The meeting was called to order by President Barbara English at 3:30 p.m..

Roll Call

Officers
President	Barbara English	Present
Vice-President	Deb Carty	Present
Treasurer	Jo Bononno	Absent
Recording Secretary	Charles Nowalk	Present
Corresponding Secretary	Marilyn Shober	Absent

Guests: Joan Ricker, chairperson of Scholarship & T-shirt committees and John Magrini, representative of Prudential disability insurance.

John Magrini gave a short presentation on the open-enrollment period for Prudential's disability insurance. Anyone interested in enrolling, or looking over your current policy, can call John at 1-800-704-1365 x108.

Treasurer's Report: Barb presented the treasurer's report for September. Motion to accept the treasurer's report was made by Chuck and seconded by Linda. Passed unanimously.

Secretary's Report: Motion to accept the minutes of the September 11, 2007 meeting was made by Deb and seconded by Matty. Passed unanimously.

Committee Reports:

1. Membership:
   1. Chuck passed out membership rosters by schools and asked the building reps to please update and get back to him ASAP.
   2. Also passed out signature forms for teachers to sign off on in order to receive a ballot for next Wednesday's vote on new athletic salary guide. Collect all ballots in a secure container and location. Do NOT count. Bring ballots to room A106 at the middle school at the end of the day where they will be counted.
2. Ed Council:
   1. Next meeting is Oct. 18, 6 p.m., at the Early Childhood Center.
3. Health & Safety:
   1. Barb reported that a NJEA sponsored-workshop is scheduled for Saturday, 10/20. Contact Barb if you are interested in attending.
4. WCEA:
   1. Susan Dalrymple reported that the meeting was inspirational but that more members are needed to attend. Looking for someone to represent Warren County on the NJEA's Urban Education committee.
5. Social:
1. Deb reported that the Deli Trip filled up very quickly.
2. Considering a 'Cruise to Nowhere' next September. Details will be forthcoming.
3. Looking for more volunteers to assist on the Social Committee.
6. Scholarship:
   1. Joan reported that the committee recommends the week of Oct. 16 thru 23 for this year's PEA/John Pokrivchak Philanthropic Fund drive. Motion to set the date as such was made by Chuck and seconded by Linda. Passed unanimously.
   2. Motion to draft a letter to retirees in PEA Retirees' database soliciting donations for the Philanthropic Fund was made by Chuck and seconded by Deb. Passed unanimously.
   3. Motion to wear PEA t-shirts and khakis on Fridays in support of paras & security guards who are without contracts starting Friday, Oct. 12, was made by Deb and seconded by Matty. Passed unanimously.
   4. Motion to set the price of PEA round-neck t-shirts at $7 was made by Joan and seconded by Deb. Passed unanimously.
   5. Motion to set the price of the PEA collared golf shirts and collared v-neck shirts at $18 was made by Brenda and seconded by Matty. Passed unanimously.
   6. Motion to have all PEA shirt orders in by Nov. 15 was made by Carol and seconded by Nadine. Passed unanimously.
   7. Motion to provide $200 for t-shirts for new PEA members for the 2007-08 school year was made by Deb and seconded by Susan Dalrymple. Passed unanimously.
   8. Click here to see the new collared shirts on the PEA website.
7. Grievance:
   1. Chuck read an e-mail from Kevin Mahony, chair of the Grievance Committee that noted four (4) grievances are currently in the works.
   2. The first grievance deals with the extra half hour the high school spent on Oct. 2 for a SHARP presentation.
   3. The second grievance deals with the same issue for elementary & middle school with regards to various types of training.
   4. The third grievance was filed on behalf of the security guards who were not paid overtime for days worked in August which is before their contractually agreed-upon starting date for a new school year.
   5. The fourth grievance was filed on behalf of an employee at the Early Childhood Center who is seeking compensation equal to what s/he would be making in her/his original position.
8. Negotiations:
   1. Barb reported that there is still no 'hard' copy of the teachers' contract.
   2. The athletic salary guide will be voted upon by the teachers on Wednesday, October 17, in each building. An e-mail informing our members of the date of the vote and a copy of the athletic salary guide will be sent out to all PEA members tomorrow.
   3. The security & para-professional groups have scheduled negotiation meetings on Oct. 25 & Nov. 15, respectively.
   4. The board has indicated that they would like to settle all contracts by Jan. 1, 2008.
   5. Custodians/maintenance personnel & secretaries are beginning their negotiations. Their contracts are up June 30, 2008. The board would like to begin these negotiations after Jan. 1, 2008.
9. Legislative:
   1. Chuck noted that no progress has been made on the new high school. Assemblyman Doherty was quoted in today's Express-Times as being in support of building the new high school.
   2. The Education Law Center recently appealed to the NJ Supreme Court to direct the NJ legislature to meet its judicial mandates for funding school buildings in NJ as noted under the 'Abbott' rulings.
   3. The NJEA is organizing another 'Committee of 1000' for this year's elections in November. See your building reps for more information
10. Finance:
    1. Melissa Fey, chairperson, noted that a $529.23 debit adjustment has been made to the PEA treasury based on an audit by Michael Weis, an independent public accountant.
    2. The Finance Committee is conducting its own internal audit of the PEA books.
    3. New financial procedures are planned for the future.
11. PD:
    1. Chuck reported that - nothing - has happened for a long time.

Building concerns:

1. Ed Center reports that work is being done on their roof.
2. Freeman noted that new schedule(s) may contain possible conflicts. Also paras noted concerns about bus duties.
3. Early Childhood noted the need for more variety in PD workshops.
4. Green St. has a concern about maternity leaves. Barb is investigating.
5. PHS has two situations that required members to seek assistance from NJEA-provided lawyers. Possible problems with discussions emanating from the high school's SLC were reported.
6. The middle school noted problems with Ed Solutions. Many felt that the presentation to teachers was unorganized. Some departments were given schedules/calendars to use as a guide, while others were not. When you actually use the EdSol website, it analyzes class performance and will give you more testing materials, but not instructional tools like we had hoped. Even the 'lesson plans' that are given are more like weekly themes. Also a concern about workplace compliance was noted.
7. Security guards inquired if there were any 'new' news on security uniform?

Old Business:

1. The building reps were asked to appeal to all our members to donate a personal day to the district's Sick Leave Bank. A high school teacher has been hospitalized since March. He suffered a major heart attack while recovering in June and is back in the hospital awaiting his final surgery while his heart grows strong enough to risk the surgery. He has long since used up his sick days. Without days from the Sick Leave Bank, he will not receive any pay and may lose his medical insurance coverage. Click here to download the donation forms for the Sick Leave Bank.

New Business:

1. None.

Motion to adjourn was made at 5:53 p.m. by Chuck and seconded by Nancy. Passed unanimously.

Next meeting Nov. 6, 2007, @ PMS in library.

Respectfully submitted,

Chuck Nowalk, Secretary