Click HERE for webpage digital version.
Click HERE for webpage digital version.
Click HERE for webpage digital version
Click HERE for webpage digital version.
It’s hard to believe that 2016 if almost over. What a year it’s been. Here’s hoping that 2017 is a bit more routine. However we do know that we will be starting a full contract bargaining and your bargaining team is going to need to hear from you. Please let your site rep know if you have issues you would like to suggest to the bargaining team.
Thursday, Dec 8 is a special board meeting. Our two newest board members (Rosemary Smithfield and Cirpriano Vargus) along with incumbent Rich Alderson will be sworn in and start their tenure. Please consider attending the board meeting. It you decide to attend the meeting starts at 7 and you could probably make an early exit by 7:30. Also, I would like start 2017 with some ideas for a new VTA T-Shirt. While I am proud of our current Valued Educators + Inspired Students = Excellence ones I think we can do better. So I am announcing a VTA logo contest. I also would like some help with a catchy acronym. We are VTA, the Vista Teachers Association, who can come up with the best Very Terrific Always type slogan that we could use with the letters V, T, A. So soon you will be saying goodbye to your students and headed home for some needed R and R. I hope you can all use the time to reconnect with family and friends that maybe you haven't had enough time for during your busy schedules. May your holidays be full of joy and laughter. Soon it will be 2017 and we will have another chance to make next year, the best ever. Happy Holidays, Tod Critchlow Important Dates - Please contact your site rep or the VTA office if you have questions about these events. HS PD Day - Jan 3, non student day (K-8 release day) Students Return - Jan 4 District Professional Development Day - Jan 13, MVHS/Sites Teacher LCAP Forum #2- Jan 19, 4:00 - 5:30, Innovation Center, 836 Olive Ave Rep Council Meeting - Jan 23, VTA Office New Teacher 100 day celebration - Feb 3, location and time TBD Good Teaching Conference South - March 17-19, Orange County It’s A Good Idea to… Follow the union code of conduct. Click HERE to Print
At the Dec 8 school board our newest school board members will be sworn in. Congratulations to Rosemary Smithfield, Cirpriano Vargus and Rich Alderson. With that said I would like to include a brief introduction of our two newest elected officials. I will include similar info in coming months for the other board members if they are willing. Rosemary Smithfield has been a teacher in Vista since 1993. She has primarily taught K-2, first at Mission Meadows and then Grapevine. She has a variety of experiences as an educator including, but not limited to, presenter and a trainer of trainers. She was a BTSA support provider and a district mentor to elementary teachers for literacy. Rosemary was also an active member of VTA. She served in various roles over the years from Site Rep to Vice President. Rosemary will bring a unique perspective to the VUSD School Board. But most importantly Rosemary is a fierce defender of the “children”. Rosemary will take care of the students of VUSD. You can contact her at rosesmithfield@gmail.com. Cipriano Vargas is a proud graduate of Vista Unified Schools, having attended Breeze Hill Elementary, Washington Middle School and Vista High School. As a former student of Vista High School, he was an active participant of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) and Character Leaders. Those programs and with the help of his teachers, Cipriano was the first one in his family to pursue a college degree. At Cal State San Marcos, Cipriano served on student government and was later appointed by the governor to the CSU Board of Trustees. After graduating from college, Cipriano went on to teach Kindergarten in the urban core of San Antonio. Currently, Vargas serves on the Alumni Board for California State University San Marcos and has two siblings who attend schools in the Vista Unified School District. You can contact him at 760- 213- 4498 (calls/text) or cvargas.trustee@gmail.com Bargaining Update By now salaries should have been adjusted and most of you should have seen the 3 months retro pay in your Nov paystub. If you think there has been a mistake you should contact payroll to insure that you have received your appropriate salary. For Adult Ed and Hourly teachers the fix is going to take a bit longer, but I have been assured that everyone will get their 1.9% and their retro. Thank you for your patience. VTA Scholarship Fund It’s the Holidays. What a great time to give a gift that keeps on giving. This year will mark 30 years of generosity on the part of VTA members. Please consider using our monthly payroll deduction to contribute directly to the VTA Scholarship fund. Please consider giving $3, $5 or even a bit more every month. For more information please check out the website. Or click HERE to get the payroll deduction form. Together we can make an even bigger difference. What better time to increase your donation. CTA Conference Opportunities CTA Conferences are a great place to meet CTA members from other districts. A CTA conference is also a great chance to participate in events that help shape the focus of CTA. CTA conferences can be great learning experiences. VTA sponsors members to attend various conferences. Please contact VTA if you are interested. 2017 NEW EDUCATOR WEEKEND Date: March 10, 2017 GOOD TEACHING CONFERENCE SOUTH Date: March 17-19, 2017 Joint Ethnic Caucus Issues Conference Date: May 5, 2017 SUMMER INSTITUTE - Info available soon Date: July 30 – August 3, 2017 Your CTA Did you know you can represent VTA/CTA at the NEA Representative Assembly. As a member of VTA you are also a member of CTA and the NEA. The NEA is governed by the NEA Representative Assembly, the largest democratic deliberative assembly in the world. California sends more than 1,000 delegates to the NEA RA each summer. During this annual meeting, CTA members help set policy and chart the direction of NEA business through participation on various committees, constituencies, caucuses, and leadership groups. The NEA Representative Assembly for 2017 will be held July 2-5 in Boston, MA with the first caucus meeting set for June 30. Deadline to submit the official Declaration of Candidacy form is Jan. 31. The 2017 Declaration of Candidacy form will be available soon. Please check this WEBPAGE for additional information. Last year VTA was represented by Kim Lunde and Paula Keen. Barbara Dawson also attended. If you want to have an impact on the state of education in America, please consider running for one of the open positions. I would love to have as many VTA members as possible attend the NEA - RA. And remember you can access lots of info at the CTA Website. You can find out About CTA. Or read the CTA Mission Statement. And I want you to know that our State Council Representatives are Tod Critchlow, Reagan Duncan, Paula Keen and Therease SilvaBaroa (alternate) Member Benefits Another aspect of being a member of VTA and thus CTA and NEA are the many benefits. Click on the link above or go to www.CTAMemberBenefits.org for more information. You might be able to REDUCE DEBT (Student Loan Forgiveness), save time by watching this Video on Benefits, Save Money by ACCESSING DISCOUNTS and prepare for your future with these RETIREMENT TOOLS. LOGO/Slogan Contests VTA needs a new logo and a new T-Shirt. I am very proud of our current Valued Educators + Inspired Students = Excellence ones, but I think we can do better and a new shirt is always fun. So I am announcing a VTA logo contest. I also would like some help with a catchy acronym. We are VTA, the Vista Teachers Association, who can come up with the best Very Terrific Always type slogan that we could use with the letters V, T and A. Entries are due by Jan 31 and will be judged by the Executive Board. A Free T-Shirt and other prizes will be provided. More details to follow. The Slogan and Logo can be separate or together. Tomorrow is Election Day and whatever your political persuasion this election has been one heck of a wild ride. Regardless of how the various races are resolved I am confident that we will continue to do the best we can for our students. As teachers our voices are trusted and people listen to us. So going forward VTA will continue to speak out for public education and for doing what’s right. We are the VTA and we can make a difference.
To all of you that helped with the election here’s a big THANK YOU. For the first time ever VTA supported two of our own. Rosemary Smithfield is currently a VTA member. Heather Emaus used to be VTA. Whether you phone banked, precinct walked, waved at ralleys or put up signs it mattered. You are appreciated for your participation. We were noticed and we will continue to advocate for what’s best for our students. We are VTA and we will make a difference. So as Thanksgiving approaches let's all stop and take stock of all the good out there. Let’s give thanks for the positives in our daily lives. We get to be educators in the Vista Unified School District, a district that strives to be the model of educational excellence and innovation.Jenny Anderson was chosen to represent San Diego for California Teacher Of The Year, VHS was awarded the XQ: The Super School Project Grant and VUSD earned another Golden Bell Award. There’s a lot of good things happening in VUSD. There are also things that still require work. We need to continue in our efforts. We are VTA and we need to make a difference. Sincerely, Tod Critchlow Important Dates - Please RSVP Veterans’ Day - Nov 11, don’t forget that there is no school this Friday. LESSON PLANS Rep Council Meeting - Nov 28, 4:00 - 6:00, VTA Office, Please RSVP Teacher LCAP Forum #1 - Nov 30, 4:00 - 5:30, Innovation Center, 836 Olive Ave Fall Leadership Conference - Dec 2-4, Palmsprings, INFO, Contact VTA to RSVP Teacher LCAP Forum #2- Jan 19, 4:00 - 5:30, Innovation Center, 836 Olive Ave New Teacher 100 day celebration - Feb 3, location and time TBD It’s A Good Idea to… Understand how your rights to privacy as it applies to use of district email/devices. While this may seem obvious it still needs to be said. You don’t have any right to privacy if you are using district email, devices or even WIFI. Here are some suggestions. Don’t access your personal account(s) on a district device or through district WIFI. Remove your vistata.org Google account from your smartphone or tablet. If you need to access your vistata.org account from a private device use a alternative browser or an incognito tab. Bargaining Update On a positive note, you should have all seen an increase of 1.9% in your October pay warrant. In addition you should be getting a retro for the months of July, Aug and Sept for the 1.9% increase for those three months. It is very important that you check your pay stubs and contact VTA if you think there was an error. VTA Scholarship Fund We just got a raise. What great timing. The VTA scholarship fund needs you. You can help make a difference by either increasing or starting your donation. This year will mark 30 years of generosity on the part of VTA members. Please consider using our monthly payroll deduction to contribute directly to the VTA Scholarship fund. Please consider giving $3, $5 or even more a month. For more information please check out the website. Or click HERE to get the payroll deduction form. Together we can make an even bigger difference. what better time to increase your CTA Conference Opportunities Do you want to find out more about VTA? Want to get involved with your union? What does it mean to be a rep? What does CTA offer as member benefit? The answers to these questions and more are covered at the Fall Leadership Conference. Dec 2-4, Palmsprings. Click here for INFO. Space is limited so please contact VTA to RSVP. Your CTA Have you ever wondered how CTA makes decisions? Who is CTA? What policies does CTA support? It’s really a pretty simple answer. Your CTA is a democratic organization overseen by the State Council which is made up of representatives elected by members of local associations. VTA sends three members to represent us at quarterly meetings in Los Angeles. It is at these meetings where reps from all over the state of California come together to debate and decide policy. Your three representatives are Tod Critchlow, Reagan Duncan, Paula Keen and Therease SilvaBaroa as an alternate. As CTA’s top governing body, State Council has 22 committees ranging from assessment and testing to school safety, and from curriculum and instruction to professional rights and responsibilities. Council delegates do not consider an issue until it has been thoroughly reviewed and recommended by the committees. A summary of policy statements is a good place to start if you want to find out more. Here are a few specific links: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION Assessment and Testing Curriculum and Instruction Educator Rights Member Benefits Another aspect of being a member of VTA and thus CTA and NEA are the many benefits. Click on the link above or go to www.CTAMemberBenefits.org for more information. You might be able to REDUCE DEBT (Student Loan Forgiveness), save time by watching this Video on Benefits, Save Money by ACCESSING DISCOUNTS and prepare for your future with these RETIREMENT TOOLS. While it’s only September, November will be here before we know it and October even sooner. That means that we have our work cut out for us in both our local school board race where we have endorsed both Heather Emaus and Rosemary Smithfield and the pro-education ballot initiatives: Prop 55, Prop 52 and Prop 58. With large numbers of voters expected to use vote by mail ballots September is key campaigning time. Reagan Duncan is our PAC Chair and she will be calling on all of us to help where we can. Please feel free to contact her or VTA if you would like to help. We need you.
Also, this spring will bring another round of bargaining. VTA will be reaching out to ask for your input on issues. The whole contract will be open and your bargaining team will be working hard preparing for the negotiations. Be on the lookout for opportunities to offer suggestions. Your site reps will be talking to you soon. You can always use the VTA webpage to reach us as well. Another opportunity to provide feedback is the through the LCAP process. We currently have two meetings scheduled for general input from teachers. These Teacher LCAP Forums will be held at the new Innovation center from 4:00 - 5:30. As the school year progresses it is now the time in the LCAP cycle to address programs that are not being as effective as we want. The school board has, and rightly so, made addressing mathematics and literacy skills a top priority. Teacher input needs to be a critical part of identifying what’s working and which programs we should keep. Finally I want to ask you please share your stories with us, @vtapresident, #vistata or via our facebook page support VUSD teachers. Vista teachers do an incredible job and we should share in each other's successes. Sincerely, Tod Critchlow PS Don’t forget that the September paycheck will bring the resumption of Insurance and Union dues. Important Dates - Please RSVP Rep Training - Sept 24, 9:00 - 2:00, VTA Office, Lunch provided All/Reps. Please RSVP Rep Council Meeting - Sept 26, 4:00 - 6:00, VTA Office, Please RSVP Perm Status Teacher’s Happy Hour - Sept 30, 4pm Vista Village Pub, Please RSVP. Teacher LCAP Forum #1- Nov 30, 4:00 - 5:30, Innovation Center, 836 Olive Ave Teacher LCAP Forum #2- Jan 19, 4:00 - 5:30, Innovation Center, 836 Olive Ave New Teacher 100 day celebration - Feb 3, location and time TBD Political Action Committee (PAC) Since my last message VTA has formally endorsed Heather Emaus. Currently she and Rosemary Smithfield have our formal endorsements. These are two of our own and they need our support. This is a momentous occasion in Vista history. We are endorsing two educators that have taught in our schools, experienced first hand what our educators experience each day, and truly know what is best for our students. With a student's first approach, they have the knowledge base and undeniable passion necessary to hold our district accountable for our students futures. We will be calling on you, our members, to come out and support these candidates throughout this election, so keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities which the VTA PAC team will be presenting! Keep checking those emails and attending your VTA site meetings. More info to come! Site Rosters The school year is well under way and site reps should have had a chance to update site rosters. Please contact VTA if you have any questions about what site your are assigned to. VTA is based on 1 member 1 vote and to be sure you are represented we need to know where you are. VTA Scholarship Fund I know that you all go over and above your obligations, but that’s the nature of our job. Teachers as a group are incredibly generous and caring people. Are you interested in helping even more? Do you want to be part of something bigger? Do you want to help make an even bigger difference in your students lives? The VTA scholarship fund needs you. This year will mark 30 years of generosity on the part of VTA members. Please consider using our monthly payroll deduction to contribute directly to the VTA Scholarship fund. Please consider giving $3, $5 or even more a month. For more information please check out the website. Or click HERE to get the payroll deduction form. Together we can make an even bigger difference. Charter Schools Gone Wild in California Some of you may have seen my post sharing John Oliver’s story about charter schools. That piece shed some light on the issues, but there was no action to take. So I am sharing this article. Part 1 of 4 it also provides some positive action you can take. Please take a moment to find out what this is about and then send Governor Brown a message. Click HERE to send a message. . Click here for digital newsletter version
Welcome back. I want to start by saying I hope Summer gave you a chance to recharge your batteries. Next week a brand new group of fresh faces will be in their seats looking to you for guidance. So here are my wishes for you: may this be the best year ever. May your students be attentive and full of joy. May you ignite the spark of learning in your students. And may you experience the satisfaction that comes from making the world a better place. Don’t forget that you all do this each and every day. The 2016/17 school year promises to be a busy one. Among other things the NGSS teachers are really excited about the innovations coming to K-8 science. I got to spend a couple of days seeing all the great work they were doing. I am looking forward to working with all of you to help make VUSD the best that it can be. Please share your stories with us, @vtapresident, #vistata or via our facebook page support VUSD teachers. Have a great Year, Tod Critchlow Important Dates (Please click links for details) Monday, Aug 15th - MVHS PD Day Sign in starts at 7:30, Shuttles will be running from Home Depot Don’t forget to sign out!!! Tuesday, Aug 16th - Site Day 90 Minute Staff meeting first then the rest of the day is yours Wednesday, Aug 17 - Students!!! Rep Council, Monday Aug 29 VTA Calendar New Teachers This year VTA would like to welcome approximately 100 new certificated members. They are teachers, counselors, librarians, SLPs and psychologists. VTA will be collaborating with VUSD to implement a buddy system. Your site has received a list of new members and we are looking for members to step up and just be a buddy for our new colleagues. Please let us know if you interested in helping with this. Permanent Status Congratulations to all VTA members that are starting their third year in VUSD. In most cases this means that you have achieved permanent status. By my estimates there are around 175 of you. Way to go. You made it through your two years as a probationary teacher. Please contact your VTA rep if you have further questions. VTA Scholarship Fund I know that you all go over and above your obligations, but that’s the nature of our job. Teachers as a group are incredibly generous and caring people. Are you interested in helping even more? Do you want to be part of something bigger? Do you want to help make an even bigger difference in your students lives? The VTA scholarship fund needs you. This year will mark 30 years of generosity on the part of VTA members. Please consider using our monthly payroll deduction to contribute directly to the VTA Scholarship fund. Please consider giving $3,$5 or even more a month. For more information please check out the website. Or click HERE to get the payroll deduction form. Together we can make an even bigger difference. VTA Officers and Executive Board Please welcome the following to the VTA executive board. They were elected last spring and they are here to support you. Please congratulate them if you see them. MaryPat Lee - VTA Secretary Eric Walker - Special Ed Reed Monson - High School Todd Mehrer - Middle School Ken Butler - Elementary They will be joining me (Tod Critchlow) and the other Exec Board members: Reagan Duncan, Debi Wheelock, Patrick Emaus, Laura Whitehouse and Gail Cantrell. Political Action Committee (PAC) Reagan Duncan our Vice President is also the chair of our PAC. She has a group of dedicated members that work with her, but she is always looking for others that share her passion for the political process. Please contact her (or VTA) if you have any questions. She would love to talk to you about the November elections. This is a great way to get involved if you want to help make a difference. Whether you are outgoing and love talking to people or would rather just stuff envelopes there’s something for everyone in this committee. And we can use all the help we can get. We (VTA) have endorsed Rosemary Smithfield for VUSD School Board District 1. Rosemary is one of our own and we will be counting on all you to help support her. Dear Colleagues,
Hello and greetings. For those of you that I don’t know let me introduce myself. I am Tod Critchlow your VTA President. I am looking forward to a great year and to working for you and with you to help make Vista an even better place to be. As summer comes to an end and thoughts turn back to the classroom and our students I wanted to share some information about the first couple of days that I hope you will find helpful. The first day for teachers is Monday, August 15th. This is now called a professional development day, formerly a mandatory staff development day. This day is a normal non-student work day and you must sign in and sign out; there will not be a make-up day. If you are unable to attend due to illness or personal necessity you do not need to report this absence via the SmartFindExpress sub finder system. Report the absence to your office manager and be sure to check the monthly attendance reports at your site to make sure the day is recorded correctly. 50% or less certificated staff are obligated to attend as per their contract hours or as per customized calendar. If less than full time certificated staff want to attend professional development in excess of their contract or customized calendar, it would need to be pre-approved by the supervisor with a funding source identified. A time sheet would need to be completed by the teacher and a PR processed by the site. Tuesday, August 16th is a teacher prep day. This includes an opening staff meeting at the beginning of the day that may not be longer than 90 minutes The rest of the day is yours to prepare your room and curriculum. Wednesday, August 17th is the first student day of school. See you on August 15th. August 15 - District Professional Development Day (<-- Click link for district info) Sign in and Sign out by site You do not need to record this absence in SmartFindExpress (sub finder) There will be no make ups for this day August 16 - Teacher Prep Day This is your day This is a regular non student day (7.5 hours with lunch) FOLLOWING a 90 minute staff meeting - The staff meeting should happen first thing in the morning August 17 - First Day of School ENJOY!!! |
authorKeri Avila,
VTA President Archives
June 2022
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