June 1, 2003 / Volume 21, Number 7
Katrina Fantaski, a senior at Niceville High School, is the recipient of the Okaloosa County Education Association 2003 Scholarship. She is the daughter of Mike and Cheryl Fantaski, Niceville.
Katrina is the 2002-2003 NHS Homecoming queen, a member of the NHS Senior Hall of Fame, Keyette service club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, varsity softball, National Honor Society, and the captain of the volleyball team. During her 4 years at NHS, she has been honored as Student of the Month, Athlete of the Month, and Exchange Club Student of the Month. Katrina received the Anne T. Mitchell County Honors for the past three years and has been recognized for NHS High Honors.
She is an active member of the Holy Name Jesus Catholic Church where she participates in the youth ministry and was an alter server.
Katrina will attend the University of Florida in the fall and plans to pursue a degree in Health Sciences.
By: Alice Thoreen thoreena@yahoo.com
JOIN NOW and get summer months free!! If you join now, you will receive May, June and July free. You will not have dues deducted until your first paycheck for next school year. Join and support the Association that works for you!!!
If you have not sent in your 2003-04 Building Representatives, PLEASE do so ASAP. You are entitled to 1 BR for every 10 members. Please designate your Senior BR. Please stress how important this job is!
| K-12 | House | Senate |
| $ Increase | $866.8 mill | $910.5 mill |
| % Increase | 6.57% | 6.96% |
| %Incr/student | 4.91% | 5.16% |
| Base Stu Alloc.* | $3651.92 | 3616.19 |
| Sch Recog Prog* | $120 million | 0 |
| Instruct Materials | Cut $50 mill | Incr $9.6 mill |
| Technology | Cut $12.5 mill | No change |
| Teacher Tng | Cut $18 mill | No change |
| Class Size Reduct# | $300 mill | $467.2 mill |
* Senate does not fund School Recognition Program and $120 million is removed from their base calculation in 2002-03. The governor has said he will veto a budget that fails to fund the school recognition program.
# Both allow flexible use of funds when class size goals are met.
Currently, neither bill has bonus payments nor the $31,000 minimum salary as included in the House of Representatives during the regular session. The teacher career ladder issue is still under consideration for 2004-05. The House is considering some form of career ladder pilot programs for 2003-04. This issue and the budget differences will be resolved during the weekend and next week in the conference committee process. Budget floor action appears to be set for Friday.
OCEA
348 Highway 190
Valparaiso, FL 32580
Office: 850-678-5940
Fax: 850-678-0984
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Executive Director -
Denise Megiel-Rollo
President -
Sheila Olsen
Secretary -
Diane Jenkins
Webmaster -
Lynn Kane
Sheila's ShoutsIt seems that with each day something new arises about education. If it does not come from our District it comes from Tallahassee. As teachers, we look at the end of the year as closure, winding down, maybe doing less, yet this is just not so. Tallahassee is still in session and is attempting to deal with the mandated LAW that the voters passed about class size and the District has questions and no answers. That leads us to believe that this may not be the end of anything. Report cards, AIP meetings, Plan of Care meetings, FCAT issues, Tutoring, which part of "winding down" does this not look like.
With all that I want you to look at a calendar, doing everything that you need to do to close your year out and then RELAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a great short summer, let us know if we can do anything for you, and see you in July for the BR training or flex days.
Be sure to know if your school is going to have flex time before you leave.
To date we have T.A. on only 4 items, even though we have presented 9. The items that we have agreed to are the Preamble, Article 1, 3 and 19. Negiotations continues! We have been meeting with the District on a regular basis. We have agreed to very little. Mr. Foxworthy has been working hard to get us answers and we have a great dialog.
With unanswered questions you get unanswered answers.
We will meet all summer and work on bringing you a contract that allows you to teach in conditions that you deserve. Our next meeting will be JUNE 10th at 10:00 at the District Office. We plan a full day so we can move forward. Please join us at this next meeting so we can have your input and you can appreciate this process.
May-July
May 21st LAST DAY FOR STUDENTS
May 23rd Last day for flex teachers
May 27/28th Flex Days
June 5th School Board Workshop 9:00 a.m. District Office
June 9th School Board Meeting 6:00 p.m. District Office
June 23rd School Board Meeting 4:00 p.m. Crestview
June 30th-July 6th NEA Convention - New Orleans
July 10th School Board Workshop - 9:00 a.m. District Office
July 14th School Board Meeting 6:00 p.m. District Office
July 28th School Board Meeting 4:00 p.m. Crestview
JULY 30th BUILDING REPRESENTATIVE KICK-OFF MEETING 9:00 TILL 1:00
OCEA Building
July 31st Flex days begin
An amendment moving $200 million from the B.E.S.T. program (teacher career ladder) to the base student allocation will be offered tomorrow in the Appropriations Committee. We strongly support this measure, which would bring the actual dollars available for school operations closer to the Senate version of the budget but without increasing taxes or overall outlays. We expect this amendment to be adopted by the House Appropriations Committee.
We're working on a version of 2 mill flexibility which would allow property and casualty insurance premiums to be paid from capital outlay dollars.?? This would allow Okaloosa Schools to move over $1 million in expenses from the operating side of the budget to the capital side, thereby freeing this money for classroom instructional expenses without increasing taxes or overall budget outlays.
As your Executive Director this year, I want to tell you how much I have enjoyed this year. Yes I am tired, yes I have learned a lot, and yes I have begun to prepare for next year. Have a great summer! Please feel free to contact me at the office if you have:
Denise Megiel-Rollo
Anyone interested in attending training about Reading and would also make the committment to return to the Association and be a trainer to our members, please contact the office at 678-5940.
Both House and Senate Education Appropriations Subcommittees have passed education budget proposals that go to full committee tomorrow. We have limited details on the Senate budget at this time. We will update you tomorrow with as thorough an analysis as possible on both House and Senate proposals. An updated budget message will also be available on the FEA web page by tomorrow.
== Career Ladder == We do know that the House Education Appropriations subcommittee is working towards piloting the career ladder program with full implementation in 2004-05. The Senate has agreed to the 2004-05 start date but have not discussed pilot programs at this time. The 2004-05 dates are contained in both HB 47A and SB 30A.