Seattle Association of Educational Office Professionals

Introduction
This year the SAEOP Officers and Board Members continued their work of member advocacy. We emphasized professional development for our members through continued participation in WAEOP, NAEOP, WEA ESP, and the Professional Standards Program (PSP). The officers and board members were:
Debbie Passi, President
Vivian Belcher, Vice-President
Antoinette Felder, Recording Secretary
Sue Daley, Treasurer
Carrie Bauer, Past President

Board Members at Large: Lenora Glymph, Rodney Higuichi, Nancy Milgate, Dian Pendergrass, Cheryl Smith, and Rosa Tavai.

Our activities are divided into monthly, yearly, and one-time events. A listing of our accomplishments includes:

Special One-Time Events

o The Reclassification Study promised in a previous bargain was finally finished. Members who disagreed with its findings were allowed to request hearings. Nearly two thirds of the members were moved into higher job classifications.

o Chris Helsel, Kim Watson, Vivian Belcher, and Debbie Passi served as the SAEOP rep on the Reclassification hearing panels. All requests for this year have been heard.

o Names for future SAEOP Reps to hear reclassification requests were submitted to Elaine Williams through Debbie Passi and Glenn Bafia after members volunteered at the February General Membership Meeting. Training should take place prior to the next round of requests next fall.

o The SAEOP Board held two bargaining input meetings so that members could have an active voice in issues at the table. In addition, SEA sent out bargaining surveys for all SAEOPs to complete in preparation of the 2010 spring bargain. Compensation and respect for the job being performed continue to be the major issues for the unit.

o Debbie Passi and Glenn Bafia attended meetings with district staff on the Staffing Standards information to be included in the budget development manuals. These meetings were a result of contract language and an award in an arbitration hearing.

o Eric Hansen, WEA Legal Department, conducted hearings as part of the Unit Clarification Study which is currently ongoing and results are expected in the fall of 2010. Debbie Passi and Olga Addae sat in on meetings establishing the operating procedures; Debbie has sat in on some of the hearings. This study will be done with assistance from PERC.

o Debbie Passi is currently serving on the Bargaining Team and will do so until the bargain concludes in August or September of 2010.

O A committee of board members was formed, thank you cards printed and hand signed, and SAEOP lanyards sent out to all members as part of the National ESP Day showing appreciation to all Seattle SAEOPs and the jobs they do.

O A special emphasis was placed on our Sunshine Committee work this year. It was a particularly difficult year as we lost two secretaries—Penny Patterson from Broadview Thomson and Bonnie Melnik, recently retired from Wedgwood. We also lost Brian Lindquist, Vice-President of SEA, and Jean Fankell, Past President from NAEOP. Many of our members also had some difficult moments this year so cards, sick leave donation requests, and financial gifts were solicited and given. The SAEOP Board members also donated bags and office supplies for four Bellingham Office Personnel who were burned out of their school building offices and displaced.

O A new special project that SAEOP performed this year was an offshoot of an idea done at WAEOP. Vivian Belcher secured a donation of 25 pairs of New Balance Tennis Shoes and they were used as door prizes at the installation dinner at Salty’s. Each person who “won” the shoes was to donate them to a needy family at their school, program, or office and follow up with a short story to give to Vivian so she could forward them on to the sales representative.

o Our Scholarship Program has been advanced thanks to a fundraising project chaired by Cheryl Smith. Cookbooks were printed and sold, raising approximately $750, allowing us the opportunity to award two scholarships if the committee felt there were two deserving candidates. For 2010, we awarded one, but have the funds and flexibility to award two next year if we so choose.

Monthly Events

· The president (Debbie) and vice-president (Vivian) attended the monthly SEA Board Meetings.

· The president (Debbie) and vice-president (Vivian) attended the monthly RA meetings. Other board members also attended.

· SAEOP board members--Sue Daley, Vivian Belcher, Carrie Bauer, Antoinette Felder, and Debbie Passi served on SEA Committees representing SAEOP. Sue, Vivian, and Debbie served on the Finance Commission; Carrie on the Joint Insurance Committee; and Antoinette on the SEA Bylaws Committee.

· Other SAEOP members served on SEA Committees: Barb Slatt and Chris Nielsen on the Grievance Review Commission and Chris Helsel on the Waiver Committee.

· SAEOP officers and board members attended monthly SAEOP Board Meetings as per the bylaws.

· The president (Debbie) and other officers as appropriate continued to work with SEA Leadership on contract monitoring, contract waiver requests, inquiries from members, meetings with individual members, committee member selections, and contract violations/grievances.

· The president (Debbie) has served as a member of the state ESP board, representing Seattle and assisting with the ESP professional development conferences.

Yearly/Ongoing

· SAEOP held four general membership meetings. This year the meetings included a presentation by Barbara Martinson from Risk Management; updates on the Classification Study, pending reclassifications, the Unit Clarification Study, the SEA Budget, and bargaining input. Nomination forms and elections rules were passed out at a general membership meeting for interested candidates for 2010-2012. We had 65 members and guests in attendance at the installation dinner at Salty’s.

· Emily Marley, along with Sue Daley and Vivian Belcher, held PSP classes to help members apply for and receive certificates. Members are entitled to $30 per certificate earned.

· SAEOP recognized 15 PSP certificate awardees at our Installation Dinner in June.

· SAEOP has continued to work with Kim Van Atta on professional development offerings. This year, courses were offered on the two statewide professional development days, the day between semesters, and during selected evenings. Additional trainings will be available in August.

· Jan Grubbs chaired our Sunshine/Recognition Committee and sent cards to members who were ill or needed other messages of hope.

· Cheryl Smith maintained our website, www.saeop.org, which has become a major communication vehicle for the organization.

· We affiliated with WAEOP, hosted the Hospitality Room at the spring conference; donated two baskets for the state scholarship program; and held a successful stuffed animal drive for Childrens’ Hospital for the WAEOP spring community project.

· We affiliated with NAEOP, allowing us to continue participation in the Professional Standards Program so members can earn national certification and monthly stipends.

· Vivian Belcher sold NAEOP raffle tickets for prizes and cash, raising funds for Kathy Lech’s installation as NAEOP President this July in Kansas City.

· Debbie Passi invited past SAEOP presidents and vice-presidents to prepare business cards and pins for the NAEOP installation in July.

· Vivian Belcher served as the WAEOP rep, keeping communication open between the two affiliates.

· Members and officers attended conferences, institutes, and workshops sponsored by NAEOP, WAEOP, WEA, and NEA to take advantage of the eight professional development paid days and to bring back new information to our members. A special note to members: SAEOP reimburses one half of the registration and gives $15 per day for conference expenses.

· We sent out SAEOP Scholarship Application forms to all Seattle high schools. The applicant pool increased this year to 22. The winner was introduced at the Installation Dinner in June.