MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

It takes a village.

We are not “just a …”

Before I joined the community of TPS, I worked for a national youth development organization. A career that included agency management, program development and management and training adults and youth. What kept me there for 30 years was that the programs are focused on kids’ developmental assets and not their deficits. Also, the incredible sense of community that existed in every facet of the organization. Everyone from the CEO to the program volunteers to the summer camp cooks were focused on kids and we all worked together to meet the developmental needs of our members. We worked together, we listened to each other and our focus as on the youth we served.

No one was “just a …”

Now, working for TPS, I am still looking for the developmental assets, not the deficits, in our kids and of course I am looking for that sense of community that is so important to kids and adults. I believe in the saying that it “takes a village to raise a child.” We all bring skills and knowledge to TPS, to our buildings and programs and to our kids. We need a reason to work together that is more than a high school graduation percentage or a sports player who becomes a professional player. We need a goal that every TPS staff member feels they are contributing to. No one in this district is “just a …”. Together we can help our kids become caring confident adults.

I met with Deputy Superintendent Josh Garcia this week and this is how I felt afterwards. I told him that many people in TPS feel that they are “just a para” or “just a bus monitor”. That they feel like they are not seen as an equal member of the district. I believe that most of us are working in schools for similar reasons (in addition to pay) and I believe that the district needs to believe that everyone plays a role in achieving that goal. Dr. Garcia took notes on what I said. They are watching, but are they listening?

Many thanks to the Bylaw Committee who have been working for many months on reviewing and updating our Bylaws.  The new Bylaws are posted on this website under "Important Documents."  Thanks also go to the members who attended our November 23rd Zoom meeting to discuss and vote on the Bylaws.  One major note -- we are now the TACOMA FEDERATION OF EDUCATION SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS.  This was a very important change, making us more inclusive to the Bus Monitors, ASL Interpreters, Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants, Speech Language Pathology Assistants, Physical Therapy Assistants, Health Room Assistants, LPN's and others represented by our union, along with our paraeducators.  

We had a successful drive-through election this evening.  33 members cast their ballots.  Thank you to those who participated!  Nominees for each executive board position ran unopposed:

Vice President - Kathy Unruh

Secretary - Rhonda Stinson

Editor - Liz Walle

Building Rep Coordinator B - Lisa Wolf

Sgt at Arms - Phoebe Grigsby

A special thank you to our Nominations and Elections Committee: Kari Madden and Melissa Roach.  Also, thank you to our volunteer members who came out to help facilitate the vote and the ballot count:  Melody Hardesty, Amy Kimmel, Betty Lewis, Susan Wright and Elizabeth Douglas.

*MOUs are posted under the Important Documents tab*

*Impact Provisions

*Effects

*ASL Interpreters

*Leaves

Today, your bargaining team reached a tentative agreement on four (4) separate MOUs with the district.  We have solidified language around the effects of the June 1 personnel action, leaves, ASL and provisions going into the 20/21 school year. 

These agreements will be uploaded to the website for viewing within the next 24 hours.  

A huge thank you to the team that sacrificed portions of their summer and has put in endless hours during the negotiation process:

Kathy Unruh

Rhonda Stinson

Kari Madden

Lisa Wolf

Jana Quiocho

Liz Walle

Jazmyn Daniels

Glory Tichy

Know that this could not have been possible without the way our membership sprang into action on multiple occasions when prompted  These past four months have served a bigger purpose as well which is letting the district know we are a valuable part of the educational team and we deserve respect.  This concept is still not acknowledged by all upper admin within TPS but we are moving in the right direction thanks to the actions of our members!!