Billings Education Association Home

Tentative Agreement discussion

BEA Members called to General Meeting

On Thursday, May 23, at Lewis & Clark Middle School Auditorium starting at 4:15 p.m. BEA President Scott C. McCulloch, the BEA Board of Directors, and the BEA Negotiations Team will present the recently negotiated Tentative Agreement. Questions will be taken after the presentation.

A Ratification Election will be conducted by BEA Building Representatives in each of the schools on Friday, May 24. Please be sure to get your ballot from your Building Rep on Friday and cast your vote. The BEA Election Committee will tally the votes Friday evening and the results will be announced.

Negotiations Report IV
Friday, May 17, 2013

A Tentative Agreement has been reached between the District and the Association. Your Negotiations Team used all of its resources on behalf of BEA members but the District would not budge on salary considerations. The contract language already in place will guarantee step and lane movement, but there will be no additional growth in the salary matrix.

Insurance language already in the contract will be honored, and insurance for single employee will continue to be paid.

After a week of talks, the parties agreed on a variety of language items. Many which focus on the improvement of classroom practices and support for the improvement of communications. Both sides brought language to improve the current evaluation tool used by the District.

A summary of the Tentative Agreement has been emailed to BEA Building Representatives who will forward it to members at their schools.

The BEA thanks the members of the Negotiations Team for their hard work. Please feel free to contact BEA President Scott C. McCulloch with comments, questions, or concerns.

Negotiations Report III
Thursday, May 16, 2013

Negotiations between SD2 and the BEA produced significant progress on language issues. The bargaining now centers on economic issues. The BEA left the District with a proposal structured over a two-year contract. A 2% raise for the next school year and a 3% raise for the following year were included. The District is meeting with its finance department to run numbers.

Language items included concerns with specialist, itinerant teachers, PLC structure, assignment and transfer language, special education language, and BEA president's contract year.

The teams will meet again Friday morning.

Negotiations Report II
Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The second day of bargaining began with a presentation by the District's finance team on the 2013-2014 budget. The impact of new money from SB 175 was highlighted. The District's financial package reflected current contract language: a fully-paid single premium for insurance and step and lane movement. The District did not offer any percentage increase on the salary matrix.

The BEA built its financial package around a percentage increase in the salary schedule. The Association floated the idea of a two-year contract with a five percent increase in the matrix. Discussion of salary will continue.

Language proposals were exchanged throughout the day. Agreements on evaluation, electronic surveillance, and PLC's were reached. Progress was made on Special Education language. Items still under discussion range from prep time to travel language.

The teams meet again on Thursday.

Negotiations Report I
Monday, May 13, 2013

Negotiations with School District 2 commenced today at 1 p.m. Both sides applauded the passage of the mill levies. The BEA reiterated its position that the levy was to be used for the hiring of new teachers to address the overcrowding issue in our elementary schools.

A period of questions and answers followed the exchange of proposals, and general areas of interest for discussion were delineated. Some movement was made on issues common to both sides. An adjustment of bargaining times and a fresh look at evaluations were shared concerns.

The BEA placed the issue of a multi-year contract on the table. Other items suggested included travel time language for specialists, PLC time for schools, prep time language and an extended work year for the BEA president. In all, the BEA brought 11 specific language items.

The District expressed concerns about the use of discretionary days and critical family illness leave. The District floated the issue of position sharing and its value to the District.

The teams will meet tomorrow to talk specific numbers. The discussion should turn to compensation issues at that point.

The BEA Negotiations Team characterized the discussions as cordial. More tomorrow.

The Sign Says It All!!!!

Thank You Voters & Volunteers
for passing the Elementary Levy and the Technology Levy!!!

You can drop off your yard signs at the Yes for Kids Campaign HQ
at the NE corner of 6th Ave and N. 30th!

Plan Ahead! ER&D courses can be used for MEA-MFT Ed. Conf. Trade Days...

Register now for ER&D classes this summer and fall

Don't wait! Plan now to earn OPI renewal units and SD2 step-up credits. Four ER&D courses are offered this summer and next fall. Check out the dates & times. To register call Taby at Community Education, 281-5010!

Perfect for new teachers or anyone wanting tried and true techniques is ER&D Foundations of Effective Teaching for All Levels. Find out about classroom organization, rules & procedures; group management practices; teacher praise; homework practices; and more.

Take Managing Anti-Social Behavior for strategies on handling those disruptive situations in the classroom.

School, Family, & Community gives teachers ideas on communication and relationships with students' families and the community.

Instructional Strategies that Work for All Disciplines for practical applications to encourage critical thinking and help students acquire learning skills.

ER&D courses may be used for trade days if you complete and submit the course approval form on the PIR site with Billings Public Schools.

Congratulations Lyn McKinney! New BEA High School Director

The new High School Director on the BEA Board of Directors has been decided.....Senior High's Lyn McKinney. With former BEA President Jeff Greenfield's resignation in March there has been a succession vacancies and elections on the BEA Board. Lyn has been elected by acclamation to this board position as there were no other nominations submitted. Lyn will be completing the current term to June 2014.

Please welcome Lyn McKinney as BEA High School Director. For a list of the 2013/14 BEA Board Members please visit: BEA Board of Directors.

NEA Foundation Grant awarded to Central Heights Teachers

Two Central Heights teachers, Clay Herron and Clinton Mainwaring, have received an NEA Foundation Grant for a Student Achievement project. We thank them for their work. If you know these educators, please congratulate them!

Curious about the grants? Click to read more!

New Officer and Board Members for the BEA

Representative Council elected by acclamation Barb Veis as BEA's new 2nd Vice-President. Barb teaches at Skyview and has recently served as the High School Director. Her Congrats experience in the Association includes a stint as 1st Vice-President. She has also represented Billings on the MEA-MFT Board.

Jamee Wilson was re-elected by acclamation to the BEA Board as the Elementary Director. Jamee works at Eagle Cliffs Elementary.

Kevin Roberts was re-elected by acclamation as the Middle School Director. Kevin teaches at Castle Rock Middle School.

Also voted in by acclamation is Rod Gottula. Rod joins the Board as a Director-at-Large. Rod teaches at Skyview.

The BEA appreciates the work done by the Board of Directors. They have our thanks.

Kate McAuliffe Miller new BEA First Vice President

Nominations closed on April 1 for members interested in running for the recently vacant First Vice President position. As of April 1 only one nomination had been submitted. Kate McAuliffe Miller (BEA 2nd Vice President) is elected by acclamation as BEA First Vice President.

BEA Karen Cox Scholarship Recipients announced

The BEA Scholarship Committee is pleased to announce this year's recipients of the BEA Karen Cox Scholarship. They are:

Tyler McKay, West High student, son of BEA member Kari McKay
Chloe Rector, Senior High student, daughter of retired BEA member Darlene Rector
Whitney Pomroy, Skyview High student, daughter of BEA member Deborah Pomroy

This year applications were received from 25 stellar students!

BEA & Golden Apple Awardees announced

This morning at Lewis & Clark Middle School, BEA President Scott C. McCulloch announced the recipients of the BEA annual awards. The BEA Teacher of the Year is JAMIE JARVIS, who teaches 7th grade Geography at Lewis & Clark. DARELL TUNNICLIFF, founder and president of Arts Without Boundaries, received the BEA Friend of Education award for bringing the arts to students of Billings Public Schools. congratulations

The Golden Apple Committee also made its rounds this morning to various schools to announce Golden Apple Awards to:

Laura McCoy, Trinity Lutheran School
Kerra Olson, Boulder Elementary
Molly Reas, Poly Drive Elementary
Deborah Richau, Will James Middle School
Chuck Swarm, West High
Mary Enright, Adult Education

Change in BEA Leadership

Effective March 18, 2013, Scott C. McCulloch, teacher at Senior High, assumed responsibilities of BEA President. Former President Jeff Greenfield has resigned to take a field consultant position with MEA-MFT. BEA By-Laws state: "If a vacancy occurs in the office of the President, the First Vice President shall immediately assume the duties of President." Scott C. McCulloch can be reached at the BEA Office, 248-9812 or emailed at smcculloch@beabillings.org.

Sign Up for Legislative Text Alerts to Your Cell Phone

The 63rd Montana Legislative Session starts January 7, 2013. It will be imperative to act quickly and as a group to have impact on what our legislators will do.

You can help! We need your help! Receive texted Legislative Alerts to your cell phone so you can stay informed and quickly take action. It's easy!

Compose a text to be sent from your cell phone number to: shauna@beabillings.org.
Type: "This is (your name). Sign me up for Legislative Alerts!"
Send the text.
You MUST be a BEA member to participate.

New Sign at the BEA Building

December 2011 the BEA purchased the rest of the building that houses our office. Renovations began in the summer of 2011 and now the office space is ready to be rented. If you know of someone looking for office space to rent have them contact Scott C. McCulloch at 248-9812.

Go to this web page to check out the progress. Better yet stop by the office to see for yourself!