Medical Documentation 101

More and more, we are hearing from members about how their principals are requesting medical notes to support a recent absence. Your school administration should have no access to ANY medical information about you.

Medical notes and information should only be provided to the Disability Management department at the Education Centre (a department within the Employee Relations department). Any medical information that you provide to Disability Management is kept in a medical file, completely separate from your regular personnel file. Only a few employees who work within the Disability Management department have the right to see this information. Even the superintendent of this department cannot access your medical file.

If your principal or vice-principal requests a medical note to support an absence, you should do the following:

1. Ask for the name of the employee in the Disability Management department that is requesting the note. If a name is not or cannot be provided, do not furnish the medical note to your principal and contact us at the local office to advise us of the request.
2. If a name IS provided, send your medical note directly to that individual , either by fax or courier, marked CONFIDENTIAL. Do NOT provide a copy to your administration.
3. If you have reason to believe that your administration is in possession of medical documentation about you (because you have provided doctor's notes to them in the past) , request that all medical notes be returned to you in a confidential manner (e.g., not stuffed loosely into your mail slot).

Don't forget - early dismissal on Friday!

Only two work days left until the holidays! Don't forget that Friday is one hour early dismissal for everyone - which means you should go home early too!!!

Our local ETFO office will be closed for the two weeks of holidays as of Friday afternoon and we will not be checking messages during that time. The local office will re-open at 8 a.m. on Monday, January 4th, 2010.

The provincial ETFO office will also be closed for the holidays. The Emergency Legal Assistance system will be operational over the holiday period to respond to critical calls only. Non-critical calls will be returned after the holidays.

Disability "Management" - DDSB style!

I'm sure you all received your email from the superintendent last Friday, waxing eloquent about the Board's newest initiative, an "attendance support program". I will post more about this Grinch-y, Scrooge-ish news this week (and via email to members), and why you should ALL respond with your input (but await our instructions on this!), but today's post is about the other arm of the DDSB's sick day management - the Disability Management Program.


Those who have been sick in recent years, either for a few days or weeks or months, or for a scheduled surgery, or even for bed rest prior to delivering a baby, will likely have encountered or been contacted by staff from the Disability Management department. The important thing to remember - they are NOT your friends! The mandate of the disability management staff is to reduce the number of sick days used by employees by having you return to work as quickly as possible. Can't drive to work? The Board will provide a driver. Can't stand up for any length of time? The Board will provide you with a chair. Sometimes their insistence on your return to work is even in contravention of your doctor's orders.


This is a classic case of where calling us, your union, is in YOUR best interests. If you are not feeling well or are feeling very stressed and believe you need time off - call us before you visit your doctor. We can suggest options that you and your doctor may be unaware of and that your doctor could include in a note supporting sick leave. If you are invited to a meeting with disability management staff and federation representation is offered (as they must do) - say YES. We are there to advocate for you, and YOU only. We make sure that your rights are not violated, that your sick leave benefits are honoured, that your doctor's note is heeded and that you are not forced back to work before you are ready. If you are pregnant and you and your doctor don't believe you can work to full term, call us. There have been many instances over the last few years when pregnant members have tried to be "helpful" in paving the way for their replacement to be hired and have signalled some weeks in advance (even just to their principal) that they will be needing time off at the end of their pregnancy- this news quickly makes its way to the DM department, and the teacher is always given a very hard time. Always call us first before making any inquiries about the use of sick leave.


Remember, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

ETFO Calls for On-line AQ Instructors - Apply by December 18

ETFO's Professional Services department is seeking instructors for summer and fall 2010 online Additional Qualifications courses. Applicants should have extensive experience in course facilitation and online delivery of teacher professional learning. To learn more about the application process, click on the title of today's post to link to ETFO's website.

Teacher Experiences with EQAO Testing

The March issue of ETFO's Voice magazine will examine the issues around EQAO testing. ETFO wants to hear your views about EQAO and your experience in administering the test. To gather this information, they have created a short online questionnaire. Specific experiences and anecdotes are welcome and encouraged. A selection of the responses received will be published in the magazine. To access the survey, click on the title of this post to go to the ETFO website.

Holiday Cheer!

The holidays are upon us - Hanukkah begins this weekend and Christmas Eve is only two weeks away! Amazing how the year just flies by....

Our local executive met last night and we passed a motion to once again support "Operation Christmas Cheer" with a donation of $1000. The provincial executive of ETFO has also made a donation, for $5000. The mandate of this non-profit organization is to deliver grass roots support, cheer, food hampers, grocery gift cards and toys to Ontario picket lines during the holiday season. Currently, an unprecedented number of unionized workers in Ontario (nearly four thousand) are facing the harsh reality of being on the picket line for an extended period of time - ranging from 4 months to more than 3 years. They are on strike against employers that are refusing to bargain or bargaining in bad faith. For more information about this initiative, click on the title of today's post to visit the Operation Christmas Cheer website or visit http://www.operationcheer.com/

Our "Toys from Teachers" toy drive has wrapped up this week and we thank our members for another generous year! All donations have been delivered to the Salvation Army for distribution to families throughout the Durham Region. Your contributions are greatly appreciated and have helped make the holidays brighter for many children!

One Salary Myth Dispelled

We often hear teachers refer to their "summer pay" and sometimes teachers going off on a maternity leave mid-year ask us if they will receive their "Christmas pay" or "March break pay" if they depart just prior to these dates. Time to dispel these salary myths.... the board does not pay you to be on holidays - it's sad, but true!

The school year calendar is 194 days in length. Teachers are paid for only those 194 days that they work - teaching days and PA days. While the salary schedule sees us paid every two weeks (4% of our salary at each pay), and this sometimes falls during a holiday, it doesn't mean that we are paid for the days we are not working.

QECO and your category rating

QECO (the Qualifications Evaluation Council of Ontario) was created 40 years ago by OECTA, ETFO and AEFO (three of the four teacher unions in Ontario) to provide an equitable evaluation plan for teacher salary recognition based solely on specific academic criteria. The QECO evaluation of degree holding teachers who are members of one of the above-mentioned affiliates can result in one of four category placements: Category A1 through Category A4. These category placements will determine your rate of salary for your entire teaching career.

Once an eligible teacher is evaluated, a Statement of Evaluation is issued which must be submitted to the school board for appropriate salary category placement. All university degree-holding teachers must be evaluated by QECO to be considered for a placement beyond Category A1.

If you are not yet at Category A4:

Changes over time occur with the ongoing recognition of new acceptable academic institutions, both domestic and abroad; changes that affect the acceptability of some course providers; changes with the increase in Additional Qualification course providers; and some legislative changes that can all have an influence on teachers’ upgrading routes.

QECO strongly urges all who have not yet reached Category A4 to formally apply for upgrading advice or for re-evaluation on a yearly basis to ensure they are following the most expedient route to a higher category. This advice is particularly important to teachers whose academic qualifications were obtained outside of Ontario.

Every time you take a new university course or additional or basic qualification course, you should apply to QECO for re-evaluation. The onus is on YOU to provide this information to QECO - it is NOT provided to QECO by the course providers.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you must apply to QECO in a timely fashion and provide proof of this application to the Durham District school board.

• In order to receive a salary adjustment as of September 1st, ALL course work must be completed before the beginning of school in September, and your new Statement of Evaluation MUST be provided to the Board by the last teaching day in December. If it is delayed, you MUST let the Board know this prior to the last teaching day in December.
• In order to receive a salary adjustment as of January 1st, ALL course work must be completed before December 31, and your new Statement of Evaluation MUST be provided to the Board by May 31st. If it is delayed, you MUST let the Board know this prior to May 31st.

For more information about QECO, click on the title of today's post to access information from ETFO, or visit the QECO website at www.qeco.on.ca

Local Event Reminder

Just two quick reminders for today's post!

1. Our "Toys from Teachers" toy drive pick up will begin next week so if your school is participating and you haven't let us know this yet, please give us a call to ensure that we schedule a pick-up at your worksite. We appreciate any and all donations!!


2. The registration deadline for the Special Education Part 1 AQ closes on Monday, December 14th. If you are interested in taking this course, please be sure to register by this date!! The course will take place on Thursday evenings between January and June, with two Saturday sessions in January and April. The course cost is a steal of a deal at only $650, plus you can apply for $250 in PD funding to help offset this cost (you must not have applied for funding this school year or last to be eligible). For more information about the Special Education AQ course, click on this earlier post: http://etfodurham.blogspot.com/2009/11/special-education-aq-comes-to-durham.html and for more information about our local PD fund, click on this earlier post: http://etfodurham.blogspot.com/2009/10/happy-friday.html

Wishing you productive parent interviews this evening and tomorrow!!

This is what happens when you place too much importance on test scores: A Cautionary Tale from South of the Border

Today's blog post is about standardized testing and this New York Times article from last week illustrates the dangers of placing too much emphasis on this one narrow measure of student achievement. Over the past several years, we have witnessed the data-driven frenzy that has seized the Ministry of Education in their drive to deliver on the election promise of 75% of students scoring at Level 3 or higher on the EQAO tests. The almost immediate trickle-down effect this has had on school boards and schools has been very obvious, and this, in turn, has impacted on teachers' professional practice.

Just south of the border, in the neighbouring state of New York, the use of test scores to determine bonus pay, who gets laid off, which schools get closed for poor performance, etc., shows the extreme to which test scores can become the tail wagging the dog. A very interesting read, indeed (click on the link below, or on the title of today's post):

Mayor Says Student Scores Will Factor Into Teacher Tenure
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/education/26teachers.html?emc=eta1

Here are the first two paragraphs from the above article...

"WASHINGTON — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said on Wednesday that New York City public schools would immediately begin to use student test scores as a factor in deciding which teachers earn tenure, a proposal that has been bitterly opposed by the teachers’ union and criticized as putting too much weight on standardized exams.
The city already uses test scores in evaluating the system: to determine teacher and principal bonus pay, to assign the A through F letter grades that schools receive, and to decide which schools are shut down for poor performance. The mayor is now putting even more weight behind those scores by using them to decide which teachers should stay and which should go."

It's baaaack! The Toys from Teachers Toy Drive, that is!

Teachers are a very generous bunch! As a result of this generosity, and the desire to make a positive contribution in our communities, our local has organized, for the 7th year in a row, our Toys from Teachers Toy Drive! The purpose of our toy drive is to help bring a happy holiday to children and teens in need in the Durham region. Toy donations are collected from schools that choose to participate, and delivered to the Salvation Army, which looks after their distribution.

Donations should be given to the Workplace Steward at your worksite, and be ready for pickup by Monday, December 7th. All donations are greatly appreciated!

Guidelines for donations are:

• unwrapped, new toys only, suitable for children or teens,
• no toys depicting or encouraging violence,
• include batteries if toys require them, and
• donations don't have to be "toys" - consider donating art or craft supplies, a picture book or paperback, gift cards (with dollar amount clearly indicated), mittens, watches, etc.

We thank you in advance for your kindness and generosity!

Coming Soon: Parent-Teacher Interviews

You've likely been very busy as you wrap up your first set of report cards for the year. The good news is that this is the last full first-term report card you'll hopefully ever have to write once the Fall interim checklist/report arrives next school year.

On the subject of parent-teacher interviews, today's post is a reminder for you about the December PA day and altered day schedule. Your school's principal received a memo from the Board some time ago which outlined the following expectations for December 3rd and 4th:

• Thursday evening: no more than three (3) hours of interviews should be held. In addition, you should have a one hour dinner break. Interviews should not be held past 8:00 p.m.
  
• Friday: no more than three (3) hours of interviews are to be scheduled. Typically, most all of the schools schedule these in the morning with an established start time for the day.

Finally, please remember to protect your own safety and security during parent-teacher interviews. The following practices are well-established in our Board and should be followed:

• Teachers located in portables should conduct interviews INSIDE the main school building, either in the gym or the library. Stuck out in a portable in a dark schoolyard (remember it's now dark by 4:30), you are easily forgotten about. Avoid being trapped by irate parents and tripping through the dark by holding your interviews in the safety of the main building.


• If you know a parent to be difficult, ensure that you have support for that particular interview by having the SERT or one of your administrators sit in on the interview. Remember that the purpose of the interview is to discuss student progress and strategies for improvement, not to defend your teaching practices.

Paramedical Benefits Coverage 101

With the stress of teaching, and the demands of life in general, many members use the professional services of paramedical practitioners to help them stay healthy. Our collective agreement provides coverage for a variety of paramedical practitioners and sets out the coverage level for each. Here's an overview of the coverage we have in our medical plan:

• Psychologist: Expenses of up to $100 per visit for treatment or therapy, to a maximum payment of $1000 per person, per calendar year **See the post from earlier in the week for more information about mental health supports available to members
• Speech Therapist, Podiatrist, Chiropractor, Osteopath, Chiropodist, Naturopath, Physiotherapist, Massage Therapist and Christian Science Practitioner: coverage of up to a total of $400 per person, per calendar year for EACH practitioner
• Important note: practitioners must be licensed, certified or registered within their recognized fields for coverage to be approved by Manulife. This is particularly important for MASSAGE THERAPY, where you must submit only expenses from registered massage therapists, and for the services of a NATUROPATH - they must be a licensed naturopathic doctor (a regulated profession in Ontario), NOT a Doctor of Natural Medicine (not licensed or regulated).

Shop 'til you drop

A handful of seats are still left on the bus for our social committee's Buffalo shopping trip!!

You can find all the information on the flyer that's posted on your ETFO bulletin board, but here are a few vital details:

When: Saturday, December 5, 2009 - pick up at 7:30 a.m./drop off at (approx.) 10:00 p.m.

Where: pick up/drop off at Sir William Stephenson PS in Whitby, then the bus will travel to the outlet mall in Lewiston, NY (four hours shopping) and on to the Walden Galleria in Buffalo (four hours shopping time)

How much: $20 per person. Send with registration form to the ETFO Durham office.

Each ETFO-Durham member may bring one guest each. Valid passports required by ALL participants!

Still room in the pension workshop!

We are holding our annual pension session on Thursday, November 26th at the local office, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. There are still some spaces left if you wish to register.

At this session, you'll learn the facts about your pension plan, including: years of service, the formula to calculate the amount of pension you'll receive, recent plan changes, etc. Plus, you can have your questions answered by a knowledgeable pension specialist from ETFO.

To link to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan website, click on the title of today's post. If you haven't already signed up for the iAccess web feature, you can do so there. This feature allows you to review your pension statement online, create different retirement scenarios (e.g., retire a year early or retire past your 85 factor), and change your address and beneficiary, etc.

For your information, in 2009 you will contribute:

10.4% of your annual salary up to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions and benefits limit, plus
12.0% of any salary above the CPP limit.

The CPP limit, which changes annually, is $46,300 in 2009.

Contributions are matched by the Ontario government and participating private employers (not school boards) on behalf of all members.

Feeling Really Stressed? Overwhelmed by work or life??

...then help is at hand.

Did you know that one of the benefits of our health plan with the Durham District School Board is access to an Employee Assistance program (EAP)? Our EAP is with Shepell-fgi (formerly known as "Warren Shepell"). Each teacher, as well as each of their family members, is eligible for two counselling sessions per school year. The EAP is a quick way to access counselling services, but members can also consider seeing a psychologist (benefits coverage provides $1000 per year, with a $100 per visit maximum), or having their doctor refer them to a psychiatrist (this is fully covered by OHIP, but a shortage of these doctors mean several months wait before an initial appointment).

Click on the title of today's post to link to the Shepell-fgi website for more information and resources. The following is a quick overview of the EA program:

Shepell-fgi phone numbers: 1-800-387-4765 (English); 1-800-361-5676 (Français)

When should I call Shepell·fgi?

Employees and their family members can call the EAP service, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for completely confidential support, information and assistance. From a personal crisis, to parenting questions, relationship issues to grief counselling, career matters to alcohol and drug concerns, EAP Support Specialists are trained to connect you with the help you need to deal with the issue at hand.

What can I expect when I call?

Assessment:
When you first call, you’ll speak with a qualified EAP Support Specialist who will assess your situation, risk, needs and preferences and guide you to the assistance best suited to resolving your issue. The specialist will ask you a series of questions, including the name of your organization to ensure you’re covered by a Shepell·fgi EAP.

Confidentiality:
Though the specialist collects information including your name, employer, address, reason for calling, etc., this information remains completely confidential and is never released to your employer. You can feel confident no one will ever know you've contacted your EAP, including your employer and co-workers. Steps in place to protect your privacy mean they never: schedule two employees from the same organization back-to-back; give your employer data which could identify you in statistical reports; leave identifying messages at home or work.

Support:
For crisis situations: The EAP Support Specialist ensures you receive immediate help, while urgent counselling matters are given an appointment within 24-48 hours.
For any other questions and concerns: The EAP Support Specialist is there to direct you to the right assistance in the format you’re most comfortable with, whether it's connecting you to a specialized program (such as e-counselling), linking you to a counselling appointment, or sending you a self-directed resource package.
Full Coverage: Payment for EAP services is fully covered through your employer (up to two sessions). With some exceptions, family members are also typically eligible for EAP services. If further counselling is required, you can ask your EAP counsellor to refer you to other assistance, such as a psychologist.

How to be a smartie-pants with the Smart Board

ETFO Durham's professional development committee is offering "Smart Start" on Wednesday, November 25th at Colonel Farewell Public School in Whitby. In this workshop, you will gain basic working knowledge of Smart Board Technology and how to apply this amazing technological tool in your classroom. The registration deadline is this Wednesday, November 18th. See your ETFO bulletin board for the flyer.

Special Education AQ comes to Durham ETFO!

We're very excited to be hosting, for the first time ever in our local, the ETFO Special Education Part 1 AQ course. We've hosted the ETFO Kindergarten AQ course for four years now and had great success with that, so we're hoping you'll find this course just as useful to your professional practice.

ETFO's Special Education Part 1 AQ has one of the lowest registration fees at $650, plus you can apply for local PD funding of $250 to off-set this cost, if you didn't access the PD fund this year or last. See the previous post about the PD fund for more information.

The course will be offered on Thursday evenings (4:30 to 9:00 p.m.) at the ETFO Durham Teachers' Local office, from January 7th to June 10th, 2010, (except for the week of March break) and two additional Saturdays - January 9th and April 17th. The registration deadline is December 14, 2009.

Click on the title of today's post to link you to ETFO's website and registration information, or click on the following link:

http://www.etfo.ca/ProfessionalDevelopment/AQCourses/SpecialEducation/Pages/default.aspx

Effective Leadership, Continued...

Yesterday's post highlighted Ken Leithwood's book "Teacher Working Conditions That Matter: Evidence for Change" and I had shared excerpts for three of the five recommendations for teachers. As Leithwood states, teachers "are the closest to the students and have the best chance to effect immediate change. But beware, teachers are only one part of this community. Their efforts can be undermined if they do not have constant support". Leithwood also makes recommendations for policy makers, unions, and principals/administrators.



The five recommendations for teachers are:

1. Build your own network of professional colleagues.
2. Be proactive about your own professional development.
3. Expect effective leadership from your administrators.
4. Insist on having a voice in decision making.
5. Put realistic boundaries around your volunteer work.

I left you hanging in the middle of the third recommendation (I love a good cliffhanger), so today's post will continue that and share the final two recommendations.

• Expect effective leadership from your administrators.

"What is the effective leadership you should expect?....Effective leadership is collaborative, consistent, friendly, instructionally expert, there when you need help, skilled in finding the resources you require, anxious to learn your views, reasonable in its demands, concerned about your welfare, and clear and explicit about priorities....

Some teachers will be inclined to the view that the principal is the boss, not someone they should try to influence, even if they knew how. Think about it again.

Few principals, except for some rookies, think they know everything that needs knowing in order to administer a school...Be kind. Don't deprive them -- share your views and advice. Let them know when they do something that works and let them know, diplomatically, when their decisions are questionable. Insist, gently but persistently, on being consulted. It is your school every bit as much as it is theirs. And you will likely be there much longer than the principal, so the stakes are higher for you than for her."

• Insist on having a voice in decision making.

"Having a formal role in decision making is crucial for teachers. Considerable evidence associates such participation with positive impacts on the internal states of teachers.

Providing for such participation is also a key leadership practice of effective school leaders. Such participation affords teachers the opportunity to share their work and the work of their colleagues as their professional know-how and experience would recommend. It reduces the likelihood that administrators will make ill-informed decisions on their own. It also ensures that leadership is distributed throughout the school."

• Put realistic boundaries around your volunteer work.

"Teachers work long hours during the school year, on average 53 hours a week. These hours are spent doing three jobs. Job One is everyday classroom instruction and the preparation and marking required for such instruction. This is an extremely demanding job in its own right...

The second job entails being a member of the school organization. The number of tasks associated with this job is potentially huge. For example: managing extracurricular activities for students; leading events at school; participating in district-wide curricular committees... (etc.) These activities are just the tip of the iceberg.

Being a member of the teaching profession is the third job. This might entail as little as voting on federation issues... or as much as serving as an executive member of the local or provincial body. Teachers have the least choice about the time they spend on the first job and the most choice about the time they spend on the third job....

...Teachers are widely known to be unusually committed to their work, often taking on much more than is reasonable because it seems like the right thing to do. However, when taking on more than is reasonable produces high levels of stress, reduces job satisfaction, or raises the spectre of leaving the profession, it is in no one's best interest...When workload demands begin to be overwhelming, learn how to say no."

Teacher Working Conditions That Matter: Evidence for Change

A few years ago, ETFO published a book written by Kenneth Leithwood, entitled "Teacher Working Conditions That Matter: Evidence for Change". This book makes a number of recommendations for improving teachers' working conditions, all of them supported with strong evidence, and it outlines the very strong connection between teacher working conditions and student learning outcomes.

The following is an excerpt from Chapter 4 "What Can be Done? Recommendations" and highlights some of the five interdependent recommendations for teachers.... I've abbreviated some of the section to make for a "quicker read".

• Build your own network of professional colleagues.

"....A network of professional colleagues - inside or outside the school - can be a powerful source of ongoing, informal professional development, contributing to both your pedagogical content knowledge, as well as your sense of professional self-efficacy.

A network...is an important source of those social supports that are the key to reducing anxiety, stress, and the likelihood of becoming burnt out. So stay connected especially when there seems to be too much marking to go to the staff room or out to lunch with your colleagues."

• Be proactive about your own professional development.

"....Professional development is typically associated with formally structured events, often located outside the school and usually designed and run by someone outside the school. Considerable evidence now suggests that the most powerful forms of professional development are often informal, are designed by teachers themselves, and take place in the teachers' own schools..."

• Expect effective leadership from your administrators.

"....Everyone (not just students) is influenced by the expectations of others. Administrators are no exception. You should expect effective leadership from your administrators, especially from your principal... It is a great disservice to your students and your school if you do not expect and have effective principal leadership. It is that important. Expect and demand effective principal leadership. What is the effective leadership you should expect?..."

STAY TUNED FOR PART 2 TOMORROW, WHERE KENNETH LEITHWOOD WILL ANSWER THIS IMPORTANT QUESTION!!!

And the survey says...

At ETFO's annual meeting in August, there was much discussion and debate about EQAO testing and where to go from here. Much concern has been expressed about EQAO testing since its inception - just one example is the many millions of dollars spent on standardized testing in Ontario each year, money which could be much better spent providing additional resources within our education system. Out of the debate at annual meeting, a motion was passed to conduct a survey of ETFO members.

In putting that original motion into action, the provincial Executive passed a motion to conduct a random sample telephone poll of members regarding their attitudes and beliefs about EQAO. Included in the survey are questions related to the usefulness of EQAO, support for random sample administration of the test, and support for a boycott of the administration of the EQAO tests. ETFO has contracted with Environics to conduct this poll and they will begin calling members this evening. The survey should only take about 5 minutes to complete. If you should receive a call from Environics, you are encouraged to participate!

A picture says a thousand words

Thought you might enjoy a few photos from our Annual Dinner at Deer Creek Golf Club last evening!



First Vice-President Gerard O'Neill presents Mary Lou Fallon with her 25 year pin!


Tanya Zappia of Romeo Dallaire Public School accepts the 2008-2009 Educator of the Year Award!


Linda Westendrop gives thanks on behalf of the retirees.



A newly retired Corliss Troy (on the left) accepts her bell from President Rachel Gencey.



Ingrid Thompson, our local's Honorary Life Member for 2009, displays her stained glass gift with Rachel.

On the left is our 2nd Vice President, David Mastin, with our guest Lou Vavougios, Superintendent of Education/Employee Relations.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Feeling Social? Mark your calendars....

A great time was had by all this evening at our local's annual dinner!  Congratulations to all our retirees and 25 year pin recipients, and congrats as well to our 2008-2009 Educator of the Year, Tanya Zappia of Romeo Dallaire Public School, and our 2009 Local Honorary Life Member, Ingrid Thompson!!  

A number of social events have been planned for the coming months - here's a quick sample of what your ETFO Durham Social committee is planning for you:

• A tasty Caribbean cooking class at the Real Canadian Superstore on Friday, November 13th - the deadline to register is Monday, November 9th;
• A Buffalo shopping trip to the Prime Outlet Mall and the Walden Galleria (4 hours each) on Saturday, December 5th - this trip is filling up very quickly, so register soon;
• A kid's cooking class in December at the Real Canadian Superstore where kids will make their own gingerbread house; and
• A 3-day New York City theatre and shopping trip on the March Break!

Check the ETFO bulletin board at your worksite for more details about these events.  Hope to see you there!

Long Term Disability 101

Long term disability is like most insurance:  you rarely think about it until YOU actually need it!  In order to qualify for LTD, you must be under the regular care of a physician and be considered "fully disabled" - this means that you are wholly and continuously disabled due to illness or bodily injury and, as a result, you are not physically or mentally fit to perform the essential duties of teaching.

Some quick facts about LTD:

• If you are actively at work, you MUST have LTD coverage - only those on a leave of absence are permitted to waive their LTD coverage;
  
• You pay 1.153% of your annual salary for LTD coverage;
• Your LTD premiums are deducted on the second pay of each month;
• You pay ALL of the premiums for your LTD, which means that should you be paid a disability benefit, it will not be taxable;
• The LTD benefit amount is 60% of your monthly earnings in effect at the date your benefit payments commenced, up to a maximum of $5000 per month, and paid for all 12 months of the year;
• While on LTD, your required contribution to the Teachers' Pension Plan will be deducted from your monthly benefits and paid through the DDSB;
• The qualifying period is 180 days OR expiration of your sick leave credits, whichever is later;
• The new cost of living allowance will provide a 2% increase per year for new claims, after the first 12 months of benefits.  This means that if your salary was $70,000., you would make $42,000 per year as your disability benefit ($70,000 x 60%).  After 5 years on LTD, the cost of living allowance would have increased your benefit to $45,462.  After 10 years on LTD, your benefit would be $50,193.   While not everyone who is on LTD will have a claim lasting 5 or 10 years, the reality is that we do have members who have been on LTD for over 25 years, and others in the range of 10 or 15 years.  You can imagine the financial difficulty this would create if there were no cost of living increase for such a long length of time. 

Your Benefits...

Many of us have opted for medical and dental benefits through the Durham District School Board.  As our employer, the Board pays 90% of the cost of the premiums for this coverage for full time teachers, as negotiated by ETFO, and we, as employees, pay the remaining 10% of the premium share. Long term disability (LTD) insurance coverage, on the other hand, is not an option when you are actively at work and we pay 100% of the premiums for this coverage- the employer pays nothing. This means that should you ever need to go on long term disability, your disability income will NOT be taxed.

Each year, the DDSB, as the plan administrator, must renew the contract with Manulife for our benefits.  As part of this renewal, the previous year's actual claims experience is taken into account, as well as changes we have negotiated through collective bargaining.  Any changes to premiums are typically made only once per year, in November, to minimize payroll changes.

This month, premium increases will take effect for all of our coverage - medical-dental, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) and long term disability.  

This month, you will notice a slight increase in the following benefit areas:

Group Life Insurance and AD&D

• Previous monthly rate was $0.133 per $1000 of coverage
• New monthly rate is $0.147 per $1000 of coverage  
• Remember that the Board pays 90% of this cost, so if you have $100,000 of coverage this would now cost $14.70 per month in total, and you would pay $1.47 0f that

Medical and Dental

• Previous monthly rate for SINGLE coverage was $115.75
• New monthly rate for SINGLE coverage is $117.93
• Previous monthly rate for FAMILY coverage was $317.83
• New monthly rate for FAMILY coverage is $324.45
• Remember that the Board pays 90% of this cost, so if you have SINGLE coverage your monthly 10% share has increased from $11.58 to $11.79, and if  you have FAMILY coverage your monthly share has increased from $31.78 to $32.45

Long Term Disability

• Previous premium rate was 1.061% of your annual salary
• New premium rate is 1.153% of your annual salary
• This premium increase is to cover our newest LTD benefit improvement:  a cost of living allowance of 2% per year for new LTD claims after January 2010 - I will post more about this issue tomorrow (Tuesday).  

Until then, be healthy!

Welcome Great Pumpkin!!

Hope you are enjoying this last day of the work week! Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour on Saturday night so you can savour that extra hour of sleep...

Today's post is about the Local Professional Development fund. While this is a very well accessed fund, many members seem to still be unaware of its existence. To find a copy of the Local's PD fund guidelines and application form, visit our local website at http://www.durhametfo.ca/ or click on the title of the today's post to link you there. Once into the main page, click on the "Forms" section in the left hand margin and you'll find the information there. Remember that you must be a member of the ETFO Durham Teachers' Local to access the fund (occasional teachers may have similar funds available from their ETFO local).

This year, there is $50,000. available in the PD fund budget, an increase of $5000 from last year's budget. This will enable more members to access money for their PD pursuits. Some general "rules" about the PD fund are:

• Completed application forms are to be sent to David Mastin at the ETFO Durham Local office;
• Each applicant may receive approval for funding up to a maximum of $250 or $100 plus the cost of an occasional teacher for one day;
• A teacher may be granted funding once every two years;
• The funds are available on a first-come, first-served basis;
• Funding may be used for workshops, conferences, professional materials, university courses and/or basic/additional qualifications courses. Professional materials that can be funded include laptop computers, books, professional magazine subscriptions, etc.;
• Funding MUST be approved two (2) weeks prior to the start date of the course/conference;
• The deadline to apply for PD funding for summer courses is June 15th.

Funds typically run out at some point each winter. If you already know of a conference or course that takes place in the late winter or spring, you should apply early to secure funding, before the fund runs out!

Have a great weekend and a happy Halloween!!

H1N1 Flu Update #2

The subject of H1N1 seems to have staff rooms abuzz this week!  Please continue to phone the local office with your questions and concerns - we are here to help you.  Also, check the previous posts about H1N1 for additional information (see the H1N1 category under "labels" to the right hand side of this  screen).  

As teachers, you are likely the first school staff to encounter your students as they arrive at school for the day.  You must be vigilant in watching for flu-like symptoms, both as students arrive at school, and throughout the school day.   Students who exhibit flu symptoms must be isolated immediately. School principals have been instructed to have an isolation area set up in order to minimize contact between ill students and the rest of the school population.   The reception area of the school office is NOT an appropriate "isolation area" as it is a high traffic area.  Once an ill student is reported by you, the teacher, the office should be contacting their parent/guardian to pick up their child.  Those ill with the flu are considered to be contagious until they are no longer exhibiting any symptoms - usually about 7 to 10 days.  Students should not be readmitted to school until they are symptom-free.

Symptoms of the flu include:

• Almost always:  sudden onset of cough and fever
• Common:  muscle aches, sore throat, headache, decreased appetite, runny nose
• Sometimes:  nausea, vomiting, diarrhea

For more information about the flu, remember to visit the ETFO website at www.etfo.ca and click on the blue H1N1 button on the main page (you'll find a live link to ETFO's website in the top right hand corner of this blog).  Also, you will find the Region of Durham's Health Department website to be a useful source of information - it includes up to date information about local flu clinics as well.  You can click on the title of today's blog post to go to their website.  Women who are pregnant should find the information brochure called "Pregnancy and the Flu" (under "Important Resources") to be particularly informative.  There are also tips about how to stay healthy (e.g. washing hands often, using alcohol-based hand sanitizer, getting vaccinated, etc.).  

Report Card Writing Time...

Yes, it's getting to be that time of year again - time to write report cards! Well, the good news is that this should be the last set of fall report cards, as a fall progress report replaces the fall report card in 2010 (see the previous blog post about report cards in the right hand margin).

This post is to remind you of the negotiated time that is available for writing report cards. Page 42 of the collective agreement includes a Letter of Understanding Re: Half Day Additional Time, which states that: "To provide additional time for planning, marking, preparation of report cards and such, the parties agree that the number of student contact days for teachers shall continue to be reduced by one-half day. The use of this one-half (1/2) day shall be determined by the teacher and be scheduled in agreement with the principal." This release time is available for all classroom teachers and prep coverage teachers, and any teaching portion of a SERT or Librarian assignment. Part time teachers, and SERTs/Librarians who teach part time, can pair up to share a half day.

Additionally, the June 4th, 2010, professional activity day will be a teacher-directed day for reporting purposes only. This means that staff meetings and promotion meetings cannot be held on this day. This time is solely for teachers to carry out the work associated with writing report cards. This provision is found on page 44 of the collective agreement, under section 2, "Release Time for Assessment, Evaluation and Report Cards". Beginning in 2010/2011, 2 PA days will be designated for the purpose of assessment and completion of report cards, prior to each of the two reporting periods (winter and June).

H1N1 Flu Shot Clinics

A few members have asked where they can obtain a vaccination for the H1N1 flu virus. The information is below, but you can also click on the title of this blog post, which will link you the related article on the "newsdurhamregion.com" website. The following information is directly from that news article on that website.

Durham Region Health Department is opening H1N1 vaccination clinics:

Opening Oct. 26 and Oct. 27:
Whitby at 3050 Garden St., (Garden St. and Rossland Rd. E.)
Pickering Town Centre (lower level near food court)

Opening Oct. 28:
Bowmanville - 2849 Hwy 2 (Hwy 2 and Lambs Rd.)
Oshawa - 850 King St. W., Unit 26 (King St. W.
and Thornton Rd.)
Uxbridge - 2 Douglas Rd. (Toronto St. S. and Douglas Rd.).

Clinic hours: Monday to Friday 2 to 8 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Initially, clinics will open for individuals who would benefit most from the vaccine, as outlined by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care as follows:

-people from six-months to 65 years-old with chronic medical conditions
-pregnant women with chronic medical conditions, or pregnant women who are greater than 20-weeks pregnant
-healthy children from six-months old to under five-years old
-persons residing in remote and isolated settings or communities
-health care workers
-household contacts and care providers of persons at high risk who cannot be immunized or who may not respond to vaccines.

Pregnant women less than 20-weeks pregnant with no chronic medical conditions are recommended to receive a unadjuvanted version of the vaccine. It is anticipated that unadjuvanted vaccine will be available by mid-November.

Hooray for Full Day/Every Day Kindergarten!

Well, the good news finally came this morning as the government announced that a full time teacher will be in each full day/every day Kindergarten classroom, as well as a full-time ECE worker. The average number of students in each class will be 26. The full implementation is planned across Ontario by 2015 (a change from the original 3 year implementation plan), with a total of 3000 to 4000 new teaching positions and 20,000 ECE workers by the end date. This is great news for our profession, and for Ontario children and parents!!

The Ministry of Education will ask school boards to volunteer by November 30 to be considered in the first wave of implementation in 2010. Schools must have the space available for new classrooms and there cannot be a day care currently operating in the school. They will announce in January which Boards will be included for September 2010 implementation. To read ETFO's press release, click on this link: http://www.etfo.ca/MediaRoom/MediaReleases/Pages/Children%20Will%20Benefit%20From%20Government%20Decision%20on%20Early%20Learning.aspx

H1N1 Flu Update

To start off, just a couple of items:  first, the Ministry of Education will be making a (long awaited) announcement early Tuesday regarding the full-day kindergarten issue.  Stay tuned, as the blog   post tomorrow will be about that announcement.  And second, just a reminder that our Fall General Meeting is on Wednesday, at the Royal Ashburn Golf and Country Club.  Hope to see you there!

As promised on Friday, today's post is about the H1N1 flu.  If you click on the title of today's post, this will lead you to the ETFO website, where you'll find the latest direction from ETFO, including a Q & A sheet.  The ETFO website will be updated on a regular basis.  As of last week, the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care provided checklists to school boards and school principals.   While ETFO believes that the Ministry should be providing stronger direction and leadership to school boards on this issue, the checklists are a positive first step.  More about the checklists in a moment...

If you have flu-like symptoms, you should remain at home and state that you are off work due to these symptoms.  Those members who are pregnant or medically fragile should consult with their physician as soon as possible about what to do if there is an outbreak of H1N1 at their school/worksite.  Our collective agreement contains the provision that if members are prevented by their physician from entering a particular classroom, school, or other premises of the Board, due to suspected or confirmed evidence of a communicable disease, they will be reassigned by the Board.  Members must be informed if there are students at their school/worksite that have the flu, and should not be responsible for supervising students who arrive at school with flu-like symptoms.  Also, any regular cleaning and additional cleaning of surfaces and items should be done by those who are trained to do so:  custodians.  

And finally, the checklist for schools and school boards...  

• The Board's pandemic plan and the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care's Guidelines for Prevention and Management of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 in Elementary and Secondary Schools have been shared with all school staff;
• The school is to communicate with the public health unit in the event of a case (or cases) of H1N1 at the school;
• Students, parents, and employees are to be informed about changes to the Board's plan and the status of any influenza-like outbreaks;
• Staff that may be pregnant, or that have underlying health issues, are to be informed immediately if and when an outbreak occurs;
• Hand washing facilities (and/or alcohol-based hand rubs) should be available and accessible for use;
• Students should be reminded on an on-going basis of appropriate infection prevention and control practices;
• A strategy should be in place to focus on cleaning high-touch/high-traffic areas; and
• A plan must be in place to minimize student and staff contact with ill students and to supervise ill students until they can be picked up by a parent or guardian.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us at the local office at (905) 666-1122 or 1-800-220-6912.  

Some Fast Facts for a Friday!

We're back at the office after a couple of busy and productive days at our local executive's planning session. At our executive meeting on Wednesday, your executive reviewed the nominations received for our Educator of the Year Award. I'm very pleased to announce that the recipient of the ETFO Durham Teachers' Local's Educator of the Year Award for 2008-2009 is....... (drum roll, please)......... Tanya Zappia, a Kindergarten teacher at Romeo Dallaire Public School in Ajax! Congratulations Tanya!!

The award will be presented at our Annual Awards Dinner on Thursday, November 5th at Deer Creek Golf Club. Our retirees and 25 year pin recipients will also be honoured at this dinner. Ticket sales ended today, but if you're quick, you should still be able to nab a ticket on Monday - use the order form sent to your school or call the local office at (905) 666-1122 to make arrangements.

Sam Hammond, president of ETFO, received a phone call today from the Minister's office indicating that Premier Dalton McGuinty will announce the government's plans for the introduction of early learning on Tuesday, October 27, 2009. ETFO will issue a media release following the announcement from the government. It is our hope that the government will follow through on their 2007 election promise and provide full-day/every day Kindergarten programs with qualified, university-educated teachers, and not go the ECE route. Ontario children deserve the very best quality education in these most important foundation years and ETFO members are best suited to deliver the kindergarten program! Click on the title of today's blog to check out all the excellent information on ETFO's website about the benefits of full day kindergarten for Ontario's children.

Stay tuned for Monday's post - it will be all about the H1N1 flu pandemic, with a focus on the direction that school boards and schools have received from the Ministry of Education and how the H1N1 flu relates to our collective agreement. Until then, have a fantastic weekend!

Working on your behalf...

Your local executive will be engaged in a planning session on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, so we will be taking an ever-so-brief reprieve from this blog for those two days in order to devote our energies to: holding our October executive meeting, planning Steward training for the year, team building, and working on aspects of our local executive's vision, such as enforcing our collective agreement and promoting members' professional confidence and autonomy. It's gearing up to be a busy and productive two days!!

Our treasurer for the last 3 years, Tom Lazor, is off on leave which necessitated an internal executive shuffle - as a result, Cheryl Fleury-Eekma was elected to serve as acting Treasurer for 2009-2010. Cheryl will now be dividing her time between Queen Elizabeth Public School (0.5) and the local office (0.5). Cheryl's former position as Political Action Chair/Member at Large was filled by Tim Snoddon, of Sunderland Public School, which in turn created an executive member vacancy to fill the position Tim vacated.

At this executive meeting, we're pleased to be welcoming the newest member of the team - Tina Rodway, of Westney Heights Public School. Tina was elected by the executive in September to fill the Executive Member vacancy for 2009-2010. Tina has been a Workplace Steward for several years, a Durham delegate to ETFO's annual meeting and has served on ETFO's Disability Issues standing committee for the last couple of years.

All this shuffling sounds complicated, I know, but now the executive is complete again and a year of challenging work is upon us. We are all committed to working hard on your behalf!

Countdown to the Local Fall General Meeting!!

Happy Monday!

Only 9 more days! Just a reminder that our Local fall general meeting is scheduled for next Wednesday, October 28th at 4:30 p.m. at the Royal Ashburn Golf and Country Club in Ashburn. This is a correction of the location stated in the first flyer that we sent to schools (which mistakenly showed the location as the local office). Ooops!! A new flyer has been sent to schools...

At this meeting, we'll update you on a number of emergent issues for members, as well as provide information regarding local union matters (such as an overview of the 2009-2010 fiscal year, and the status of the local PD fund).

Another reminder: tickets for the Annual Dinner and Awards Presentation (being held on November 5th at Deer Creek in Ajax) are on sale until this Friday, October 23rd. If you want tickets to the dinner, you must order them by this date as we need to get our final dinner numbers in by that date!

Hope to see many of you at these two great events!

Good news about report cards!!

Yes, that seems like an oxymoron, but it's true! The Ministry has released to stakeholders a draft policy document called "Growing Success - Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting: Improving Student Learning".   With a planned implementation date of September 2010, some of the elementary-level changes are two report cards and a fall progress report, new report card templates, new learning skills and habits to be reported on, and clarification regarding comments.  

The new reporting schedules call for a progress report for JK to grade 8 to be used between October 20 and November 20 of the school year. These are primarily checklists, with some space available for comments on strengths and next steps for improvement.  The first formal written report to parents will be sent home between January 20 and February 20, and the second will be sent home toward the end of June.   ETFO has long lobbied for a reduction in report cards, and these changes, along with the associated collective agreement language, should help to alleviate teacher workload.

On the topic of the collective agreement, don't forget that you should now know the submission dates for all report cards for 2009-2010, as of September 30.  You continue to have a half day of release per year, with occasional teacher coverage, to use for planning, marking, preparing report cards, etc.  Don't forget to book this time off each year!!  In addition, the first PA day in June 2010 is set aside for report card writing.   Next year, 2 PA days will be designated for completing report cards, with one day for each reporting period.  Finally, don't forget the newest language regarding report card editing:  "Every reasonable effort shall be made to limit requests for revision of report cards to no more than once in each report card cycle. Principals will provide specific direction to teachers regarding the revisions that are required. These requests and revisions shall be made in a timely manner" (Article 17.15 d).