Article in The Williston Times

Dear Colleagues,

In the interest of keeping you informed, I am including a link to an article found online from one of the local papers about negotiations in Herricks. This identical article can also be found in the Jan. 31, 2014 edition of the Williston Times, entitled, "Teachers, board clash after 1st meet - Union prez blasts district for posting contract proposal online, sending in e-mail."

You can see the article online by clicking here

In unity,

Nidya Degliomini

President

Herricks Teachers' Association

BOE's Negotiations Update for the Community on Herricks' Website

Dear Colleagues,

We recently began negotiations on the Teachers' and Teaching Assistants' Contracts with the BOE and met only once. At that meeting we exchanged proposals. Our second meeting was cancelled due to the snowstorm on Tuesday.

We entered this process with expectations that negotiations were going to be very difficult during these trying times, but forged ahead as professionals wanting to work toward attempting to reach a fair successor agreement with the BOE.

On Friday afternoon, Jan. 24th, the BOE sent out a listserve memo to the community providing a "Negotiations Update for the

Update on Board Of Education Meeting Jan. 23, 2014

Dear Colleagues,

Hope you weathered well during the recent storm. I know dismissal was difficult and many of you had a very long, hard and dangerous commute home on Tuesday in the storm. Dismissal procedures during storms like this will be discussed with administration.

Below is a synopsis of the BOE Meeting on Jan. 23, 2014:

*Presentation by Stephanie Knowles on the M.S. Special Education Program

*It was reported that there was an increase of $422,000 in the State Aid Proposal for 2014- 2015. This equates to four classroom teachers. Board will wait for budget to see how

Update Jan.13, 2014

Dear Colleagues,

Happy New Year! As we begin a new calendar year we have much to be proud of and many tasks ahead of us. My hope is that 2014 brings you good health, happiness and success in all you do. My utmost wish is that we continue to join together to build a strong HTA that always works, supports and is there for one another.

Below is a synopsis of the BOE Meeting on Jan. 9, 2014:

*BOE met with H.S. students.

*Students submitted questions prior to meeting. Various topics discussed included: Common Core, cuts in programs, large class sizes, Tax Cap, Testing, lunch menu

Herricks Community Players Auditions!

The Herricks Community Players are holding auditions for their production of Funny Girl.

Details can be found here in the flyer.

Herricks Community Fund - 18th Annual Dinner Dance

Inequality for All

The EWTA (East Williston Teachers' Association) will be hosting a professional development opportunity for their members and would like to extend it to our membership as well.

On January 27th, 2014 from 4 to 7 the EWTA will be offering a 3 hour workshop that includes viewing and discussing the film Inequality For All. The screening and discussion will take place at The Wheatley School, 11 Bacon Road, Old Westbury, NY 11596.

The trailer for the film can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9REdcxfie3M

If you would like to join,

RSVP to Meryl Fordin runmbf@yahoo.com

A hard copy of the flyer

Week's Meetings & Events Dec. 16 - Dec. 20, 2013

Meetings and Events for Dec. 16 - Dec. 20, 2013

Mon., Dec. 16:

*PNC Meeting - Teaching Assistants - 3 p.m. C.C. Room 111

Tues., Dec. 17:

*HTA Executive Council Meeting - 3:15 C.C. Room 111

*PNC Meeting - 3:40 C.C. Room 111

*HTA Governing Board 4:00 C.C. Room 208

Wed., Dec. 18:

*Community Fund Meeting - 7:30 C.C.

Update on BOE Meeting Dec. 12, 2013

Here is a synopsis of the Board of Education Meeting on Dec. 12, 2013:

*Presentation on Shelter Rock Academy by Allison Barshak

*Discussion of InBloom. District parents set up meeting with Senator Martins to discuss InBloom. Senator Martins understands and is working to address concerns. Need to get legislators to stop InBloom. NYC suing Commissioner King & SED for releasing personal info. Senator Flanagan said to be sponsoring a bill to address InBloom concerns.

Comments by BOE and attendees:

"SED is out of touch with what's going on in education."

"State

Moratorium Postcards

Dear Colleagues,

Thanks for wearing your blue HTA t-shirts on Tues., Dec. 9th, The National Day of Action. It was a huge success at Herricks as many people proudly wore their t-shirts. In fact, Bill Youngfert, an HTA retiree even wore blue in support on a flight from Germany! As we continue to work together to change the tides and have our legislators listen to us we will now focus on postcard writing.

Three different Moratorium Postcards have been sent to each building that are addressed to Governor Cuomo, Regent Tilles and Senator Flanagan (the Chairman of the NYS Senate Committee on

News

Herricks Teachers' Association