SEBB - REMINDER:
Deadline is November 15 - Register Today!
All eligible employees
must register for SEBB at
https://myaccount.hca.wa.gov/ regardless of whether an employee is waiving coverage. If an eligible employee does not register, SEBB will default them into a healthcare plan and deduct healthcare premiums.
Take the time and enroll today.
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AMERICAN EDUCATION WEEK
November 18-22
Reach. Educate. Inspire.
National Celebration Spotlights Individuals Committed to Public Education
During American Education Week Americans nationwide will join the National Education Association (NEA) in raising awareness about the need to provide every child with a quality public education. The celebration highlights the importance of bringing together educators, parents, students, and communities in a unified effort to build great public schools. It also reflects NEA's vision of calling upon America to provide public school students with quality schools so that they can grow and achieve in the 21st century.
To further reinforce American Education Week's theme, each day of the week will spotlight the different people who are critical in building great public schools for the nation's 50 million K-12 students. American Education Week's celebration days include:
- Monday, November 18: Nationwide Kickoff. Across the country, schools will celebrate excellence in education by hosting kickoff events and activities.
- Tuesday, November 19: Parents Day. Schools will invite parents into the classroom for a hands-on experience of what the day is like for their child.
- Wednesday, November 20: Education Support Professionals Day. Individuals who provide invaluable services to schools are recognized for their outstanding work.
- Thursday, November 21: Educator for a Day. Community leaders will be invited to serve as educators to get a glimpse of a day in the life of a school employee.
- Friday, November 22: Substitute Educators Day. This day honors the educators who are called upon to replace regularly employed teachers.
Check out the online toolkit to find out how you can help promote and recognize American Education Week at www.nea.org/aew.
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LEADERSHIP TRAINING
Training Opportunity:
Join us Wednesday, November 20, 6:00 - 9:00pm at the SEA office
for a training on
Relational Organizing and Building Community Support. SEA has partnered with Sound Alliance to provide this training. SEA members, organizers and advocates are encouraged to attend; specialists, librarians, and substitutes are especially encouraged to attend.
This training opportunity is part of our ongoing work to build and strengthen SEA in preparation for the next bargain and to organize members around important issues. Click HERE for the information flyer and to RSVP. Register early as space is limited.
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SPECIAL ELECTION!
In accordance with the SEA Bylaws, the vacancy for
SEA Vice-President (VP) will be filled by Special Election at the regularly scheduled Representative Assembly on December 9, 2019. The special election timeline is as follows:
- November 18 - Nominations for VP open at the RA.
- December 6 - Nominations for VP close at 12:00pm.
- Access to the Electronic Nomination form will be available online on the SEA website and the link will be sent to every member's home email address.
- Ballots will be provided to the ARs upon sign-in at the December RA.
- Candidates will have the opportunity to give a 2-minute speech at the December RA.
- The Election committee will collect and count the ballots.
- Members of the SEA Board of Directors will serve as observers to the ballot count.
- The Chair of the Elections Committee will announce the election results at the December RA.
The Election Committee Members are:
Tenny Canning
(Chair),
Michelle Martine
,
Judy Deignan
,
Edwina Washington
and Patti Crow. The SEA Staff committee member is
Tim Clements-Levin.
The SEA Bylaws and Standing Rules are available online at the SEA website and outline the duties of the SEA Vice President as well as the eligibility requirements for candidates.
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SAVE THE DATE:
Black Lives Matter at School Week, February 3-7, 2020
Mark your calendar! The
Black Lives Matter at School
National Week of Action will be held February 3-7, 2020, educators from coast to coast are organizing to make this the biggest coordinated uprising for racial justice in schools yet. To learn more about
how to participate
in the week of action, please check out the
BLM@School starter kit
. In addition, please consider encouraging your students to participate in the
national design campaign
for this year's BLM logo. You can find more information here:
http://bit.ly/blmatschoollogo
. Logo designs due by November 29.
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SPECIAL EDUCATION TASKFORCE UPDATE
The SPED taskforce members continued the work of understanding bias and understanding racial inequities at our October 24 meeting. We had a member of the SEA CRE (Center for Racial Equity) demonstrate how we use the SPS racial equity analysis tool. They reviewed the SPS racial equity analysis tool, developed by DREA, using a State Indicator on LRE as an example. With this lens, the team did a data walk of the current continuum of services to determine what data we need to look at with a deeper lens.
Step one: Set outcomes, identify and engage stakeholders. Leadership sets racially
equitable outcomes and engages stakeholders (SPS staff and community
members).
Step two: Engage Stakeholders in Analyzing Data - Stakeholders (SPS staff and
community members) gather and review quantitative and qualitative
disaggregated data and specific information to determine impacts or
consequences.
Step three: Stakeholders (SPS staff and community members) collaborate to analyze
now
this policy/decision/proposal/initiative/budget issue will increase or
decrease educational and racial equity.
Step four: Stakeholders (SPS staff and community members) identify ongoing
measures
of success or mitigation plans for negative impacts.
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The School Year Calendar (list of dates) for the 2019-2020 School Year has been released, including the Early Release days.
Here's the link.
The Early Release-specific calendar for 2019-2020 is also available. Here's the link.
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Don't miss out
on breaking SEA text alerts: text
SEATTLEEA
to 41411 to stay informed!
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SICK LEAVE REQUESTS
Thank you all for your generous donations to those who share their need for leave.
There is also a page on the SEA website with these requests, so you can share with others who might be able to help.
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Beatrice Leonard, Parapro at Maple Elementary, went through a devastating loss at the end of the Summer - the accidental death of her son. The down-time needed for the physical, mental, and emotional responses to such a tragedy is extreme, and medical professionals are helping where they can, but her need for sick leave hours are far more than she has available. Any hours that you can spare will be very appreciated.
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Jasmine Webber, Parapro at Roxhill, has been suffering from debilitating seizures on top of her Fibromyalgia condition, along with other autoimmune conditions. She's got medical procedures coming up in November and February, so is in dire need of sick leave hours to both deal with recovering from the ever-shifting medications prescribed and their side-effects, as well as the procedures to ease her pain, so she can get back to the classroom and her kids. She's very grateful for any hours you can spare that will help.
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Dan Trinh, Parapro at Rising Star Elementary (formerly Van Asselt)
is undergoing treatment for a lung ailment that will require surgery and very strong medications to aid in recovery. An initial recovery requirement of at least 6 weeks off of work has been indicated by his pulminary physician. He knows his sick leave won't be able to cover it, so is asking for and appreciates any help you can give with your leave donations.
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Members can access the shared leave form to donate hours by clicking
HERE. Forms can be submitted to
[email protected] or FAXED to 206-252-0021 or mailed to Seattle Public Schools, MS 33-380, PO Box 34165, Seattle, WA 98124-1165.
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