Representative Council Meeting September 8, 2014

REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL MEETING
SEPTEMBER 8, 2014
Present:  Terry Mullenax, Hilary Smith, John Slonim, Cody Conway, Tom Millard, Nick Carpenter, Elizabeth Ruebusch, Amy Campa, Janine Hunsche, Anne Kuhn, Jenn Oden, Melanie Carr, Alice Bohn, Mark Richardson, Cherita Townsend, Julie Pfeiffer
Treasurer’s report:  Balance:  $8369.42
·        Foundation bricks:  $237.50;
·        HEPO will sponsor a table at POTH for attending members, cap of 10 tickets 
·        All dues are in except for deductions, will start in Oct.
·        We still owe Freking and Betz approx... $1600, Negotiations hours + travel @ $200/hr.
·        He has reviewed Constitution, nothing on horizon that we need from attorney.  Any issues this year have already been handled in house. 
·        We will watch use of dues and re-evaluate the dues for future years.
·        Each school will determine a Jeans day for a purpose to be determined within building.  Send Janine the purpose and the desired date. 
·        What about a PD grant?  Idea:  IHEPO provide $ to member to attend PD, then return as teacher leader to share with larger organization.

I.  Dates
A.  The Board Meeting on Tuesday, September 9 will be attended by Tom, Cherita, Jenn, and
      Anne.                                                                                                                                          -
Tom and John have switched…see Tom for details on how that works.
B.  The Contract Celebration will be on Friday, October 3.  Time and place still to be determined.                                                                                                                                      -
Separate checks, discounted beers, not a reserved room, but a reserved space, details to be shared                      in an invitation.  Tap House Grille (old Willies) Admin/Board/Attorneys invited.
C.  The 403(b) Informational meeting will be on Wednesday, October 8.                                        -Time and place still to be determined.  HS cafeteria/HS MP room reserved, possibly two sessions.                      Send back interest survey.
II.  403(b) Informational Meeting
A.  Presenters are Doug Wondrely and Amanda Sawyers from Charles Schwab & Co.                                        -
Schwab is not on our availability list so this presentation is more objective, just informational not                                sales pitch.
B.  Intent is to educate all school employees about retirement investing with a strong emphasis on
     starting early and reducing fees.
C.  Flyers will be distributed every Tuesday and Thursday beginning Tuesday, September 9.
     These flyers are to create interest in the topic and announce the meeting date.
     These flyers are attached for your viewing.  Our use of flyers instead of email is intentional.
      We will need help distributing these flyers in each building.                                                                                                                                                   -
Distribution Volunteers:  PS- Jenn, ES-  Mark, MS-  Nick 
D.  A survey will be sent via email on Wednesday, September 17 to faculty, administrators, aides,
      secretaries and the Board office.  A paper survey will be distributed to bus drivers and
      maintenance/custodians.  The surveys will be to ascertain interest in a meeting, preferred time
      of meeting and knowledge of investing.                                                                                              -
Completed by 26th for planning.  Reminder email will provide details on time and location.

-Logo:  good as is, more art than logo…try removing last circle making O the lightbulb, remove bottom gray circle;  Julie to revise and seek feedback.

III.  Buildings
A.  Is there something to celebrate in your building?
B.  Is there something to improve upon in your building?
-Lounges?  ES Playground?  Look around, ask around…May be something the Foundation can help with.

IV.  Sharing from Committees
-What about T-shirts?  Available for  members to purchase.  Use lightbulb logo.  Tom wants a belt buckle.
A.  Communications Committee:
B.  Social Committee:                                                                                                                       -
Homecoming Parade/Picnic?  Get feedback…boosters have a grill out, open to public, rather than                 compete, we could plan to attend that.
-Amy Campa to make Boosters contact, forward info to Cherita
C.  Community Connections Committee                                                                                           -Kim is swimming in ideas for Community Connections, see her email and pick something fun to do.

V.  Idea to communicate the change in morale with the School Board
This might sound a little cheesy but give it a chance.  We all know that morale is much better in our schools but I don’t think the Board is necessarily aware of that.  I have heard comments from teachers like “I don’t have to work 5 jobs anymore,” “My husband and I are going to buy a house,”  and “My daughter can stay in college.”  These are not frivolous expenditures.  These are part of life and not having to worry about covering these expenses makes life better.  I think we need to convey that to the Board.  Maybe we purchase or make a large “thank you” card from each building with comments like these and present them to the Board members at the Board meeting in October.  As an added benefit, Forrest Sellers from the IH Journal and Andrea Brady from IH will pick this up as a story and it will be shared with the community.  Thoughts? 
Idea Pool:  Ask for volunteers within buildings to share with the board how we have spent the lump sum check, and how much we appreciate it.  Recognize it was not a gift…but focus on the collaboration , the impact on morale.  What about a video?  Snippets from multiple teachers.  What about a letter to the editor of IH journal?  Ad in Community Press?  Get staff members to attend board meetings without a request but a thank you.  Flash Mob at Board Meeting (Tom again).  Thankgiving Board Meeting: things we are thankful for…compilation of ideas.
Moving forward:  Ad in Journal now…compilation idea in November.  Tom will you write the ad?  Include the accomplishments of our students as a reflection of our quality work:  US News and World Report ranking, test scores, etc.  Terry Mullenax to begin work on ad copy.

VI.  Other items for discussion  
·        Mission statement to be on our blog:  taken directly from Constitution, adjust language to include school nurse rather than nurses, and school psychologists.
·        Copy of constitution given to each member.  Shared/Teachers/IHEPO will have the finalized contract.
·        Sick Leave Bank…Terry will contact Julie Toth for details on how new teachers can donate a day, what happens to retired teachers’ contributions?

JMP

9/9/14