Secretaries win arbitration

Mar 24, 2008 9:06 AM

Dear Colleagues,

Congratulations! We just received the decision in the arbitration we filed against other titles performing our work and we WON. The arbitrator ordered the DOE to cease and desist from assigning secretarial duties to other than licensed school secretaries. His decision also stated that he will retain jurisdiction over the matter which means that we will bring any violations of his order to him directly. This is a major victory for our chapter. I want to thank those brave secretaries who were willing to supply the information that we needed to present a well documented case.

Let’s take a minute to review the arbitration and what this decision means. This arbitration win has not come quickly or easily. Over two years ago, the union made the decision to go to arbitration because you repeatedly told me that principals, for any number of reasons, were assigning secretarial duties such as student admissions, per session payrolls and ordering of supplies to other titles- titles that they perceived as less expensive to employ. In some cases, secretaries were not replaced when they retired or were involuntarily excessed, and their duties given to other titles. These actions prevented an increase in the number of secretaries relative to the increase in secretarial job responsibilities. In other words, as your job duties expanded, your work was being given away to school aides, family paras, and more recently, parent coordinators and business managers. The DOE ignored their own regulations in Special Circular 31 that stated only licensed school secretaries could be assigned secretarial duties and responsibilities.

During the arbitration hearings, they insisted that the circular was old and irrelevant and could be changed at any time. They insisted that because other titles were doing secretarial work for a period of time that you had given up your right to that work. They insisted that administration had the right to assign duties at will. They refused to acknowledge that this circular, which they themselves issued, was very basic, clear and relevant and was, in fact, contractual under Article 15 of our contract. They refused to take into account that secretaries had filed grievances over the years to stop the practice of assigning work to others. And they refused to admit that, if we chose, the proper place for changing the circular was at the bargaining table--not in license violation arbitration. So, with your help, we took on the DOE and fought hard to protect your contractual rights—and we won.

Look for a letter from Randi and me to arrive at your home shortly with more information along with a copy of Special Circular 31 which outlines the duties and responsibilities of School Secretaries, school aides, family workers and paras. You can also print out a copy of the circular from this website by clicking on the link on this page.

But our work is not done. In order to enforce the arbitrator’s decision, I need for you to email me at mjeuft@aol.com where the violations are occurring right now. Please read the circular so that you are clear on what our duties are and what the duties of others are in your school. Then let me know the violations that exist and your name and telephone number so that I can call you. Your identity will be kept confidential. And, don’t forget that you can email me at anytime if you have questions or concerns.

Many of you have contacted me with concerns about the DOE’s new admission’s policy regarding pre-kindergarten entrants. Yesterday, Howard Solomon, Director of the UFT Grievance Department, a committee of school secretaries and I met with Tweed’s Executive Director of the Office of Early Childhood Education to discuss the new selection and registration process for pre-kindergarteners entering the public school system. We asked what the new procedure entailed and how it impacts the role of the school secretary. This is what we were told.

Part of the admission’s process has changed to a centralized one in order to make school selection a fair and consistent experience for parents and students. Parents will no longer first go to the school of their choice to register their children. Parents will now receive application packets which will be delivered to schools by March 28, fill out an application form with their choices of schools and return the forms to a vendor in Pennsylvania who will do the technical sorting and will notify parents of the school to which they can register their child. This is called the application procedure and this is the part of the admission’s process that has changed. Once parents are notified of the school to which they can enroll their child, the process is the same as it has always been and the school secretary’s role remains the same. Parents will come into school with their child and the necessary documentation to actually register. This is the registration procedure and this is the part of the admission’s process that has not changed. We also stated our displeasure at being left out of the planning of this new initiative and requested that we be consulted and notified when new procedures are being created.

We made it very clear that the timeline they proposed for actual registration in the schools (week of May 19) was placing an undue burden on us. In addition, we stressed that reorganization, budgeting and staffing needs could not be dealt with accurately when registration takes place so late in the school year. We were assured that next year the process would certainly start much earlier in the school year. For now, we asked for a per session allocation for secretaries to do the work associated with this late registration.

This is the timeline in the DOE’s admission’s procedure for this year:

• Application packet delivered to schools by Friday, March 28;
• Applications must be postmarked by Friday, April 18;
• Families receive admission letters week of May 19;
• Registration in schools begin week of May 19.

I will keep you posted on any further developments but you can email me at any time.

Keep up the good work,

Jackie Ervolina
Chairperson