Seattle Association of Educational Office Professionals

SAEOP Annual Report for the Year 2008-09
September, 2009 

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
            Karen Putnam, Corresponding Secretary
            Mary Smith, Recording Secretary
            Sue Daley, Treasurer
            Carrie Bauer, Past President
Board Members at Large: Jenny Evans, Antoinette Felder, Donna Hansen, Rodney Higuchi, Penny Knutzen, Gail Larson, Emily Marley, Chris McMillin-Helsel, and Barb Slatt.

Our activities are divided into monthly, yearly, and one-time events.  They were initiated in partnership by the SAEOP Board, the SEA Board, and the school district.  A listing of our accomplishments include:

Special One-Time Events 

·        Members of the SAEOP Board manned the phone banks to support SEA endorsed political candidates, with particular emphasis on the governor’s race.

·        The SAEOP Board held five bargaining input meetings so that members could have an active voice in issues discussed at the table.

·        SAEOP won an arbitration hearing on Staffing Standards to be included in future budget development manuals.

·         SAEOP bylaws were reviewed, revised, and amended by a vote of the membership after a request of SEA leadership to bring them into conformity with SEA bylaws.

·        Chris Helsel served as the SAEOP rep on Reclassification Hearings.  All reclass filings on hold for several years have been heard and resolved.

·        SEA leadership and the WEA Legal Department began the process of a Unit Clarification Study to determine which positions from the Stanford Center should be part of SAEOP.  This study is to be done with assistance from PERC if necessary.

·        The Classification Study was completed.  A preliminary report was submitted to HR in mid-May; negotiations over implementation were completed in the summer; and notification to members was done in September.

·        The president (Debbie) served on the SEA Bargaining Team.  They met from mid-spring through August 31^st.

·        Several SAEOP members attended the Focus Meeting held by SEA to go over the Tentative Agreement and to give input on how to make the General Membership Meeting run more efficiently.

·        Sue Daley and Cheryl Smith created “goodie bags” which were passed out to SAEOP members at the August ratification meeting.   Vivian Belcher organized the sign-in tables that were almost exclusively manned by SAEOP members.

Monthly Events 

·        The president (Debbie) and vice-president (Vivian) attended the monthly SEA Board Meetings.  They also attended the SEA Board Retreat in August.

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

·        SAEOP board members--Sue Daley, Carrie Bauer, Chris Helsel, and Barb Slatt—served on SEA Committees representing SAEOP.  These were the Finance Committee; Insurance; Waiver; and GRC.  Chris Nielsen, John Stanford International School, also serves on the GRC.

·        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 five general membership meetings (one more than the SAEOP bylaws).  This year the meetings included a special introduction and presentation by Glenn Bafia; trust building; a session with the Employee Assistance Program;  bylaws amendments and an explanation of the classification/point system for jobs; and our Installation Dinner at Salty’s.  We had 72 members in attendance at the dinner—a record turnout.

·        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 all PSP certificate awardees at our Installation Dinner in May.

·        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.

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

·        Cheryl Smith revived our website, www.saeop.org, and it has become a major communication vehicle for the organization.  The website was entered in the NAEOP national competition during the summer of 2009, and earned high marks.

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

·        We affiliated with NAEOP.  This allows us to continue to participate in the Professional Standards Program so members can earn national certification and monthly stipends.

·        Members and officers attended conferences, institutes, and workshops sponsored by NAEOP, WAEOP, WEA, and NEA to take advantage of the six 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 continued to increase this year; 21 applications were received.  The winner was introduced at the Installation Dinner in May. 

Goals for the Future 

·        To continue to make SAEOP more relevant to the members so they take advantage of the opportunities afforded them through membership.

·        To continue to improve communications with the membership through use of the website, face-to-face conversations, and increased attendance at meetings.

·        To continue to advocate for SAEOP interests at SEA Board and Committee meetings and the RA Assembly.