NOVEMBER 2002

VOL. 13 NO. 4

• Identifying legislation that impacts CCASA, NASA, or the educational process in Nevada;
• Tracking legislation through the hearing process;
• Assisting with testimony and/or identifying the best spokesperson to present the testimony;
• Coordinating legislative strategy;
• Assisting in the candidate endorsement process; and
• Identifying the critical legislators for each piece of legislation and ensuring access by CCASA and NASA.

After more than a year and a half of negotiations, the District and CCASA reached an agreement on October 15, 2002. The CCASA membership unanimously ratified the Agreement on Wednesday, November 6, 2002, and the Board of School Trustees approved the Agreement on November 14, 2002, at their regular meeting.

The index of changes made to the Agreement was previously published in the Unifier and was also distributed at the general membership meeting in June. All of the changes previously agreed to between the District and CCASA have been implemented. The Agreement for

2001-2003 will be posted on the CCASA web site. The web site address is www.CCASA.net.

The CCASA negotiating team consisting of Jerry Boles, Mark Coleman, Dusty Dickens, Ken Fowler, David Harcourt, Linda Kemp, Mike Kinnaird, Ron Montoya, Jessie Phee and Stephen Augspurger is in the process of preparing for future negotiations. CCASA will notify the District by letter on or before February 1, 2003, of its intent to negotiate for the 2003-2005 contract. All CCASA members are encouraged to review the current Agreement and provide input for next year’s negotiations to Stephen Augspurger. Members will be formally surveyed for their input in December or January.

Please be reminded that any administrator planning to retire on or before June 30, 2003, must schedule a meeting with the CCASA staff and complete the form to participate in the retiree unused sick leave payout, retiree health insurance payout, and retiree life insurance / retiree long term care programs. THE FORM MUST BE COMPLETED AND FILED WITH THE CCASA OFFICE PRIOR TO MAY 1, 2003, IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THE JULY 2003 PAYOUT. Please call the CCASA office at 796-9602 if you have any questions.

CCASA is pleased to report that retirees participating in the CCASA / CCSD Health Insurance Plan will have the same level of dependent coverage as do active employees. Cigna recently notified CCASA that they will implement immediately CCASA’s request to provide the $2,000 dependent death benefit for retirees as well as actives. Cigna is the provider of the $50,000 life insurance plan provided to administrators and retirees as a component of the health benefits plan.

On Friday, November 1, 2002, the CCASA Administrators’ Advisory Council met with Superintendent Garcia. The Administrators’ Advisory Council consists of the CCASA Executive Board (Mark Coleman, Jerry Boles, David Harcourt, Kathy Kulas, and Barbie Holmes), Presidents of CCAESP and CCASSP (Del Bean and Doug Gougar), the non-licensed representative on the Representative Council (Dusty Dickens), and Stephen Augspurger.

Agenda items for the November 1, 2002, meeting and a brief summary of the Superintendent’s responses are as follows:

1. iNVest – CCASA requested that Mr. Garcia discuss the reinstatement of priorities that will be funded by the iNVest proposal. CCASA expressed the belief that input from administrators must be used in establishing priorities.

Mr. Garcia spoke extensively regarding the iNVest proposal. He indicated that the reinstatement of previously cut priorities is an important component of iNVest. Mr. Garcia stated that priorities included restoration of cuts made to secondary class size, adding additional elementary assistant principals, adding additional ECS and elementary counselors, providing additional custodians and maintenance positions, increasing $20 an hour money and substitute pay, and adding additional school office staff positions. Mr. Garcia indicated that employee raises will be the first priority if the iNVest proposal is not fully funded. Mr. Garcia stated that employee input will be sought out.

2. Elimination of the 4.5% High School Drop Out Rate – CCASA expressed concern that the continuation of the 4.5% drop out rate created an unfair hardship for high school staffing and was no longer an accurate drop out statistic.

Mr. Garcia recognized the difficulty of staffing high schools with the 4.5% factor and agreed to form a committee of principals to conduct an analysis and to make recommendations to the District.

3. Required Administrator Meetings – CCASA expressed the belief that the time of school administrators must be protected and that too many meetings are scheduled which negatively impact administrators.

Mr. Garcia agreed that there are far too many meetings and indicated a willingness to minimize the number of meetings that are scheduled. He stated that he would explore which regions had strong meeting requirements. Mr. Garcia stated that he would discuss this concern at the next cabinet meeting. He also indicated his interest in conducting an analysis to determine the most efficient method of distributing information. Mr. Garcia stated that meeting requests must be brought through cabinet for approval.

4. Teacher Training – CCASA expressed concern that the current procedures for teacher training results in too many teachers being pulled from buildings, creates a substitute shortage, reduces the quality of instructional time for students, and is not coordinated through one central location.

Mr. Garcia indicated that the District will attempt to establish a central function for scheduling teacher training activities. Mr. Garcia also indicated that an additional common release day for schools would be established to look at test data.

5. Proliferation of e-mail – CCASA expressed concern regarding the ever increasing volume of e-mail.

Mr. Garcia agreed with CCASA’s assessment that there was too much e-mail. He stated that the District was reducing the number of e-mail platforms by eliminating GroupWise. Additionally, he stated that discussions will occur regarding a more efficient use of InterAct.

6. Standardized Testing Practices – CCASA expressed concern regarding regional variations in standardized testing procedures.

Mr. Garcia stated that he was interested to see if the use of calculators by one of the regions would impact student performance on standardized tests.

7. Facility Usage – CCASA requested that Mr. Garcia provide an update on the progress of rewriting the facility use regulation. CCASA also expressed concern that usage rates must be reasonable and that principals would like input prior to the regulation being finalized.

Dr. Rulffes indicated that the revision of the regulation is nearing completion and that an update will be provided to CCASA for principal input.

8. Edison School Status – CCASA requested a status report on Edison Schools.

Mr. Garcia indicated that he did not anticipate expanding the number of Edison schools. He stated that while test score results were not yet available that there were a number of positives regarding the Edison schools. Early reports from schools are positive and parent involvement is up significantly. Mr. Garcia indicated that there is a disconnect between what is seen at the national level and what is seen in the District.

9. Vending Machines _ CCASA requested a status report regarding the District's position on the continued use of school vending machines.

Mr. Garcia indicated that the District no longer felt that school vending machines were an issue.

10. "From the Top Up" and "Principally Speaking" Meetings _ CCASA expressed concern that some administrators who had spoken out in meetings with the Superintendent later received calls from supervisors regarding their comments. CCASA's belief is that administrators should be able to speak freely to the Superintendent.

Mr. Garcia agreed with CCASA's position and reiterated his belief that the purpose of these meetings is to exchange information. Participants must be able to speak freely.

On November 7, 2002, the CCASA Representative Council held its regular monthly meeting. The major items discussed and/or actions taken during the meeting included the following:

1. The revenue, expenditures, and balances within the CCASA Association and Trust Fund Accounts were reviewed;

2. Old Business:

A. Negotiations – The final meeting was held with the District on October 15, 2002. The Agreement was unanimously approved by the membership on November 6, 2002. A complete listing of changes to the Agreement was provided. All changes to the Agreement have been implemented. The Board ratified the contract at the regular board meeting on November 14, 2002. CCASA will notify the District by letter on or before February 1, 2003, of its intent to negotiate for the 2003-2005 contract. Additionally, the Interest Based Negotiations training attended by members of the CCASA Negotiating Team was discussed;

B. CCASA / CCSD Health Insurance Plan – The schedule of open enrollment meetings was reviewed and efforts to assist retired administrators in the State of Nevada Health Insurance Plan were outlined;

C. EMRB Hearing – A status report was provided regarding the EMRB hearing which was held on October 21, 2002;

D. Administrators’ Advisory Council – Agenda items from the November 1, 2002, meeting and the Superintendent’s responses to those items were outlined;

E. iNVest – Superintendent Garcia attended the Representative Council meeting and outlined the various components of the iNVest proposal. The reinstatement of previously cut priorities related to class size, elementary assistant principals, ECS and counseling positions and additional clerical assistance were among those reviewed by Mr. Garcia. A motion was approved by CCASA to support the iNVest proposal; and

F. CCASA Web Site Maintenance – An hourly rate for outsourcing the ongoing maintenance requirements of the new CCASA web site was approved;

3. New Business:

A. CCASA Retreat – The feasibility of scheduling a Representative Council retreat in Mesquite during late January or early February was discussed. Potential discussion topics include negotiations for the 2003-2005 contract, administrative reclassification, CCASA member survey, legislative issues, and iNVest priorities. The CCASA staff will determine if the CasaBlanca Hotel in Mesquite will be available for an early February 2003 retreat;

B. CCASA Member Survey – This year’s member survey will be finalized at the February retreat;

C. Unused Sick Leave / Retiree Medical Assistance Projected Payments – Projected payouts for unused sick leave and retiree medical assistance were provided and approved. Information is currently being compiled to complete the actuarial review of the unused sick leave and retiree medical trust fund accounts. The review will be completed by Lebenson Actuarial and will be finalized sometime after the first of the year;

4. Committee Reports:

A. CCAESP – Del Bean, CCAESP President, provided an overview of meetings held with Dr. Orci and Dr. Rulffes. The ongoing priority of additional elementary assistant principals was discussed;

B. CCASSP – No report provided;

C. Legal – There were no new items or issues to report;

D. Reclassification – Mark Coleman, CCASA President, reported that five committee meetings were held in October. The committee is nearing the completion of its work. The next meeting will be held November 13, 2002;

E. Administrators’ Leadership Network – Stephen reported on the proposed activity recommended by this year’s ALN Committee; and

5. Executive Director’s Report _ Stephen provided an overview of the accountant’s report, the membership report, and a review of the various CCASA activities and the types of assistance provided to CCASA members.