Welcome Back!

Dear NESPA Member,

Welcome back---soon!    We hope you had a great summer, and are excited about the work ahead with our teachers and students!    You might want to save this info—or put it on your personal calendar.  

·         The first 2 non-student days are here:  Wednesday and Thursday, Aug 29 and 30.   The first student (school) day---and the first regular scheduled work day for Paraeducators, School Assts and Tech Specs, OT/PT Assts, Interpreters, Campus Supervisors, and the School Service Spec--- is the day after Labor Day: Tuesday, Sept. 4.     (Friday, Aug 31 is a non-work, non-paid day---a long Labor Day weekend day.)

·         Most NESPA members in the job titles listed above (those who work 180 days  + 11 paid holidays) will work on the two non-student days (Wed, Aug 29 and Thurs, Aug 30) using 15 of their Professional Hours for this purpose.  This is optional.    If the Principal decided not to schedule you for 7.5 of the 15 hours (on these 2 non-student days before school starts), then you can add 7.5 hours to your remaining 40 hours to use during the school year.  See the contract language below my signature if you want more info on that.   (RNs, Truancy and Mental Health Specs,and our Comm Schools Proj Coordinator are covered under Article 11.21, which is also below my signature.)

·         Nurses and others have probably already begun (using some of last year’s work days and/or Professional Hours)!   See below for the work year calendar for your job title.

·        Go to NESPA Work Calendars Tab for the work calendars for ALL NESPA members:

o   Para-Educators, School Assistants, School Tech Specialists, OT, PT, Interpreter, Campus Supervisor, School Service Specialist: AE 191

o   Truancy Specialist, Mental Health Specialist, Community Schools Project Coordinator:  AE 205/210

o   Registered Nurses:  AE 196

·        Go to Your 2012-2013 Accountable Days Tab school year for this year's                   Non-student Accountable Days.

o   Come to a 10 minute Association meeting at your school, which may be held on one of the 2 non-student days before school---or during the first week of school.  Find out what’s going on!   These meetings are being led by an NSEA (teacher) Building Rep, but will have important info for YOU!

o   Check out NESPA’s cool re-formatted INFORMATIVE web site:  www.nespablog.blogspot.com    Thank you to Nancy Celms for making this user friendly!!   By using tabs at the top of our webpage, you can find information more easily. For example, you can click on your Collective Bargaining Agreement, and do a word search to find ANYTHING!!

See you soon!   We are excited about the coming school year!  Peggy Sturm and Pat Waldrop are continuing as NESPA Co-Presidents (thank you!) and have great plans!

Good News from Election Night

The Primary Election is now over.  Results are still coming in, but it looks like good news in both the Jay Inslee race for Governor and the Rosemary McAuliffe race for State Senate.  Check the Secretary of State's website for detailed election results.

Despite this good news, there is still a lot of work to do.  The General Election is Tuesday, November 6th, and we need to make sure pro-public ed candidates are successful in Washington state.  Stay tuned--we'll have plenty of opportuinities for you to get involved. 

A big THANK YOU to everyone who came out to make phone calls and doorbell for Jay, Rosemary, and other pro-public ed candidates.  You made a difference!  Now, let's keep it up.