September 19, 20032003-2005 TEACHER SALARY SETTLEMENTS To date, your MSBA has received 12 teacher salary settlement reports. As such reports are received and verified, they are posted on the MSBA web site .(www.mnmsba.org) – simply go to “Management Services,” then “Green Sheets,” and then “Teacher Settlements” to find that information. At this time, based on the reported settlements, the average total package percentage increase over the 2003-2005 period is 7.87%, and the average total package dollar increase is $4,292. However, the current settlements are “front-end loaded,” so the average total package percentage and dollar increases for 2003-2004 are 4.15% and $2,210 respectively, and the same figures for 2004-2005 are 3.72% and $2,082. Please be reminded that, by front-end loading a two-year settlement, the actual cost is greater than if the settlement were rear-end loaded. Also, please be reminded to report your teacher salary settlements to your MSBA as soon as possible after ratification. Your MSBA staff is aware of at least another dozen settlements that have been ratified but not reported, and districts which have not yet settled rely heavily on that information, so please report it in a timely fashion.ACTIVE DUTY PAY – SURVEY RESULTS At the request of several MSBA member districts, your MSBA staff conducted a survey in late August to find out how many districts are actually paying their employees who have been called to active duty more than is required by Minnesota law (i.e., M.S. 192.26 and M.S. 192.261). The survey was conducted by e-mail to all Minnesota superintendents, and 108 responses were received. Of the 108 responses, 72 districts (or approximately 67%) indicated that they do not pay more than is required by law; 34 districts (or approximately 31%) indicated that they had not had to address the issue, so they could not answer the question either affirmatively or negatively; and 2 districts (or approximately 2%) indicated that they do pay more than is required by law. The results of the survey can also be found on the MSBA web site under “MSBA Current Topics.”REGIONAL SCHOOL LAW SEMINARS – OCTOBER 22 AND OCTOBER 29 MSBA is once again teaming up with the Rider Bennett Law Firm to provide free School Law Seminars to school board members and school administrators during the month of October. These regional seminars will focus on issues relating to “Employee Leaves of Absence,” “Investigations of Employee Misconduct,” and “Legal Principles for Principals: Issues in Student Management.” The seminars will run from 1:00-4:30 p.m. at the following locations: October 22 at Alexandria; and October 29 at Grand Rapids, Mankato, and Moorhead. These seminars are a great way to stay attuned to the daily problems school administrators need to address. Watch the MSBA web site for more details and registration information.NEW STANDARDS/TRANSITION Your MSBA staff has been receiving many questions from MSBA member districts relative to the new state standards as well as the process to be used in transitioning from the “Profiles of Learning.” Posted on the MSBA web site – under “MSBA Current Topics” – is the Commissioner of the Department of Education’s “Commissioner’s Standards Transition Memo.” For further information regarding this topic, your MSBA staff recommends that districts contact Beth Aune (651-582-8751) or Mike Foster (651-582-8286), both of whom are with the Department of Education. For help in clarifying a district’s position on the arts standards, please contact Pam Paulson at the Perpich Center (763-591-4708).NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND At the beginning of the school year, school districts are required, under the NCLB Act, to provide parents with notification of their rights as relates to receiving information about their child’s Title I teacher or paraprofessional. Notification letters have been developed by both your MSBA and the Department of Education, and they are posted on the NCLB page on the MSBA web site – simply click on “State Department Parental Notification Letters” under “Things to Know; Things to Do.” For further information, please contact Jessie Montano at the Department of Education (651-582-8784).Clarification and Additional Information:
PARENTAL NOTIFICATION – NCLB
The September 19, 2003, MSBA Management Services Newsletter summarizes the requirement from NCLB that, at the beginning of each school year, Title I schools must inform parents of their right to receive information on the professional qualifications of their child’s teachers. The Department of Education has asked MSBA to clarify this statement. The parents of all children in all Title I schools have the right to receive this information regarding teachers’ qualifications regardless of whether their child is receiving Title I services.
Information about these letters as well as sample copies in multiple languages may be accessed on your MSBA website at www.mnmsba.org. Look under the “Leading Resources” heading, click on the “No Child Left Behind Resource Page,” scroll down to “Things to Know; Things to Do” and click on “State Department Parental Notification Letters.” For additional information, contact Bob Lowe at your MSBA office.
NOTICE DELIVERY
Your MSBA staff has been asked several times recently whether the notice described above needs to be delivered to parents via first class mail. Greg Marcus, Minnesota Department of Education NCLB Specialist, has informed MSBA that the law does not require that the notice be sent by mail but only that schools meet the requirement that they “notify the parents of each student attending any school” receiving Title I funds. Districts, therefore, could not use a local newspaper for the notice, because that does not assure direct contact with each parent. However, districts could use public or private written instruments that guarantee delivery to each parent in a Title I school. VIOLENT STUDENT POLICY MSBA’s violent student policy is now updated and available to members of MSBA’s Policy Services in the MSBA Policy Manual as Policy #529, “Staff Notification of Violent Behavior by Students.” Districts with questions relative to this revised policy should contact Cathy McIntyre, MSBA’s Director of Policy Services, at your MSBA Office.SCHOOL EMPLOYEE INSURANCE PLAN STUDY AND DESIGN COMMITTEE This committee has been meeting for over a year now and is in the process of developing its recommendations to the Legislature (due in January, 2004). In addition to plan design and premium cost, two of the major issues being discussed by the committee involve mandatory vs. voluntary participation and funding. To remain current relative to the progress of this committee, MSBA members are invited to read the meeting minutes. Those minutes are posted on the MSBA web site under “MSBA Current Topics” – just click on “SEIP Committee Minutes.” Also, if you have any opinion relative to whether or not the committee should recommend to the Legislature that participation be mandatory for all Minnesota school districts or voluntary on their part, please feel free to contact John Sylvester at jsylvester@mnmsba.org.LABOR DAY START IN 2004 Your MSBA staff has received several calls recently regarding the starting date for the 2004-2005 school year. With the Labor Day holiday scheduled for September 6 in 2004, districts are questioning whether they can begin school before that date. M.S. 120A.40 states, “a district must not commence an elementary or secondary school year before September 1.” Although there are limited exceptions to this rule, school may begin in any given year on September 1 or any day thereafter. In 2004, districts may begin holding classes prior to Labor Day. Before making the decision to start prior to Labor Day, MSBA recommends that districts review the many issues related to such a decision.PARAPROFESSIONAL TRAINING Minnesota Statute 120B.363, Subd. 3, directs schools to provide all paraprofessionals with initial training and orientation within 60 days of supervising or working with students. This training must include, “training in emergency procedures, confidentiality, vulnerability, reporting obligations, discipline policies, roles and responsibilities, and a building orientation.”Return to Management Services Newsletter Home Page
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