement plan or a state pension less lucrative than the current one freeing freedoms all of this is front page news and on every station with national coverpersonal age this only fuels the negativity that the general public is feeling about leave criteria educators all you have to do is look at the front page or open the paper turn on the tv or listen to the radio it benefits you to know our pensions are a topic of conversation at least weekly if not daily it seems of course the fact that dick or jane now need remedial courses promoting at the college level because they weren t taught well enough in school our programs makes headlines across the state there are discussions about pensions come see that should make each and every one of us stand up and take action what we do there are those who think that public pensions should mirror private ones that all tiers should be taken away and there should just be one equal tier additionally they think that taxpayers should have the right to vote election for labor contracts in order for them to be passed information 1 5 7 9 10 12 15 15 16 23 sed is holding education hostage ready to retire along with these facts we are concerned with dictatorial tactics like the ones that state education commissioner john king is using by blocking millions in federal school improvement grants from reaching our local schools our neediest students are being deprived of tutoring ap classes are being reduced or cancelled across the state the negative impacts are too myriad to list here as a membership we should be emailing our non-acceptance of this to the state board of regents.

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president s report continued emails do work a case in point is the recent successful exemption from the mta payroll tax for school districts the hard work advocacy and determination of you our members and nysut helped make this a reality to refresh your memory the impact that this tax had on school districts and boces was enormous it amounted to approximately .34 percent of an employer s payroll expense for each calendar quarter with the 2 tax cap in place for this year this would have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel s back kudos to nysut for putting their full lobbying efforts and influence behind the exemption in addition nysut has publicly addressed the budget that governor cuomo has proposed and continues to place the blame for the debacle that has surrounded the implementation of the new teacher evaluations on sed on that note lets talk about the boces budget that is being presented to our districts i attended the budget meeting on january 18th where the proposed budgets for special education career and tech education and special career education for the 2012 -2013 school year were presented attending these meetings for the past six years has been highly informative and quite the eye opener the legacy costs of retirement and salaries that continue to grow each year are now currently responsible for 87.17 of the special education budget 56.79 of the cte budget and 79.03 of the sce budget this doesn t leave much room for the other pieces of the pie chart such as o&m and supplies and equipment remember most of our staff is in the special education budget hence the difference in the percentages the number of members currently retiring is not enough to offset the loss of student enrollment let s start with special education over the past 3 years the total student enrollment has declined annually at an average of nearly 4 the budget for the 2012 ­ 2013 school year will be built on a total enrollment of 1330 students which is 55 students below our current enrollment this projection will once again have an impact on our staffing positions about 37 positions in all areas combined in the bees unit from both the blue and yellow contracts will be affected once again we will be facing excessing of staff members this includes teachers itinerants assistants and aides as we have established in the past we will begin the process of identifying affected staff members in early spring we don t have names yet so while i understand the panic of being low person on the totem pole please don t ask or speculate we truly don t know yet there is always the hope that things get better or that some members may decide to retire between now and june 2012 the agency is currently allowing members to waive their 18 month time frame for requesting retirement the proposed budget for 2012-2013 is for 70 less staff 2

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william floyd lc to close in june sadly as part of the agency s plan to reduce costs to our districts and save money the william floyd lc will be closed in june currently only 3 classes are using that building this is a huge loss in my opinion that program was a showcase for district based learning at its best the staff in that building are attached to sayville academic center and will be absorbed into that site based on seniority or go into the august pool if there is an overage again placements will be based on seniority kudos to rob becker and his staff for creating this budget it will be difficult for us as a membership since there will be excessing however increases in tuition services and other expenses were kept at rates that were nothing short of a miracle especially when one considers all the challenges we face in education it could have been much worse careen education is being hit hard again career and technical programs have seen a reduction of students during the past 5 years two thirds of our students attend the pm sessions only the budget for the 2012 ­ 2013 school year will be built on an enrollment of 1631 that is 100 students less than we have this school year this year s budget was saved in part by the fact that the cte programs had 97 adults registered this helped offset costs and meet the enrollment projections as everyone knows it is very difficult to predict cte enrollment unfortunately as in special education this budget and reduction in student projection will impact staff overall we are looking at the loss of 24.5 members again this can affect everyone teachers assistants and aides cte only had one teacher choose to retire and this also impacts the budget process special career education has a little good news they are holding their own and there is actually an increase of one student projected for the 2012 2013 school year they currently are at 458 students and will go to 459 for next year just remember with the financial crisis that exists we have to be cautious going forward historically over the past 6 years there has been a decrease in enrollment we can only hope that the projected enrollment or more will be the actual one maintaining enrollment numbers is due in part to all the hard work that our members have done embedding academic standards and using academic curriculum in their courses currently 10 sce classes have academic credit embedded in their curriculums unfortunately even with the enrollment up plus one there will still be 8.5 staff members reduced that is all positions but the majority of this will be individual aides this year saw a huge increase in the amount of individual aides that were requested in the cte and sce classes as those students graduate or the district drops the request for that service those positions are reduced again we do not have any indication as of yet as to who this will affect aides have agency wide seniority as do assistants when we get into early spring we will begin to look at our seniority lists carefully if you would like your seniority number please send a request in writing to your area vp we should be in receipt of our new lists by the 10th of february so don t request it until after that date the agency is in the process of doing these lists again so that they are as current as possible please remember that before any member is called in for a meeting about a loss of a position those lists are triple checked by all of us thank you to dean lucera and his staff for all the work that they did which enabled them to present an equitable budget to our districts not an easy task in these times 3

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president s report continued the beacon and our website are valuable tools in which you can stay informed it takes me hours to write the articles that you read here and to make them as factual and informative as possible for you our members it really saddens and honestly annoys me that i keep hearing i don t read the beacon or check out the website it is your loss and i hope that those of you who do read it tell your coworkers what great and informative tools they are missing out on this is an election year for executive board officers and delegates maybe you are one of those people who tell me that they never read the beacon and could care less about the union if you are one of those people please do me one favor and read this particular beacon voting for the people who will be representing you for the next 2 years is important these people will be the ones representing you with administration as well as the people who will be negotiating the next round of contracts negotiating will take place at a time when all benefits are being scrutinized by everyone federal law covers union elections and procedures need to be strictly followed it is your responsibility and obligation to make sure that when you receive your ballot that you fill it out and return it in the envelope provided yes it will cost you a stamp but it is an investment into your future while we have a blue contract that is in effect until june 2014 and a yellow contract in effect until june 2013 the new president and executive board will have their work cut out for them negotiating contracts in the current climate will be extremely different and difficult whether you believe it or not we have benefit rich contracts that have accumulated over many years of negotiating and will without a doubt be on the table next time up in addition they will be overseeing the new appr regulations that oversee evaluations and appeal processes your ballots will be mailed to your home address currently on file with our union if you have moved and not given your new mailing address to us it is imperative that you do so now please write down any changes and interoffice them to our bees office secretary linda cardone she is at tsp@blc i cannot stress how critical it is that the union have your current mailing address ballots will not be given out via interoffice mail or hand delivered this beacon contains bios of the candidates running for office their terms will be effective july 1 2012 read them and learn about their background candidates who are seeking election have the right to campaign this must be scheduled after work hours in addition if a candidate chooses to put out a flyer introducing him or herself and stating his/her qualifications this flyer cannot be put in boces staff mailboxes in addition do not ask a building representative or an officer to hand out your flyers it is a candidate s responsibility to get the flyers out to our membership as a union we do not endorse any of the candidates this is not a popularity contest or about how many teachers or para educators are going to be sitting on the executive board this is all about the people who are qualified to do the job running for these positions takes a lot of dedication and commitment it is not because the job is awful it is about the time family obligations and other commitments that turn people away from running for these positions it might be argued that no one in his or her right mind would want to be available on weekends holidays summers evenings and just about anytime that a member has a problem i d rather think that their sense of service and dedication allows them to overcome the sacrifices necessary to effectively do the job therefore the people who are running for any of the officer positions are willing to take on that responsibility in order to represent our current membership of just about 1400 so if you read just one beacon make it this current one please read the article later on in this edition for the election details and guidelines 4

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president s report continued scholarships are now available long island teachers benevolent fund scholarship applications will once again be available seniors who are graduating in june 2012 whose parents are members and who will be attending a post secondary institution on a full time basis may apply during the past 5 years we have had a total of 21 winners i expect to have the applications by february 6th to receive an application please email me at beeshivepres@aol.com and include your name and building location in your request i will interoffice you an application as soon as i get your request remember these applications must be returned to me for my signature and they are time sensitive send them back to thelma shaw tsp@blc allow a few days for them to reach me so i can send them out as i sit and reflect on the past 6 years of my presidency i am proud of all that i have accomplished and what your current executive board has accomplished most of what happens is not visible to your eye but is done behind the scenes and confidentially as i mentioned earlier in this article it is done outside of the normal work hours in the evenings weekends and even on vacations you should be proud of your union and support it we have gained tremendous ground over the years nysut stresses and encourages collaboration and we are proud to say that we are collaborative yes guys it isn t the same old boces it used to be but it can t be laws are changed or enacted sed changes certifications and requirements and basically the times that we live in make educators and education more accountable it impacts all of us you know what makes us different and special no pun intended what each and everyone of us gives to the students we work with we all bring a little something different to the boces table creativity dedication commitment and caring to name a few i for one will miss sitting at that table with all of you next year i know that the table will continue to be bountiful because all of the rest of you will be sitting at it that is what makes eastern suffolk boces a special place to be no matter what your job title thanks for the memories thanks for the good times and thank you for electing me for 6 years to serve as your president it is a job i have cherished and have always strived to do my best the other day i received the best compliment ever a member said to me you know what thelma i never thought about your job title once you were elected you have always been thelma president of the bees never did i think of you as just a teacher assistant or just a para or any other title because you represent everyone the same way fairly and in their best interest no matter what their title that is the way it should be i would ask that you all keep this in mind for elections elect the best candidate not just the one with the best job title in closing i would like to end with one of my mantras i have been the kind of woman that when my feet hit the floor each morning the devil says oh crap she is up life is too short to wake up with regrets so love the people who treat you right even love the people who don t because you are the better person and you can believe everything happens for a reason if you get a second chance in life grab it with both hands if it changes your life let it forgive quickly no one ever said life would be easy just worth it life these days at esb is not easy but folks it is definitely worth it 5

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happy 50th birthday executive vice president pat copertino just a couple of clicks can make a big difference we live in a very busy fast paced world with many entities pulling at us for our time and attention we are bombarded with half-truths well-tailored political statements and statistical quotes that are used to persuade but do not always share the whole story it becomes a great deal of noise and adds stress to our already full lives the exhaustion that comes with feeling you must defend yourself as a supporter of public education and what is right for our children can be depressing it can make you want to shut it all off and retreat whether it is from dr oz psychological journals or the sensible person in your lives you know that retreating is not the answer but action is whether it be exercise or accomplishing a task on your checklist you feel better for the last six years of writing these articles i have asked you to take small attainable actions for the greater good or just to keep yourself in the know this will require very little time and truly just a couple of clicks we need the entire new york state community of taxpayers clicking with us please share this with your families neighbors administrators and anyone who has an interest in insuring our tax dollars go to the children even though it is a nysut supported petition any new yorker can sign from www.nysut.org sign this petition to secure state aid for schools please act now in support of nysut s urgent campaign to increase state aid restorations the petition demands that $250 million set aside for competitive grants to schools should instead be fairly distributed according to the state aid formula the petition launched this week already has more than 4,600 signatures the executive budget proposal includes only $805 million more for schools a partial restoration of the $1.3 billion state aid cut last year districts also must contend with a tax cap that crushes their ability to raise revenue at home redirecting the $250 million would provide additional funding toward the goal of restoring the $1.3 billion school aid cut imposed last year sign the petition http salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1846/p/dia/action/public action_key=9252 your support and solidarity for new york state public education systems puts our children on top 6

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first vice president ray stenberg the power of unionism this is the time of year when politics shrouds us with feelings of uncertainty we don t know who or what to believe as the fireworks explode in our faces constant changes in the rules which incidentally are being designed to harm us more than they are to help us make our jobs more and more difficult the barrage of anti-teacher attacks boggle my mind it has gotten to the point that when i meet somebody who asks me what i do for a living i don t tell them i m a teacher because i fear that our conversation will lead to an argument in fact at a recent family function the education argument became so heated that we have agreed to no longer discuss public schools unions and pensions fortunately our good friends at newsday are always there to support us folks it is bad out there there are strong forces that are trying to dismantle decades of hard work governors throughout this country are banding together and trying to pass legislation that will greatly harm us many of them are trying to get rid of unions altogether by passing right to work legislation which will have a significant impact on millions of our union brothers and sisters across the nation just recently indiana governor mitch daniels along with an extreme group of republican legislators did just that after a six minute hearing allowing no amendments and no debate the bill was approved in new hampshire the republican house speaker passed right to work legislation as his first order of business of the new year similar bills are quickly getting attention as the issue has moved into the national arena mitt romney recently said and the right course politically at this stage is to have states carry out their own right to work legislation remember right to work essentially means right to no union following dr king s legacy we recently celebrated dr martin luther king s birthday a man whose beliefs inspire me today dr king gave voice to the principle that civil rights and workers rights are inseparable that to deny one is to do injury to the other his social commentary speaks directly to the motives of today s anti-union movement in 1961 he said in our glorious fight for civil rights we must guard against being fooled by false slogans such as right to work it is a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining by which unions have improved wages and working conditions of everyone wherever these laws have been passed wages are lower job opportunities are fewer and there are no civil rights dr king would be appalled at the behavior of many of our leaders however on the other hand he would be proud of the people of wisconsin who have united together to begin the process of recalling governor scott walker and four republican state senators these villains essentially voted to eliminate the unions in their state more than 1.9 million signatures were collected in just over two months 1 out of every 4 eligible voters in wisconsin signed a petition to get this governor out of office way to go wisconsin 7

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first vice-president s report continued here in new york we have a governor who wants to create a tier 6 for every public pension system in the state under this plan a worker cannot retire without penalty until the age of 65 and they must contribute to their pensions for their entire career can you imagine having to teach for 45 years or being a police officer or a fireman chasing criminals or pulling fire hoses at the age of 65 what will tier 7 be retire when you re 72 fortunately we do have some friends in albany tom dinapoli the state comptroller whom we helped get elected spoke out against the creation of a tier 6 he believes that it does not make fiscal sense whatsoever let s hope the legislators analyze the few pros and many cons of such drastic changes in retirement benefits what s happening throughout our country is clearly meant to divide us as a nation and cause major heartaches for millions of middle class hard working american citizens we need to take action our weapon is our vote we need to get out there and elect people who will help us not hurt us watch the news read the papers surf the web find out the candidates positions on labor and education issues and reflect on how these positions can harm you as we have seen they have harmed many of our colleagues here at eastern suffolk boces who no longer have jobs and who are in danger of losing them in the very near future there are major elections coming up this year you will be voting for the president of the united states as well as the bees executive board you ll also be supporting your local school district budgets on may 15th remember one election is just as important as the other take the time to vote there is no excuse boces lobbying day has been moved to tuesday march 6th 2012 bees members will be granted a professional day for attending the annual lobbying trip up to albany a full breakfast is provided upon arrival in albany and your local union will reimburse you for lunch email ray at rstenber@esboces.org to guarantee yourself a spot on the list 8

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area v.p special education jim beck freeing freedoms greetings my sisters and brothers as we turn the page on 2011 and move into the new year a plethora of challenges and opportunities lay before us on the national level we continue to face assaults on teachers unions from groups ranging from hedge fund billionaires to politicians on both sides of the aisle some have compared teachers union leaders to saddam hussein loyalists and south african apartheid officials leveling such charges against our union which has stood at the forefront of the movements to end racism promote social justice and empower women is galling to say the least the hedge fund billionaires put forth the argument that teacher unions only serve teacher self interest and collective bargaining rights should be lost is it not the reality that it is in the self interest of very wealthy individuals to be taxed at a higher rate to fund projects for the public good including schools the legendary conservative president ronald reagan stated in his 1980 labor day speech where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden freedom is lost if president reagan s statement was true with regards to then communist countries how much truer is it for the united states the great albert shanker head of the aft from 1974-1997 strongly believed that unionized teachers can educate better if we were part of the coalition fighting to reduce income inequality improve housing and provide appropriate health care for children it is good common sense that children learn better with a decent meal and that students with special needs improve with adaptive physical aids and early intervention to reduce the severity of their handicaps such things are at the core of why teacher unions are such an active part of the broader labor movement in helping to rebuild the middle class it is an essential part of who we are as an organization our belief in the future and our dedication to our children the stakes could not be higher nothing less than the future or our nation is on the line brothers and sisters if there ever was a fight worth making this is it glad i m around i wouldn t miss it for the world as a final comment i want to switch back from the global to the local from a bees union perspective we have our upcoming elections after long and invaluable service thelma will be retiring in july a new executive board will be in place to guide our union inevitably there will be new perspectives different approaches and changing view points i hope to be a part of that change my friends please remember that whatever the outcome of the election the new board will need your continued solidarity strength and support that you have all generously given us over the years thank you all i close as i always do with my belief unity and strength 9

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area v.p para educators gail reissman personal leave criteria as you know this is an election year and several positions are being contested when you receive your ballot please take a few minutes to fill it out and return it i know how busy we all are but read the biographies and make an informed decision sometimes we feel it doesn t matter believe me your vote is very important and every one matters thank you for your continuing support and the opportunity to serve you for the past 6 years below is our most recent para pro practice agreement about taking personal leave personal leave criteria for educational purposes a one semester educational leave will be granted in accordance with the contract if additional time is needed to complete educational requirements the agency will determine whether to grant an additional personal leave for educational purposes according to the following criteria 1 three 3 years of excellent attendance average of no more than seven 7 sick days taken for each of three 3 years 2 overall average or above average or ratings of effective or highly effective end of the year evaluations for certificated staff or all satisfactory s evaluations for non-certificated staff 3 tenured for certificated staff or completed five 5 year probation period for non-certificated staff 4 recommendation of immediate supervisor based on performance and impact of leave on program 5 pursuing a degree in an associated educational field 10

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esboces self-knowledge quiz can you complete the follow information about yourself i am in tier i am a member of the nys retirement system the website for my retirement system is the phone number for my retirement system is i have years of service in the retirement system i was hired by boces on m/d/y i have total years of service with boces i have continuous years of service with boces my first eligibility for retirement begins on m/d/y and expires on m/d/y i have sick leave days [less than 20 ­ not good 21 to 90 ­ good more than 90 ­ very good i contributed to the sick bank on m/d/y i have read all a few none of bob love s articles i can search for this information a at our union website b in the pile of papers on my desk c in the faculty room d in my boces e-mail account 11

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contractual benefits officer bob love it benefits you to know i hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the holiday recess by the time you read this the year will be halfway over and the time to elect your executive board members will be fast approaching in these difficult times we need to show unity and strength please take the time to know the candidates and vote below is information from two previous articles related to sick leave i cannot stress enough the importance of maintaining an accumulation of sick days many of our benefits depend on our being on payroll if you can t work and aren t receiving sick leave pay from boces then you are not on payroll and will lose those benefits we have worked so hard to achieve some of the benefits that depend on being on payroll are health insurance dental insurance and life insurance and seniority sick leave days under either the teacher s contract or the para educator s contract you receive a given number of sick leave days per year and a given number of personal days both contracts allow you to add unused personal days to your accumulated sick days and you can accumulate up to 200 unused sick days for the purpose of contractual benefits boces does not keep track of days accumulated over the 200 what can you do with them the obvious ­ use them when you re sick however there are a few things to be aware of in both the teacher s contract and the para educator s contract you might in specific circumstances be asked to document your absences failure to provide proper documentation could result in being docked one or two days pay please read your contract so you understand when and by whom you can be asked for documentation ask to have them converted to personal days in the event of a serious illness of family member or other extraordinary and /or unusual event you can also ask to have personal days converted to sick days should extenuating circumstances arise contribute one to the sick leave bank this is a one time contribution unless the bank goes below 40 days which it never has in its 15 year history you may request to borrow days in the sick leave bank if you are a member and have a prolonged illness or injury and have used all of your sick days you must be out 20 consecutive days before you can access the sick leave bank additionally if you didn t join the sick leave bank when first eligible you will have to wait one year from the time of your enrollment to be able to access the sick leave bank this is only a brief overview of three pages of contract language relating to the sick leave bank please read your contract so you fully understand how it works 12

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benefits report continued why should you accumulate sick days you can use them for retirement/terminal leave the number of days you can be paid for depends on your contract and when you were hired taking retirement/terminal leave is a very involved and complicated you should be planning for this well in advance in fact most people would benefit greatly by having a professional assist them in this planning you can use them to cover the 90 days until disability starts yes you have to be out 90 consecutive days before you are eligible for disability even if you are a member of the sick leave bank you will still need 20 consecutive school days before that takes effect and you will still have to pay back the borrowed days under the teacher s contract you have two other provisions you can use them to collect excess pay if you are excessed you can collect up to 60 days pay you will collect biweekly paychecks until you have used a maximum of 60 days pay not only does this provide you with money for almost 3 months but it extends your benefits for the same period of time you can sell back up to 15 unused sick days from the current year s entitlement once you have over 90 accumulated days you must provide written notice to human resources by may 1 note the guidelines for membership administration and use of the sick bank are in your contract please read them so you are aware of how to use this contractual benefit in my opinion the long term gains of accumulating sick days far outweighs the short term gains of using them and dare i say abusing them as quickly as you are given them sick leave follow-up after my article last month there have been several questions about how the sick bank works 1 if i find out i am going to be out a long time can i join the sick bank yes you can join the sick bank any time however if you join after the first two months of employment you will have to wait one year before being eligible to use it 2 how come i have to use my sick days up and then wait 20 days to use the sick bank you don t any sick days you use would count as part of the 20 days let s say you have 20 days and you are out with a prolonged illness or injury you would get paid for those 20 days and on the 21st day you could begin borrowing from the sick bank if you only had 19 sick days you would not be paid for the 20th day out but on the 21st day you could begin borrowing from the sick bank if you have more than 20 sick days accumulated you must use them first before accessing the sick bank and then you could begin borrowing from the sick bank 3 why can t i use the sick bank a few days at a time you cannot use the sick bank like that because the contract language which binds boces and the union says you can t approximately 12 years ago the guideline were negotiated and first written into our contracts yellow and blue since that time the contract language has been that approved sick leave from the bank will not begin coverage until the individual s accumulated sick leave is exhausted or the twenty-first working day whichever occurs later 4 if i can use the sick bank when i m sick for a long time won t it run out of days no there are two reasons why first you are only borrowing days from the sick leave bank you have to pay them back ­ 30 of your accrued sick days at the beginning of each year second you can only access the sick leave bank until you are eligible for 13 disability benefits ­ approximately 90 days from your last day worked.

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benefits report continued final year s salary or final average salary final year s salary is what s written in both contracts for calculating your terminal leave final year s salary is just that the number that is on the salary agreement you receive each school year final average salary is what is used to determine your retirement pay put simply final average salary could include monies other than your contract salary it could include pay received during your fas years from such things as summer school adult ed and mentor teacher i really do mean simply you need to call your retirement system to ask what is eligible and what isn t as well as how your fas is calculated retiring with health insurance if you are currently being covered by your spouse s health insurance either because you have taken the health insurance sell-back waiver or because you are a para educator hired after july 1 1992 and are retiring this year you need to contact human resources two months before your retirement date and evaluate switching to health insurance coverage once you are retired you cannot pick up health insurance through boces should your spouse lose their health insurance or pass away and you do not have your own health insurance policy you will be without coverage your retirement have you created an online retirement system access account the nys employees retirement system has retirement online http www.osc.state.ny.us/retire/index.htm and the nys teacher s retirement system has my nystrs http www.nystrs.org both will provide you access to your account and a wealth of information about retirement you can even sign up for newsletters that will send you current changes and info hopefully you have scheduled your retirement counseling if not and you are within five years of retirement you should schedule a session by calling ­ 1-800-348-7298 ext 6270 if you are in the nystrs or ­ 1-866-805-0990 if you are in the nysers retirement filing period change the nysers new york state employees retirement system has changed the minimum number of days an application has to be filed on from 30 days to 15 days this does not affect the time requirements for esb or members in the nystrs this change only affects our aides in the employees retirement system remember as in everything that is important ­ keep copies of everything you can contact me at beesvpcb@optonline.net or call 244-5821 14

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area v.p career and technical education fran nilsen promoting our programs now that we start february visitors day and open house are almost upon us i appeal to everyone that works for eastern suffolk boces to promote all of our programs if you can put an open house flier on the back of your vehicle use the blue painters tape it might attract just one more student we need positive exposure on all fronts as most of us taxpayers know all the school districts are tightening their belts in december rob vanbrunt helped start a line of boces gear as a skills usa fundraiser i bought a few last year and can attest that they are good quality items that people will notice in order to keep our student numbers up and our co-workers employed if there is anything you can do to attract more students to our programs then please do it we cannot just sit back and expect things to happen i went out to a couple of home schools with jen macdevitt and linda rogers parents want to see and hear from us students also go to these presentations all the students that i have seen at these information sessions have been articulate and excellent presenters this is the time of year where the students are starting to prepare their schedules for next year let s look at the big picture here and encourage high school students to at least consider our programs if you see open house fliers please don t let them just sit in your building staple them to a telephone pole these are dated items so use them up lets all work on promoting our programs area v.p special career education joe postiglione come see what we do let me start by first welcoming frank dono to the staff at icc frank transferred from the jefferson academic center to take the baking position at icc hopefully you are well aware that this is an election year for the executive board ballots are being mailed out march 1st if your address has changed be sure to update it through your building rep your ballot must be postmarked by march 15th this is your chance to have your voice heard this is the time of year when tours start coming through the buildings visitors day and open house are just around the corner all we hear is doom and gloom from the state we know we are in for a rough ride this is all the more reason to work even harder to promote our programs we must put our best face forward if a tour comes through your building take a few minutes to welcome the visitors into your room let them see the wonderful things we do with our students you have all heard me say this before but remember no one is going to work as hard as we do to promote our programs the job you save might be your own 15

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