Back to School Workshop
We would like to see a representative from every school/worksite at our annual
Back to School Workshop.
August 10 at the ACEA office
Call ACEA at 377-7635 for more information.
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A-TIGER School Board Endorsements
Mark August 24 on your calendar.
That is Voting Day for the Alachua County School Board election.
ACEA’s PAC (Political Action Committee) has endorsed the following candidates for the election. All were chosen by unanimous vote of the A-TIGER members who attended the endorsement meeting. Please check out these candidates and then talk to your friends, neighbors, and relatives about them. Remember, the school board races are non-partisan and everyone gets to vote for representatives for all three districts.
District 1: Rick Nesbit
- http://www.ricknesbit.com/
- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rick-Nesbit-for-Alachua-County-School-Board-District-1/107828679259120
District 3: Gunnar Paulson
- http://gunnar4schoolboard.com/
- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gunnar-Paulson-4-School-Board/123091987732709
District 5: Jancie Vinson
- JVCampaign@yahoo.com
All the candidates need our support.
Please contact the candidate(s) directly or call ACEA (377-7635) if you can volunteer some time or donate to the campaign(s). And remember every little bit helps.
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May Alert
President’s Message
By Gunnar F. Paulson, Ed.D.After twelve and a half unforgettable years the time is approaching for me to step down as President of ACEA. We have elected a new President, Karen McCann. We all need to rally and support her as she leads this wonderful organization. I have worked with Karen as she has served first as ACEA Secretary and then as Instructional Vice-President. We are fortunate to have her as our new President.
I look back on my tenure as President and think it was just yesterday I was starting on the same adventure as Karen. I could reflect on a lot over the entire period, but let me focus specifically on the last two years. I will focus on this time period because I feel this is when this organization’s star has shined the brightest.
Two years ago the Legislature cut $17 million dollars from the General Fund. Elementary art, nurses and music teachers were cut and a disaster was facing our District. The Superintendent proposed a one mill increase that would raise over $13 million per year for four years. I told the Superintendent I was totally behind his effort and would do everything I could to ensure we were successful.
How did ACEA contribute to the passage of the mill? We contributed $17,000 out of the $25,000 raised to mount a campaign. I went to every school and worksite promoting the one mill while Dr. Boyd went to various civic organizations. We put signs up around the community, manned precincts and held signs. The result was we saved our District from financial ruin.
This past year we faced an even greater disaster in Senate Bill 6. This bill had devastating consequences. Our School Board would lose local control and good teachers could lose their jobs without clear guidelines. ACEA again rose to the occasion and stopped this impending crisis.
I now hope to be elected to your School Board. Why am I running? I am running because our work is not finished. There will continue to be attacks on us from the outside. I want to continue to lead the fight against these attacks. I am running because some candidates have not joined us in our fight or even shown they are willing to fight for schools. We must have a voice on the Board who recognizes how serious the challenges are that we face.
I now will say goodbye as President, but look forward to a new challenge hopefully as a School Board member. Again! Thanks for letting me be your President.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
The Legislative Session is over, but the Governor has yet to sign some bills and budget. There is still one bill that we will be asking the Governor to veto and that is HB 5607. This bill reduces the interest paid during DROP from 6.5% to 3% for all employees who enter DROP after July 1, 2010. This bill was never debated in committee and was an add on at the last minute. Any bill should be discussed during committee and not brought up this late. Veto HB 5607.
Except for this bill we avoided other catastrophes. Senate Bill 6 could have had devastating results and was vetoed by the Governor. House Bill 5701 would have eliminated the health insurance subsidy for present and future retirees died in committee. Senate Bill 2022 would have made employees contribute to their retirement, also died in committee. This session looked bleak a month ago.
This session was miraculously salvaged by people saying no to a ‘Big Government” takeover by Tallahassee.
As I have said before, our work has just begun. This election cycle is so very important. We cannot afford to relax. The most important question is: Did this candidate publicly and vigorously oppose Senate Bill 6?
WE must elect a Governor who supports teachers and school employees! We must elect Alex Sink! Any other choice will mean a school board stripped of its local control; teachers stripped of due process, and veteran teachers losing their jobs for no reasons without clear guidelines.
We must elect School Board members who understand the issues. A candidate can promise anything, but where were they when there was a crisis? This election cycle is unique in that we had a chance to witness how a candidate would react under pressure. How did the candidate react during the most serious crisis of our lifetime?
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COLLECTIVE BARGAINING UPDATE
Bargaining season is fast approaching and negotiations should begin towards the end of June. This year is an inbetween year for the instructional contract as they bargained the entire contract last year. The entire ESP contract will expire this year, so our ESP negotiating team is prepared for a lot of work.
Salaries are always bargained with both teams together. Normally, it is not until sometime in July that we have a truly accurate calculation on where we are with money since the school board closes out their fiscal year on June 30th.
If you would like to be on our Bargaining Update Email list, please call our office or email Tammy at tammyfont@floridaea.org. We will keep you up to date during the summer.
If you have any suggestions for either team, please call or drop us a note.——————————————————————————————————————————
Amusement Park Tickets
ACEA members only!Price Reduction on Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Georgia. They are now $30.00 each for an adult or child. The second consecutive day is FREE.
Other tickets available are:
Universal Studios in Orlando
Island of Adventures in Orlando
Sea World in Orlando
Busch Gardens in TampaTicket prices are subject to change. Contact the ACEA office for current prices. You may purchase up to 5 tickets. We deal strictly in cash and they are non-refundable. They must be purchased at the ACEA office. ID’s will be required.
Check out www.Ticketsatwork.com They offer many different types of discounts. You must contact the ACEA office for the password. Call #377-7635.
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ACEA ELECTION RESULTS
The Election Committee consisting of Nicole Biener, Robert Hessels, Jean Robinson and Charles Zimmerman counted the ballots returned to the ACEA by 5:00 p.m. on May 3rd. The results were: Karen McCann (GHS) with 839 votes, Joe Shea (Maintenance) with 67 votes, and Charley Jordan (Horizon Center) 6 votes. Congratulations to Karen McCann our new ACEA President.
The newly elected officers ‘term will start on July 1, 2010 and run until June 30, 2012.
Uncontested positions were: Karen Rerra, (Foster) Vice President—Instructional; Phyllis Meredith (Metcalfe), Vice President ESP’s; and Jennifer Lindquist (Williams), as Secretary. There position will be voted on at the May Representative Council meeting.Appointed as our new Food Service Executive Board representative is Jackie Wallace from Metcalfe.
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ATTENTION ACEA MEMBERS WITH
DEFERRED PAY OPTIONThe SBAC Payroll Dept will be sending out the Deferred Pay Option forms in the payroll envelopes for the May 15, 2010 payroll The IRS regulations require that any employee that is currently enrolled in the program MUST reapply each year. These forms must be returned NLT (not later than ) the 14th of July, 2010 . Failure to return this information will result in the employee being placed back into the regular pay schedule. These forms are available at the ACEA office.
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SCHOOL CALENDAR 2010– 2011Monday, August 16-Aug. 20 Pre-Planning (5 weekdays)
Monday, August 23 First Day for Students
Monday, September 6 Holiday-Labor Day
Tuesday, September 28 Send Interim Reports Home
Friday, October 15 Holiday—UF Homecoming
Tuesday, October 26 End of First 9 weeks
Friday, October 29 Pupil Holiday/Teacher Workday
Tuesday, November 9 Send Report Cards Home
*Thursday, November 11 Holiday, Veterans’ Day—Flex Day
Wednesday, November 24 Pupil Holiday/Teacher Holiday
Thursday, November 25-26 Thanksgiving Holidays
Wednesday, December 8 Send Interim Reports Home
Monday, December 20—Dec. 31 Winter Holidays (10 weekdays)
Monday, January 3 Classes Resume
Monday, January 17 Holiday—ML King Birthday
Thursday, January 20 End of First Semester
Friday, January 21 Pupil Holiday/Teacher Workday
Monday, January 24 Begin Second Semester
Thursday, February. 3 Send Report Cards Home
*Monday, February 21 Holiday—Presidents’ Day—Flex Day
Wednesday, March 2 Send Interim Reports Home
Thursday, March 24 End of third 9 weeks
*Friday, March 25 Pupil Holiday/Teacher Workday-Flex Day
Monday, March 28—April 1 Spring Holiday (5 weekdays)
Monday, April 18 Send Reports Cards Home
Friday, May 13 Send Interim Reports Home
Monday, May 30 Holiday—Memorial Day
Tuesday, June 7 School out—Last Day for Students
*Wednesday, June 8 Post-Planning for Teachers—Flex Day
*Thursday, June 9 Post-Planning for Teachers—Flex DayExtended School Year Schedule—dates not established
*Flex day MAY be used to make-up days cancelled due to hurricanes or other emergencies. For the 2010-11 calendar, flex days will be use in the following order: 1. June 8th, 2. June 9th, 3. March 25th, 4. November 11th, and 5. February 21st.
—————————————————————————————————————————-ACEA’s Annual Retirement Dinner
The Thomas Center
302 NE 6th Ave.
Gainesville, Fl 32601When: June 2, 2010
Time: 6:00 p.m.
ACEA members are invited to attend this dinner. Reservations are required. Seating is limited so please make your reservation by May 24, 2010.CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR RETIRING ACEA MEMBERS!
Abate, Linda Williams Teacher
Acosta, Michael Kanapha Custodian
Adams, Diane Glen Springs Teacher
Alvarez, Amalia GHS Teacher
Andrew, Ramoth EHS Teacher
Baker, Ruby GHS Teacher
Beach, Patricia Norton Teacher
Bedell, Linda Talbot Teacher
Bengston, Barbara Lake Forest Teacher
Bergman, Bruce Archer Teacher
Bishop, Janis Lake Forest Teacher
Burnett, Patricia Duval ESP
Buys, John GHS Teacher
Carbonneau, Nora Bishop Teacher
Carey, Dowdell Transportation
Clifton, Sandra Glen Springs Teacher
Copeland, Barbara Metcalfe Teacher
Days, Gladys Prairie View ESP
DeSha, Rebecca Foster Teacher
Dindial, Myrna Rawlings Teacher
Dupree, Kenneth BHS Custodian
Foreman, Gloria Williams Custodian
Gillmore, Rodney GHS Teacher
Gionet, Lee Ann Lanier Teacher
Gonzalez, Susan Lake Forest Teacher
Green, Billie BHS BRT/Dean
Greenman, Maureen Oak View Teacher
Hansen, Dennis EHS Teacher
Hansen, Sally EHS Teacher
Hodges, Helen Talbot Teacher
Holmes, Margaret Finley Teacher
Hughes, Yvonne Wiles Teacher
Johnson, Annette Mebane Food Service
Johnson, Sandra Talbot Teacher
Jones, Deborah Rawlings Teacher
Jones, Lula Fearnside Headstart
Jones, Richard Irby Teacher
Kaminer, Ron BHS Teacher
Kirkman, Michael EHS Teacher
Lee, Sheila Littlewood Teacher
Lisanke, Kipling Metcalfe Teacher
Long, Beatrice Lincoln BRT/Dean
Long, Dianna Irby Teacher
Mays, Christine Williams Food Service
McCray, DeBorah Idylwild Teacher
Medeiros, Clyde Alachua Teacher
Moore, Johnny Littlewood Teacher
Myers, Audrey BHS Teacher
Myrand, Mary Ann Title I Supervisor
Paulson, Cindy High Springs Teacher
Paulson, Gunnar ACEA
Pigott, Candice Littlewood Teacher
Richards, Cheryl ESE Teacher
Robinson, Brenda Bishop Teacher
Rotundo, Barbara Rawlings Teacher
Scott, James Lanier Custodian
Scott, Robert GHS Teacher
Seltzer, Jack Reg. Det. Teacher
Seltzer, Linda Lake Forest Media Spec.
Shadburn, Randy Talbot Teacher
Simonis, Sarah Archer Guidance
Strong, Elaine Glen Springs Teacher
Whitehurst, Carolyn Fearnside Tcher Spec.
Williams, Glenn Shell Custodian
Williams, Willie Transportation
Willhoite, Sheila Transportation
Withers, Rutledge Terwilliger Teacher
Wright, Cottie Kirby Reading Teacher
Young, Elaine Ft. Clarke Teacher
Young, Freddie Lake Forest Teacher—————————————————————————————————-
ACEA – SUMMER HOURSThe ACEA office will be working the same hours as the school board. Starting the week of June 14th. Our hours will be Monday thru Thursday from 7:30 a.m.—5:30 p.m. and ending the week of August 16th, except for the month of July with the office will be closed on the 2nd, 5th and 6th.
FROM THE STAFF AT ACEA
HAVE A WONDERFUL AND SAFE SUMMER
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