QUOLKE’S CORNER #49
THE TRANSFORMATION PLAN/RUMORS II
Throughout the past few weeks, rumors have abounded regarding school closings, school redesign, staff reassignment as well as possible layoffs. Most of the rumors/ leaked information have centered on all of the District’s Senior Management meetings behind closed doors regarding Dr. Sanders forthcoming “Transformation Plan”. While the CTU has been shutout of the discussion on this plan and relatively kept in the dark regarding next steps, by most accounts it seems the district will release this “Transformation Plan” on or about Tuesday, December 8th. While this will no doubt make this a very informative week, it will also create a very stressful week and certainly a week which will be followed by more and more rumors about what lies in store for the next school year.
One consistent question our Executive Board members and I hear weekly, if not daily, is what does the CTU know and why aren’t we telling our members? The reality is the CMSD has made a conscious decision to exclude CTU from the dialog on what the district transformation plan will look like. Most, if not all, of the information coming our way is from our Reps and members who are hearing information passed on from a variety of sources….some believable, some not. It is pretty clear, that information whether intended or not has been leaked and found its way to principals, other administrators, and our members. None the less, the district is going out of their way to keep the CTU in the dark. The CTU does not know “the list of school closings”, “what schools will be reconstituted or redesigned”, or “if there will there be layoffs”.
Rather than address each individual rumor, I want to take some time to address them globally and how our Collective Bargaining Agreement applies to these areas.
LAYOFFS…The district constantly refers to the need to right size when it discusses possible school closings. While the district has not mentioned layoffs to the CTU at this point, it is certainly being mentioned at various meetings occurring throughout the district. Numerous CTU members have contacted our offices with reports of layoffs being mentioned by district leadership at these meetings. Given thesimilarity to the budget deficit we faced during the layoffs in 2004, we are not ignoring the possibility of areduction of force. We will explore every opportunity and alternatives to avoid layoffs. Our layoff language is outlined on p. 94-95 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Please understand…there is no exemption from layoffs for staff in any MOU school. This process is part of our CBA and could only be changed through a vote of the membership upon the completion of negotiations.
NEGOTIATIONS… Many of the rumors speculate on why the district is refusing to meet with the CTU to begin negotiations and what will happen if they never agree to meet. The CTU has been pushing since July to get the negotiations moving. We had the opportunity to reopen negotiations when we did not receive our 3% raise and the working spouse provision went away. Our belief has always been that many issues would take time to work through to get an agreement. Inclusion, special education, working spouse, are complicated issues and will take time. Likewise, the District’s Transformation Plan will result in a good deal of that plan having to be negotiated. Nonetheless, with the exception of our 3% raise and working spouse, our entire contract is intact. State law and our CBA, Article 31 Section C (p. 158), lay out the next steps for negotiations. Unless we agree to a different time table, negotiations will begin and if no settlement is reached we go to a fact-finding process with any potential fact-finding report due to the parties no earlier than the third Monday in May (May 17, 2010).
RECONSTITUTION… Reconstitution (replacing all staff in a building with new staff) is a word that has received considerable attention in discussions involving the District’s Transformation Plan and what that means to our schools. Our CBA outlines this, Appendix G. Schools Requiring Intervention, on p. 216-220. The CTU took the lead in getting the Academic Intervention Team (AIT) functional in the summer of 2008. The district identified 10 “Turnaround” schools that are in the AIT and collaborated with the CTU on interventions and supporting these schools. These are the only schools that can be considered for reconstitution. The next steps are for the AIT to recommend, no earlier than June 1st and no later than July 1st one of three outcomes:
*School has demonstrated improvement and no longer is in need of intervention;
*School has not demonstrated improvement but is on the right track and should continue to receive support;
*School has not demonstrated improvement and should be reconstituted.
The final decision to reconstitute rest with the CAO and CEO.
SCHOOL CLOSINGS…Perhaps the most pervasive rumors are those on the number of schools to be closed. The Boston Consultant Group presented a rubric that the district is using to give each school a rating. By now, most everyone believes the ranking system has been completed and the district has ranked every school to use in determining which schools will close. While we have not seen any list, it is not unreasonable to believe that one does in fact exist. How many school closures, which ones will close and when they will close are unknown to the CTU. Our CBA (p. 10 Article 2, Section 11) calls for CTU representation the school closing committee if a formal committee is formed by the district. It is unfortunate and ultimately a waste of valuable time that the district chose to exclude us on the “advisory group” created for the Boston Consultant Group, when we will be involved once the formal process begins.
Finally, at the Board work session on December 1st, the Board reviewed a proposed change to board policy involving the suspension of contracts for principals, assistant principals and school based administrators. The proposed change expanded both the reasons and criteria for suspending these contracts and in general would give greater power to central office in determining which administrator contracts they want to suspend.
While many rumors continue to make their way throughout the district, be reminded our Collective Bargaining Agreement remains intact. The CTU will continue to advocate a greater role in developing school reform initiatives in our schools. We are professional advocates for our kids and will be the ones to move this district forward.
In Union,
David