The
January 10, 2005 HEA Faculty Council Meeting in the High School Library was
called to order 3:35 p.m. by President Nikki Van Ess.
A motion to accept the minutes of the December 20, 2004 Faculty Council Meeting was presented by Vida Story and carried by unanimous vote.
OFFICER’S REPORTS
Treasurer. Lorelei Kaminsky presented the Treasurer’s Report. A motion to accept the report as presented was made by Vida Story and was carried by unanimous vote.
Corresponding Secretary. The Corresponding Secretary had no report.
Recording Secretary. The Recording Secretary had no report.
President. Nikki Van Ess requested a building representative for the 5ive6ix School to replace Christine Romano. Delivery of the HEA T-shirts is expected within two weeks. Nikki encouraged all to wear the T-shirts at the March 21 Faculty Council HEA Meeting. Another T-shirt order will be made the end of January. A lunch meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 24 to discuss Quality of Life Issues in the High School. Nikki is continuing to follow up with the testing and development concerns regarding certification of paraprofessionals.
School Reports. Individual school reports were discussed.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Membership. A Membership Committee Chairperson is needed to replace Sue Young. The Chairperson will be responsible for keeping records of those who are now active and updating the membership list.
Election. Madalena Zak is the Election Committee Chairperson.
Negotiations. Louis Ferrante is seeking one representative from each school for the Negotiations Committee.
Legislative. Vida Story attended a L.A.T. meeting at which every single representative from NJEA attended. Wayne Dibovsky and Norm Danzig were speakers who again stressed the importance of writing letters to our state Senate and Assembly representatives. It is vitally important to get two bills passed (A836 and S1125) that would guarantee medical benefits. Vida also noted that people are calling for property tax reform and the state is considering a constitutional convention to address the issue. The NJEA is strongly opposed to a constitutional amendment. According to Wayne Dibovsky, this could very well affect tenure and benefits, even for those who have already retired. To enter the web site, use the number on the back of the NJEA card and the last four digits of the Social Security card. President Nikki Van Ess added that the Board of Education has been just as active as the HEA members have been in the letter-writing campaign. Vida noted upcoming dates of importance: April 11--Filing for Governor, April 19--School Board Elections, June 7--Primary Day, and November 8--Election Day.
T.A.L.C. President Nikki Van Ess stated that Vice President Fran Borg is still collecting T.A.L.C. reports.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION. There were no recommendations.
OLD BUSINESS. There was no old business.
NEW BUSINESS. There was no new business.
ANNOUNCEMENTS. There were no announcements.
ADJOURNMENT. On motion by Vida Story, with no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Melanie Stagg
Recording Secretary