LOMPOC FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

LFT General Meeting—LFT’s October General Meeting is this Wednesday (10/7) at 3:30 PM. To attend, please register at the link below. A Zoom link will be sent to you following registration.

LFT General Meeting

When: Oct 7, 2020 03:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUsf-2oqTMqH9Nu27_nbNRM1CBPaH-FHi0L

PARS Retirement Incentive—At the last regular School Board meeting, a PARS retirement incentive was approved for 2020-21. Employees who qualify for this retirement incentive have received information from PARS.

CFT Events—Over the past week and a half, LFT has been represented at a handful of CFT events. Below are updates from those events:

EC/TK-12 Division Council (Skyler Petersen): Union leaders from various K-12 districts shared concerns and updates on reopening negotiations in their respective districts. CFT leaders also in attendance gave updates on a variety of topics (legislative, political action, legal, research, etc.).

CFT Committees:Pre-K-12 (Lodene Blair): The CFT Pre K-12 Educational Issues Committee met and discussed many items around distance learning and proposed reopening plans across the state.

The committee is working on the following items brought forward last January:

Supporting staff for students with disabilities in the mainstream
Monitoring TK/K attendance
Grade level appropriate content for kindergarten pupils across all LEAs
Union policy regarding stakeholder control of LCAPs

Lodene Blair, La Honda kindergarten teacher, submitted the attachment on the second point above to the CFT Committee for policy review and as a potential item to go forward to the CFT Convention and eventually to the state level for legislation and policy change.

Special Education (Cynthia Pereira and Cindy Spangler): Much of the discussion centered around what different districts’ policies were regarding Special Ed teachers returning to campus. Most districts were not yet providing services at school yet. Individual assessments were also discussed and different policies and protocols in place at some districts were shared.

Civil, Human, and Women’s Rights (Skyler Petersen): Among the many issues discussed were DACA/immigration updates, successful social justice actions led by locals across the state, and CFT actions in support of Black Lives Matter.

State Council (Carol Arnerich): The State Council meeting featured financial reports and updates on the budget for 2021 from the CFT Treasurer and a legal update on school re-openings and the requirements that districts bargain any changes to working conditions with the local union. Training opportunities and organizing efforts were also shared and discussed.

Local Area Council (Carol Arnerich, Skyler Petersen, and Cindy Spangler): CFT leaders, including CFT President Jeff Freitas, provided updates on a number of areas—legislative, organizing, and more.

CFT Scholarship Opportunities—In 2020, the California Federation of Teachers awarded scholarships to dependents of union members. Out of 14 scholarships awarded statewide to continuing college students, 2 were given to children of Lompoc teachers. Out of 17 scholarships awarded statewide to high school seniors, 2 were given to children of Lompoc teachers. For more information on CFT scholarship opportunities, click here.

Distance Learning Help—Do you need help with specific distance learning challenges? Do you have helpful tools or strategies that have served you well with distance learning? If so, let us know! LFT is looking to support teachers during this challenging time by using our best resource—YOU!

Joining the Union—Not a part of the union? LFT’s membership application is now available online at https://leadernet.aft.org/webform/lompoc-federation-teachers.

LFT Website—LFT’s website can be found at www.lompocfederationofteachers.org.

Have a great week, LFT!

LFT Executive Board

Skyler Petersen, President

Cindy Spangler, Secretary

Robin Madden, Treasurer

Lodene Blair, Vice President of Elementary Schools

Margaret Tennant, Vice President of Middle Schools

Tom Garrard, Vice President of High Schools

Carol Arnerich, Executive Director

Martha Bauer, Executive Director

September 28, 2020

LFT Weekly Memo

Elementary Waiver—In early August, Governor Newsom announced a waiver process that schools and districts could apply for to reopen elementary schools in counties that were on the state COVID-19 monitoring list. This allowed for schools and districts to get around a rule previously established that schools and districts in counties on the monitoring list would not be allowed to reopen for in-person instruction. The waiver application process involves many requirements related to safety protocol that must be met in order to be approved for elementary schools to reopen.

Since the waiver process was first announced, LUSD has spent many hours meeting with county officials (Public Health and SBCEO) to determine if this was something LUSD might be able to pursue. The LFT Negotiating Team has also spent a lot of time meeting with the District to work through various health and safety issues related to returning students to campus.

LFT’s stance is that LUSD should not pursue the elementary waiver at this time. Our reasons are many, including:

As a county, we are still at the most elevated risk status. LFT believes that the risk is still too great to take chances with the health and safety of our students and staff by pursuing the elementary waiver to reopen those schools at this time. Across the country, we have seen the consequences that schools have faced that have reopened too soon—outbreaks leading to quarantines and school closures. LFT believes we should not experiment with our students and staff by reopening before we can ensure the health and safety of everyone.

We have a duty to protect the health and safety of not just our staff and students, but also the health and safety of our families, our students’ families, and our community at large. Reopening schools would have implications that would affect many beyond our staff and students, and that is something we must take into consideration.

LFT knows distance learning is hard. We agree that in-person instruction is best for everyone, but our stance is that we cannot compromise the health and safety of all involved. Though challenging, we have to remember that distance learning is a temporary state that we are in right now. If we move too quickly, we might end up inadvertently increasing the amount of time we are stuck in this distance-learning format.

The only schools to apply for the waiver in our county have been schools with student populations much smaller than our elementary schools. Their smaller populations allow for an easier transition to in-person instruction ensuring the health and safety of both students and staff alike. Our larger student populations present logistical difficulties in ensuring the health and safety of all stakeholders.

Very few K-12 districts in the state have applied for the waiver, and to our knowledge, none of the very few that have applied have been granted the waiver. As a K-12 unified school district, LUSD serves students at elementary and secondary levels. LFT believes that, as such, we should wait until it is safe to reopen all of our schools at the same time for the equity of our staff and families with students in schools at each level.

Special Board Meeting—A special Board Meeting will be held tomorrow (Tuesday 9/29) at 3:00 on the topic of the elementary waiver. If you would like to speak on the issue at the meeting, please contact Shirley Edwards (edwards.shirley@lusd.org) prior to 11:00 AM on Tuesday with your request to speak, including both your name and subject of your address. Please note that you must have your full name displayed on your Zoom account to be admitted into the meeting, and that at this meeting, speakers will only be allowed three minutes to speak.

Zoom information:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85062638212?pwd=Tm1VUTlpZVI4QnJKK1JQNHdJdzREZz09 Meeting ID: 850 6263 8212

Passcode: LUSDBoard

If you cannot attend the meeting, or do not feel comfortable speaking at the meeting, please feel free to share your concerns by emailing the School Board Members.

Steve Straight – President
Email: straight.stephen@lusd.org

Bill Heath
Email: dr.bill.lusdboard@gmail.com

Dick Barrett – Vice President
Email: barrettschoolboard@gmail.com

Nancy Schuler-Jones
Email: nsjlusdsb@gmail.com

Jeff Carlovsky
Email: jeffreycarlovsky@hotmail.com

Distance Learning Help—Do you need help with specific distance learning challenges? Do you have helpful tools or strategies that have served you well with distance learning? If so, let us know! LFT is looking to support teachers during this challenging time by using our best resource—YOU!

Joining the Union—Not a part of the union? LFT’s membership application is now available online at https://leadernet.aft.org/webform/lompoc-federation-teachers.

LFT Website—LFT’s website can be found at www.lompocfederationofteachers.org.

Have a great week, LFT!

LFT Executive Board

Skyler Petersen, President

Cindy Spangler, Secretary

Robin Madden, Treasurer

Lodene Blair, Vice President of Elementary Schools

Margaret Tennant, Vice President of Middle Schools

Tom Garrard, Vice President of High Schools

Carol Arnerich, Executive Director

Martha Bauer, Executive Director

September 21, 2020

LFT Weekly Memo

New MOU—Last week LFT and the District finalized a new COVID-19 MOU. This MOU combined the previous two COVID-19 MOUs (from March and June) with slight revisions to the original language. It also added information on protocol for in-person assessments. The new COVID-19 MOU can be found here.

CFT Committees and Events—This week and next several members of LFT will be representing our membership by attending a number of upcoming California Federation of Teachers events:

CFT EC/TK-12 Division Council (9/25)—CFT’s Division Councils represents the various educational divisions of the California Federation of Teachers and meet regularly to share information and to formulate policy proposals for constituent members. The EC/TK-12 Division Council is a forum for Early Childhood and TK-12 classroom educators. (Attending for LFT: Skyler Petersen)

CFT Committees (9/26)—CFT has several standing committees that focus on a variety of areas of interest. The committees meet several times a year to discuss issues and propose resolutions relevant to each committee’s focus area. Four LFT members serve on CFT Committees:
- Special Education—Cindy Spangler and Cynthia Pereira
- Pre K-12—Lodene Blair
- Civil, Human, and Women’s Rights—Skyler Petersen

CFT State Council (9/26)—The CFT State Council is the decision-making body for CFT. (Attending for LFT: Carol Arnerich)

CFT Area Council (9/30)—The CFT Area Council is made up of local leaders in our geographic region and is a forum for discussing a variety of union-related issues. (Attending for LFT: Several members of the LFT Executive Board)

School Board Meeting—The next School Board meeting is this Tuesday 9/22 at 5:30 via Zoom. The agenda for this meeting can be found on the District website here. Members of the public have the opportunity to speak at the meeting during the Courtesy to Visitors portion of the meeting, but must submit a request to do so by 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday by emailing edwards.shirley@lusd.org. You should provide your name and subject on which you’d like to speak in your email to Ms. Edwards.

Topic: LUSD Board Meeting

September 22, 2020 5:30 p.m.

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85062638212?pwd=Tm1VUTlpZVI4QnJKK1JQNHdJdzREZz09 Meeting ID: 850 6263 8212

Passcode: LUSDBoard

Self-Care—This year is beyond stressful for educators and has, in many ways, made us all feel like first-year teachers all over again. Many of us are working late into the night and on weekends because of the work involved in trying to teach effectively in this remote format. LFT wants to remind members not to forget about taking care of yourselves. Your emotional and mental health is just as important as your physical health, so please try to take time for yourself during all of the craziness that is this year.

One useful self-care option is the District-provided free yoga classes. As a reminder, these classes are offered Tuesdays and Thursdays via Zoom:

LUSD Yoga Classes

Tuesdays & Thursdays Via Zoom

4:00-5:00

Tuesdays—Yin – Slow paced focusing on holding poses and stretching

Thursdays—Vinyasa – Gentle Flow Yoga

Zoom Meeting ID: 758 859 5825

Distance Learning Help—Do you need help with specific distance learning challenges? Do you have helpful tools or strategies that have served you well with distance learning? If so, let us know! LFT is looking to support teachers during this challenging time by using our best resource—YOU!

Joining the Union—Not a part of the union? LFT’s membership application is now available online at https://leadernet.aft.org/webform/lompoc-federation-teachers.

LFT Website—LFT’s website can be found at www.lompocfederationofteachers.org.

Have a great week, LFT!

LFT Executive Board

Skyler Petersen, President

Cindy Spangler, Secretary

Robin Madden, Treasurer

Lodene Blair, Vice President of Elementary Schools

Margaret Tennant, Vice President of Middle Schools

Tom Garrard, Vice President of High Schools

Carol Arnerich, Executive Director

Martha Bauer, Executive Director

September 14, 2020

LFT Weekly Memo

New MOUs—Three new MOUs were approved by the School Board last week. These agreements:
- Increased the stipend for teachers of Allan Hancock College (AHC) concurrent enrollment teachers because of the additional instructional time required by AHC for these courses.
- Created two After School Teacher Tutor positions to support students who need extra support (both content and technological support) after school
- Suspended the Site Mentor Program because the COVID-19 pandemic has made it so most teachers are not working on-site, and so there is not a need for this support

These MOUs will soon be posted on both the District and LFT websites.

Negotiations Update—The LFT Negotiating Team is working with the District to finalize an updated MOU regarding COVID-19 protocol and in-person Special Education assessments.

AFT Training and PD—Please see the attached for a variety of FREE training and PD opportunities offered through AFT related to various distance learning topics.

U.S. Census—Have you completed the U.S. Census yet? The deadline for self-completing the Census is September 30. The Census determines the allocation of billions of federal, state, and local dollars. An inaccurate count could result in our community missing out on potential funds that could benefit our schools and students. Make sure you are counted! To complete the Census, or for more information, visit https://my2020census.gov/.

Distance Learning Help—Do you need help with specific distance learning challenges? Do you have helpful tools or strategies that have served you well with distance learning? If so, let us know! LFT is looking to support teachers during this challenging time by using our best resource—YOU!

Email lftdistancelearning@gmail.com if you need help with specific challenges, and we will try to connect you with people and ideas that can help. We would also like teachers to email us to share any instructional practices that help with the demanding schedules, delivery of lessons, ways to help students with technical problems, creative uses of technology, effective resources for help with lessons, etc. LFT will also periodically publish a sampling of Q’s and A’s. Teachers’ names and sites will be anonymous, but may include a grade level range (i.e. TK/K/1; 1-3; 3-5; 4-6).

(This email address (lftdistancelearning@gmail.com) is NOT for general concerns or venting. That can still be done through your site representative, or you can email those concerns to lompocteachers@hotmail.com.)

Joining the Union—Not a part of the union? LFT’s membership application is now available online at https://leadernet.aft.org/webform/lompoc-federation-teachers.

LFT Website—LFT’s website can be found at www.lompocfederationofteachers.org.

Have a great week, LFT!

LFT Executive Board

Skyler Petersen, President

Cindy Spangler, Secretary

Robin Madden, Treasurer

Lodene Blair, Vice President of Elementary Schools

Margaret Tennant, Vice President of Middle Schools

Tom Garrard, Vice President of High Schools

Carol Arnerich, Executive Director

Martha Bauer, Executive Director

September 9, 2020

LUSD and LFT Joint Communique

Across the country, we have seen the grim consequences that have befallen school districts that have too quickly transitioned back to on campus instruction during this COVID-19 pandemic.

With the health of our students, staff, and our community at large in mind, the Lompoc Unified School District and the Lompoc Federation of Teachers (LFT) agree that it is far better to operate with an abundance of caution moving forward than it is to put the health and well-being of our community at risk. This is not something that either the District or LFT takes lightly, as we have heard from countless teachers, parents, and students about the difficulties that come with distance learning. We hear and, more often than not, share these concerns. However, as long as we are in the midst of this pandemic, our first priority is, and will continue to be, the health and safety of our students, staff, and community.

Although we are all anxious to return to the classroom and agree that in-person learning is best for kids, both the District and LFT agree that the decision to move forward with the elementary waiver is ultimately not in the best interest of our community at this time.

Make no mistake, we want desperately to return to normal. But as much as we want that, we cannot ignore the reality that COVID-19 is still a very real threat to all within our community, and as such, both LFT and the District agree that the best course of action in protecting our community is to not pursue the waiver process at this time.

We—students, staff, and parents—are under stress and anxiety related to distance learning that have reached heights many of us have never before experienced. Both the District and LFT hear from staff and parents daily about how much harder distance learning is than in-person instruction and very much would like to see students return to the classroom. But it is important to understand that the whole reason a waiver is required to move to in-person instruction is due to the fact that Santa Barbara County remains on the state monitoring list because of our high positivity rate. We take very seriously the need to move toward the slow transition from 100% remote learning, to 1:1 assessments, to small cohorts, to hybrid learning, to traditional in-person learning. To that end, we continue to meet regularly to navigate all the complexities of COVID-19, the waiver process, and reopening schools.

Our mantra has been, “Go slow, work together, do it right.” If we are to err in our judgment, the District and LFT share the belief that it is much better to seem overly cautious than to move too quickly and compromise the health—and potentially lives—of our students, staff, and community members. Behind every student and staff member is a family whose health would also be put at risk if we get this wrong. This disease has demonstrated how pervasive and destructive it is as it has exponentially spread nationwide in communities, including our own, over the past six months.

The District and LFT will continue to work together toward our ultimate end goal of a safe return to the classroom, for students and staff alike, and we will work together to communicate regularly where we are in that process. We understand the frustrations that many have shared regarding this process, but please know that every decision we make is made with the health and well-being of our community in mind.

On behalf of the District and LFT,

Bree Valla & Skyler Petersen

September 8, 2020

LFT Weekly Memo

Elementary Common Core Council—The deadline to submit your name as a candidate for the Elementary Common Core Council (ECCC) has been extended to this Friday, September 11. Candidates may submit their names to represent grades 1-6.

The ECCC is elected district-wide as a representative of their grade level. The ECCC’s duties are essential for efficient grade-level operations and communication. The ECCC works with Education Services to share information about the curriculum, grade-level data, and best practices for instruction and assessment. The ECCC collaborates with Education Services to suggest professional development. If you are elected to serve on the ECCC, you will be compensated with a stipend.

If you are interested in submitting your name, please email Skyler Petersen (petersen.skyler@lusd.org) by 3:00 p.m. Friday, September 11.

General Meeting Questions and District Responses—Attached are the list of questions from members compiled from last week’s General Meeting and responses provided by the District.

School Board Meeting—The next School Board meeting is TODAY at 5:30 via Zoom. The agenda for this meeting and all meetings can be found on the District website here. Members of the public have the opportunity to speak at the meeting during the Courtesy to Visitors portion of the meeting, but must submit a request to do so by 1:00 p.m. today by emailing edwards.shirley@lusd.org. You should provide your name and subject on which you’d like to speak in your email to Ms. Edwards.

Topic: LUSD Board Meeting

Time: September 8, 2020 5:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85062638212?pwd=Tm1VUTlpZVI4QnJKK1JQNHdJdzREZz09

Meeting ID: 850 6263 8212

Passcode: LUSDBoard

Distance Learning Help—Do you need help with specific distance learning challenges? Do you have helpful tools or strategies that have served you well with distance learning? If so, let us know! LFT is looking to support teachers during this challenging time by using our best resource—YOU!

Offer of Distance Learning Assistance—If you are a middle or high school teacher in need of help with Google Classroom, slides, Google Form, designing lessons, etc., email lftdistancelearning@gmail.com to be connected with a teacher who is offering help.

Joining the Union—Not a part of the union? LFT’s membership application is now available online at https://leadernet.aft.org/webform/lompoc-federation-teachers.

LFT Website—LFT’s website can be found at www.lompocfederationofteachers.org.

Have a great week, LFT!

LFT Executive Board

Skyler Petersen, President

Cindy Spangler, Secretary

Robin Madden, Treasurer

Lodene Blair, Vice President of Elementary Schools

Margaret Tennant, Vice President of Middle Schools

Tom Garrard, Vice President of High Schools

Carol Arnerich, Executive Director

Martha Bauer, Executive Director

August 31, 2020

LFT Weekly Memo

Health and Safety Reminder—LFT would like to remind members to wear a face covering while on campus and practice physical distancing for the health and well-being of all.

Contract Availability Update—The current 2020-21 LFT contract is now available on the District’s website (here) and LFT’s website (here).

Are You Registered to Vote?—Reminder for teachers who have moved recently that they need to register (or re-register) to vote in the coming November 3^rd election. The deadline to register to vote is October 19th. The deadline to register to vote by mail is October 27^th. Both can be done online at https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/. You can also check your voter status and sign up to track your ballot on this website.

Distance Learning Help—Do you need help with specific distance learning challenges? Do you have helpful tools or strategies that have served you well with distance learning? If so, let us know! LFT is looking to support teachers during this challenging time by using our best resource—YOU!

Elementary P.E.— Some of the elementary sites have noticed some changes to their sites’ elementary P.E. schedules. The contract states, “In order to meet the yearly instructional minutes, the District shall provide students in grades 4, 5, and 6, 80 minutes weekly of P.E. instruction” (Article 9.8). LFT has a duty to ensure that the District is upholding the contract, which is why the Union has been working with the District to ensure that grades 4-6 are receiving their contractually required instructional P.E. minutes. This is the only issue pertaining to the elementary P.E. schedules that LFT has been involved in working with the District on. Each site administrator has been working with their elementary P.E. teacher to create their site’s P.E. schedule to best serve the needs of their site, per management rights, while adhering to the contractual minutes requirement.

For context, the Elementary P.E. Teacher positions were created to help meet the instructional minutes requirement for grades 4-6 (which is why minimum elementary P.E. instructional minutes are specified in the contract). The other elementary grades are not contractually required to have any P.E. minutes from a P.E. teacher, let alone a minimum, but the District generously set up the positions to teach to all grade levels for the benefit of our students. Because there is no minimum minutes requirement for grades outside of 4-6, it might seem unfair that the allocation of minutes per grade level may not always be equal, but again, that is only because there is not a contractual requirement for the other grades to receive P.E. instruction from a P.E. teacher. We apologize if there has been any confusion regarding the schedules or LFT’s involvement with the schedules, which has just been to ensure that the contract is being followed.

Salary Advancement Units—The deadline to submit an official transcript verifying completion of courses taken for salary advancement is October 15. Make sure you submit yours by the deadline.

Credential Status—Do you know the status of your credential? Check your credential’s expiration date at the California’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing website here to see if you need to renew yours soon. Although the District may remind you of when it is time to renew as a courtesy, but it is your professional responsibility to renew your credential.

LFT General Meeting—LFT’s first General Meeting of the year is this Wednesday (9/2) at 3:30. All members are welcome.

When: Sep 2, 2020 03:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqcu2hrzopG9FlA5p4h5p419pwsrnSk5xj

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Labor Day—Don’t forget that next Monday is Labor Day. Labor Day has been a federal holiday since 1894 to honor the labor movement and all that it has achieved for workers in this country, including the eight-hour workday and other improvements in workers’ standard of living. We hope you enjoy your three-day weekend, and remember that, as union members, you are part of a long proud legacy of the labor movement in this country.

Joining the Union—Not a part of the union? LFT’s membership application is now available online at https://leadernet.aft.org/webform/lompoc-federation-teachers.

LFT Website—LFT’s website can be found at www.lompocfederationofteachers.org.

We hope that, as we enter into the third week of the school year, things are getting a little easier. As always, if you have concerns or questions, please reach out to your Site Rep or the Executive Board. Have a great week, LFT!

LFT Executive Board

Skyler Petersen, President

Cindy Spangler, Secretary

Robin Madden, Treasurer

Lodene Blair, Vice President of Elementary Schools

Margaret Tennant, Vice President of Middle Schools

Tom Garrard, Vice President of High Schools

Carol Arnerich, Executive Director

Martha Bauer, Executive Director

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