Minutes - October 19, 2022
Welcome and Celebrations
Dr. Ellis greeted everyone. Early College is ¼ through the school year tomorrow! Women's tennis at MCHS first conference champions. MCEC beta club, and WMS beta club working to be tutors. Green Ridge has had a wonderful start to the year.
The purpose is for Dr. Ellis to keep everyone up to date, and also for staff to bring questions to Dr. Ellis. It is about communication and being honest about the reality. The Certified Staff Advisory meets 3 times a year.
Budget Updates
We are operating on one of the best budgets we have seen. Everyone should have seen an increase. Supplements are up and bonuses have increased. We have bumped up the salary to retain and encourage employees to join MCS. Classified are up to $15 an hour. The budget has valuable benefits; the benefits are 40% of your salary. Employment costs have increased (insurance, retirement.) For those who are getting ready to retire, MCS has to pay 24.5% of their salary toward their retirement. We will continue to look at the supplements. Teaching supplements have increased, but it is a work in progress. The main concern is to make sure people have jobs, ADM has decreased and adjustments are made to retain jobs. If you want to be here and you do your job, you will keep your job. This 5% raise is the biggest in two decades. Overall, we are in the best shape we’ve been in roughly 5 years.
Dr. Ellis asked if there were any questions. There were none.
Student Data
Dr. Ellis spoke about student data. We scored higher in 13 out of 17 tested areas than we did pre-COVID. 15 out of 17 of the areas met or exceeded growth. School letter grades are based on 80% proficiency and 20% on growth. Hopefully, we will move to be scored 50/50, but the letter grade does not reflect what is happening in our classrooms. We are proud of what is happening in Montgomery County Schools. There is one F school, and 5 D schools in the county. It is important to remember that a phenomenal job took place in all the schools. We made tremendous growth. Tillery Charter is at 15% proficiency. All the staff have a part in making the day better for the kids. Everyone plays a crucial role. Phenomenal job from every MCS employee.
New Licensure/Pay Model
The new licensure plan will move forward after revisions. The job of state is responsible for paying teachers for the job they do. The evaluation process will determine the rate for those who don’t have standardized test scores. Some versions of the plan we will present to the General Assembly, but we are unsure of how it will be funded. Dr. Ellis is an advocate for taking any money that would be advocated for this model and spreading it among all teachers. He has communicated that at the state level.
Questions?
What are the required daily work times?
The daily work times are 7.5 hour contract time + 15 minutes for no days. The expectation is that principals be equitable about it. 7 hours and 45 minutes is your basic day, but, as salaried employees, teachers can and do work longer. Principals are asked to make sure the same ones aren’t staying for all the after-school stuff. Spread it around so you are fair with everyone.
Lack of work days for elementary schools. Teachers do not have enough time for planning in general. We don't have enough time to plan for lessons or interventions. We don't have enough time to grade or plan. We get 45 minutes (which in reality we don't get the whole time). Professional development has continued to be stacked on our plate with PDs that we have not requested. Things are continuing to be added to our plate and nothing is being taken off.
We pushed off as much training as we could with COVID. Then we had the hurricane day, which took another day. We will talk about how to lighten the load on our teachers, and talk about days. This year was the year we dreaded. We know, and we will have that discussion with administrators.
I'm with ESS and I have no Sick Leave and no Annual Leave. ESS stated that it is up to the school to give it to ESS workers. Any update?
Employment cost are so high, that is why we contract through ESS. They are valued and encouraged to apply for any MCS-classified job that is open. It is up to the school system to provide them annual and sick leave. It comes down to cost analysis.
Mecklenburg, Cabarrus & Stanly counties are all moving to an early start calendar for Fall 2023. Does Montgomery County plan to follow suit?
No, we will not follow suit. We are planning to provide two options (this will have no impact on elementary, middle, or MCEC, but MCHS/MLA) using an innovative standard scheduling model where we end first semester before Christmas. We are still working on details, but more info will be coming through the calendar committee.
Schoolwide Internet first thing in the morning. We are really struggling.Sometimes it takes till 10 o’clock before things are up and running well. Are we doing anything to address this need?
Dr. Ellis will share this with the technology staff.
Would we receive a stipend for LETRS training?
It had been discussed. We will continue the discussion. It is a state requirement, it is not an MCS initiative. We waited as long as we could before throwing it on our teachers. The early literacy coordinator position was to supplement training. We had it posted and interviewed. But the state said they would hire for us. They are not going to work for MCS, they will work for DPI. They are running them through the region (Scotland County) and be stationed here in Montgomery County.
LETRS training, are we affiliated with A&T and Pembroke? Could we use it for course credit for our master's?
We will have a discussion with them to find an understanding benefiting our teachers.
Has the calendar committee discussed having online learning days as opposed to a no-day when school is canceled due to weather or other reasons?
Our kids do not benefit from online learning. We have documented proof that it does not benefit them. Dr. Ellis understands and appreciates the question, but he cannot support online learning days. We will not do it.