New Days and Times Set for Negotiations

Happy Weekend!
The March 11 (Tuesday) negotiations session has been cancelled. Mr. Chapman and Mr. Gullett would like to wait until Mr. Gullett has had a chance to meet with officials in Topeka to determine exactly the amount of money the district will have for next school year. That meeting will not occur until the first week in April. We have scheduled two negotiations sessions in April:

Tuesday, April 15, 4:30pm
Wednesday, April 23, 6pm

Both meetings will occur at the board office. There is a possibility the meeting on April 15 will not happen, because it is an alternate date for superintendent interviews. We will keep you posted.

Your negotiations team,
Janet, Ginger, Kay, Betty, Shad, Dennis and Linda

More Negotiations Meetings Set

Our first meeting with the board's negotiating team went well. We exchanged initial proposals for all items opened, and you have received an e-mail regarding those details. Elimination of the early retirement program by 2010, eliminating binding arbitration of grievances from the grievance policy and eliminating certain special services personnel from the bargaining unit are probably the most alarming proposals presented by the board.

You should have received a summary of our first meeting and a request to complete an electronic survey regarding several issues on Thursday through the school e-mail. If you have not completed the survey, please do so by mid-afternoon today (Sunday, March 2). The LNEA team will be meeting Sunday (today) at 5 to determine what kinds of counterproposals should be presented.

Dates for the next two negotiations sessions have been set: Monday, March 4, 4:30 pm, and Tuesday, March 11, 4:30 pm. Both meetings are scheduled to take place at the board office.

Please attend if you can.

First Negotiations Session Feb 25, 6pm

Come one, come all to the first negotiations session for the 2008-09 contract. We will meet with the board's team at 6pm on Monday, February 25. Our goal is to have at least 2 people from each building at each negotiations session. We hope this will keep information flowing, and allow some consistent support for your team. Thanks in advance for your interest and support.

On the Right Track

Thank you for filling out the negotiations survey that was recently sent to you. Good solid data helps us in our decisions as we move through the negotiations process. We will soon be asking you to attend negotiations sessions. We'll let you know the dates as soon as we know!

We want to thank Sue Robertson for her unbelievably diligent work in getting our membership rosters up to date. She contacted many of you, asking for current addresses and teaching assignments, and we thank you for getting back to her with that information. Her work has enabled us to maximize dues dollars in our local account, rather than paying KNEA for members that are no longer with us. Thank you, Sue!!

Janet, Linda and Ginger attended a membership initiative training session in Salina on Friday, Jan. 11. Plans were developed for the second year of our membership push. It's time to move from the theme of "Teachers Sticking Together" to "On the Right Track." LNEA is on the right track to providing you with a positive climate, and the best working conditions possible. Please be ready to help us with our spring membership drive. More on that later.

Speaking of being on the right track, the presidents' regular meetings with Kelly Harris and Kevin Gullett have been very productive and are always framed with positive ideas. Thanks to this collaborative effort, the district is moving forward.

Please don't hesitate to send us an e-mail if you have questions or concerns.