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| Livonia Observer; Sunday, February 10, 2008 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 10 2008, 12:00 PM (585 Views) | |
| Administrator | Feb 10 2008, 12:00 PM Post #1 |
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School district, LEA reach 1-year contract By Rebecca Jones STAFF WRITER For the second year, Livonia Public Schools will offer an early retirement incentive. That is part of a new one-year contract settlement with the Livonia Education Association, which members ratified last week and the school board approved on Wednesday. The contract also provides for members at the top of the pay scale to receive a 1 percent raise. Those who are working their way up the experience steps will receive a half-step increase each semester, instead of one full step increase at the beginning of the year. Also for the first time, LEA members will be offered a $2,500 a year payment in lieu of health care, if they opt to get coverage elsewhere. There were no other changes to health coverage. The changes will save the district money, said Supt. Randy Liepa, who called it "a fair contract for both sides." LEA members voted 658 to 138 to ratify the agreement. There were 60 spoiled votes, the result of ballot envelopes not being signed or sealed properly. The LEA is comprised of about 1,200 members; the vast majority are K-12 teachers. Douglas Coates, a math teacher at Churchill High School, served as the LEA's chief negotiator. He called the contract "good for the union as a whole." "The fact that the contract keeps our insurance benefits the same is very positive for our members," he said, adding that it preserves jobs and educational stability. Some high school classes that are required under the new state graduation requirements, now have a maximum of 25 students, instead of 35. "We believe both sides had mutual respect for each other," Coates said. Talks began in December, and the two sides came to a tentative agreement in January. The school board voted 6-1 at a special meeting Wednesday, with Trustee Steve King voting no. The new contract has a new step scale for new teachers. New hires will start one rung lower; it will take an additional year to reach the top of the pay scale. Rawland Storm, who is one of the district's shared-time teachers who provide instruction in private schools, complained that teachers in the shared-time and Young 5's programs do not get step increases. "We're making as much as the new hires," he said. But, he said the programs bring in state money by adding to the number full time equivalent students. "Some of that could have gone to us to pay our steps," he said. Coates said that in negotiating a one-year contract, some issues were set aside. "We agreed to continue to work on those in the future," he said. LPS projects the trend in enrollment decline to continue. Liepa said the early retirement incentive reduces the potential for layoffs and saves money by replacing teachers at the top of the pay scale with those at the bottom. This year's incentive is for $30,000 over three years. The district is hoping at least 30 teachers will take advantage of this move. Enrollment will determine how many teachers are needed. Last year, about 100 teachers took advantage of the district's early retirement initiative, which paid out $40,000 over four years. About half were replaced. rrjones@hometownlife.com | (734) 953-2054 http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...512/1027/NEWS10 |
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| Administrator | Feb 10 2008, 12:01 PM Post #2 |
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4 seats open in Clarenceville election; 1 candidate has filed By Alex Lundberg STAFF WRITER With four seats on the Clarenceville Board of Education going to the voters in May, the remaining members of that board may just be choosing the bulk of their new colleagues by themselves. With a deadline to put your name on the ballot and run for the seat at 4 p.m. Wednesday, only one person has so far filed. Only Trustee Brenda Uren has filed the necessary papers to run. There are two four-year seats, one three-year seat and a single one-year seat all up for grabs. Uren has filed for one of the four-year seats. The deadline for filing for the Tuesday, May 6 election is 4 p.m. Wednesday. Assistant Superintendent for Business and Support Services Dave Bergeron said no one has filed, yet. "Several people have pulled petitions," he said. "There is still time to file." The board has been shaken up somewhat over the past year as two members resigned their posts. Trustees Kurt Peterson and John Kanyo resigned last year. Peterson, a longtime member of the board, got a job offer in the U.P. and was replaced by Uren. Kanyo decided to wrap up his membership on the board because conflicts with his day job with the U.S. Tennis Association and Baseline Tennis were starting to mount. Kanyo was replaced by Cindy Immonen. Because Uren and Immonen were appointed to the board of education, district rules call for them to run for the seats in their own right at the next regular school election. Board member Jenifer Carbonneau, whose seat expires, is not running for re-election. The other incumbent, Sharon Simpson, is coming to the end of a three-year term on the board. If no one files to officially run for the other seats in the election, prospective board members can declare their intent to be considered as write-in candidates by 4 p.m. April 25. If candidates wanting to be elected this way do not declare their intent to be write-ins by that date, they will not be elected no matter how many votes they receive. alundberg@hometownlife.com Â| (734) 953-2109 http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...525/1027/NEWS10 |
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| Administrator | Feb 10 2008, 12:03 PM Post #3 |
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Cityside One LPS candidate so far With two days left until the filing deadline, who and how many candidates are running for two seats on the Livonia Public Schools board of education is yet to be determined. Both incumbents Tom Bailey and Greg Oke announced that they will run. Others may be considering, but no one has formally announced intention. The deadline is Wednesday. As of Friday, Bailey had filed, according to City Clerk Linda Grimsby. School board watcher John Grzebik announced at Monday's meeting that he will not run this year, but he intends to in the future. The election is May 6. http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...519/1027/NEWS10 |
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| Administrator | Feb 10 2008, 12:07 PM Post #4 |
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Livonia teachers get retirement incentive offer in new contract By Rebecca Jones For the second year, Livonia Public Schools will offer an early retirement incentive. That is part of a new one-year contract settlement with the Livonia Education Association, which members ratified last week and the school board approved on Wednesday. The contract also provides for members at the top of the pay scale to receive a 1 percent raise. Those who are working their way up the experience steps will receive a half-step increase each semester, instead of one full step increase at the beginning of the year. Also for the first time, LEA members will be offered a $2,500 a year payment in lieu of health care, if they opt to get coverage elsewhere. There were no other changes to health coverage. The changes will save the district money, said Supt. Randy Liepa, who called it “a fair contract for both sides.” LEA members voted 658 to 138 to ratify the agreement. There were 60 spoiled votes, the result of ballot envelopes not being signed or sealed properly. The LEA is comprised of about 1,200 members; the vast majority are K-12 teachers. Douglas Coates, a math teacher at Churchill High School, served as the LEA’s chief negotiator. He called the contract “good for the union as a whole.” “The fact that the contract keeps our insurance benefits the same is very positive for our members,” he said, adding that it preserves jobs and educational stability. Some high school classes that are required under the new state graduation requirements, now have a maximum of 25 students, instead of 35. “We believe both sides had mutual respect for each other,” Coates said. Talks began in December, and the two sides came to a tentative agreement in January. The school board voted 6-1 at a special meeting Wednesday, with Trustee Steve King voting no. The new contract has a new step scale for new teachers. New hires will start one rung lower; it will take an additional year to reach the top of the pay scale. Rawland Storm, who is one of the district’s shared-time teachers who provide instruction in private schools, complained that teachers in the shared-time and Young 5’s programs do not get step increases. “We’re making as much as the new hires,” he said. But, he said the programs bring in state money by adding to the number full time equivalent students. “Some of that could have gone to us to pay our steps,” he said. Coates said that in negotiating a one-year contract, some issues were set aside. “We agreed to continue to work on those in the future,” he said. LPS projects the trend in enrollment decline to continue. Liepa said the early retirement incentive reduces the potential for layoffs and saves money by replacing teachers at the top of the pay scale with those at the bottom. This year’s incentive is for $30,000 over three years. The district is hoping at least 30 teachers will take advantage of this move. Enrollment will determine how many teachers are needed. Last year, about 100 teachers took advantage of the district’s early retirement initiative, which paid out $40,000 over four years. About half were replaced. rrjones@hometownlife.com | (734) 953-2054 http://z6.invisionfree.com/Livonianeighbor...DE=02&f=1&t=690 |
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| Administrator | Feb 10 2008, 12:11 PM Post #5 |
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Letters to the editor Detroit isn't an island For all of those suburban citizens who feel that Kwame Kilpatrick's actions have no impact on them consider this. He testified in front of the House Natural Resources Committee this week and stated that Indian casinos in the cities of Romulus and Port Huron would have a negative financial impact on Detroit. He made this statement with complete disregard for the benefits these two financially stressed communities would reap. Again perpetuating the "us vs. them" mentality. Detroit is not an island but rather the epicenter of Michigan. Ramon Hernandez Livonia Read crayon on the wall I was wrong. The City Council's proposal offered 22 Ford vehicles for the police fleet. The police requested and suggested 17 Fords and 5 Chargers. Five less Ford vehicles. I honestly don't think five vehicles will make or break Ford Motor Company. There must be some other reason not to grant the (principal's) police chief's request. I'm confident the Livonia Police will still be top public servants to the residents and city of Livonia with or without granting their request. Imagine a principal requesting a few different crayons for students at their school. The school principal goes on to say these crayons endure the best given the degree of usage with the daily routines for the kindergartners. This former teacher continues and states the children are able to manipulate these crayons much more efficiently and accurately than the other crayons, that cost the same. None of the Board of Ed have ever taught young children in school, or have ever used the crayons themselves, they've only heard about them. The trustees decide to purchase the other crayons because the maker of the crayons is having a difficult time making ends meet and they've had their store here for 50 years. The other crayon manufacturer also has a store here but that doesn't matter. Do you believe these trustees know what's best for the students/officers? Are the trustees acting in the students' best interest or someone else's interest? Dianne Marietti Livonia Last outpost of free speech I want to thank the Livonia Observer for fairly representing readers that send in articles to the Letters to the Editor. Your paper might not realize it but when you print these letters you are the last outpost of freedom of speech. Forget the large papers because they are 97 percent liberal and they are true socialists. I especially enjoyed the letter from David Mackey when he bought up the lying and deception during the Clinton's term in office. Someone once said, "Hillary gets $8 million for her book, Bill will get about $12 million or more for his memoirs. This from two people who spent eight years being unable to recall anything about past events while under oath. Hillary has said under oath during her questioning on the Rose Law Firm and Whitewater scandal over 100 times that she can't remember or recall what happened." The other reader that wrote a letter to the editor was from a James Tartaglia who obviously reads the liberal newspaper and takes everything as the Gospel truth. He wrote about deficits, "the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress' rampant spending." If he would take the time and look up the Congress' spending bills. He would find that the past 93 spending bills that came up for a vote. Hillary and a lot of the Democrats voted for them along with the Republicans, so they both share the blame. If Hillary does get to be president I can assure you Mr. Tartaglia will be saying, "Comrade." Because, Hillary is a true socialist and not a Democrat, she will enact programs that the government takes care of you from the cradle to the grave. Franklin Delano Roosevelt have us Social Security and Lyndon Johnson gave us Medicare and Hillary will give us World Health Care and will cost the taxpayer trillions. Robert Siedlik Livonia Grateful for support I'm grateful that Livonia Public Schools has been involving the city, chamber, and others in the Competitive Edge program and in marketing the community. The ongoing work on energy conservation and the PTSA's work on Internet safety are outstanding. I'm very grateful for all those who have asked me about running for school board and support a future candidacy. However, it's not an appropriate year for running. It's always rewarding to be a part of the district in various ways. Pursuing a board seat would require discussion with key individuals needed for a successful campaign and more importantly successfully working as a board member. I wouldn't be looking at this if I didn't think I could follow through, offer experiences, and make a positive difference. I would like to thank all those who serve our district in a variety of ways and recommend that this year's candidates/voters consider the following. All candidates have ideas, experiences and views. It takes an understanding of the fundamental role of a board member and how school communities work to be successful. A board member is not a sole decision maker. Board members shouldn't agree on everything or decline to ask insightful questions. They need to agree to disagree and build consensus. Board decisions regardless if they are unanimous or not are made as a whole. Dissenting insights should be brought to the table in evaluating and improving upon the will of the board. John Grzebik Livonia Correcting a statement Regarding the Jan. 27 Observer story, "Kroger pulls plug on Livonia warehouse," I want to publicly correct the fact that reporter Alex Lundberg attributed his personal thoughts in paragraph three to me. "Livonia Economic Development Director Jeff Bryant said the Kroger warehouse operation was picking up its corn flakes and paper towels and vacating Livonia for greener, newer pastures." My professionalism as a city representative and a former journalist, as well as my empathy for anyone who loses a job, would never allow me to make such a flippant comment in private, much less to a reporter. That entire sentence represented Alex Lundberg's thoughts - not Jeff Bryant's. In addition, throughout the interview with Mr. Lundberg, I consistently referred to products in the warehouse solely as "nonperishables." When he actually inserted quotes around my statements in the story, the reporting was accurate. The paragraph three attribution was purely a reporter taking poetic license and falsely attributing it to my name. Jeff Bryant Economic Development Director, Livonia |
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| al dente | Feb 10 2008, 04:37 PM Post #6 |
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Does John Grzebik have children in the district? |
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| dazed and confused | Feb 10 2008, 04:54 PM Post #7 |
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No. He use to work at McKinley, as a janitor I believe. |
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| Queen of Hearts | Feb 10 2008, 07:21 PM Post #8 |
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Advanced Member
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I don't believe Grzbick has ever worked for the district. To my knowledge, he was a very active volunteer with the McKinley PTA. |
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| Micki | Feb 10 2008, 07:31 PM Post #9 |
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I love teaching.
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Every time I see him speak I feel embarassed for him. I actually squirm in my seat out of empathy. His public speaking skills are lacking and I have not ever heard him develop an idea fully. Why would he continually bring up that he is being asked to run for school board? If he was going to run for school board and this was being encouraged by others then I would wonder if it is because he would just go with the flow and be a rubber stamper. |
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