Date of meeting: October 1, 2014

Held at: 28-11 Queens Plaza North

In attendance:

• UFT: Leslie McDonnell, OT/PT chapter leader, and Laura Tamburo, special representative and therapist liaison
• DOE: OT Director Suzanne Sanchez, OT Director Darnell Young and PT Director Carlo Vialu

The following was discussed:

• Orientation packets were discussed to be made more uniform next year.
• A note was made that information regarding salaries is listed on the UFT website.
• Powerpoints will be shared with the UFT working in collaboration moving forward.
• A general OT or PT meeting was discussed to be held in one location.
• New hires will have a separate orientation meeting moving forward.
• Large scale PD workshops will be developed with the UFT going forward.
• A note was made regarding the two PT workshops, which had already been planned for October and fliers were shared.
• Dates were suggested for large-scale meetings during the school year ( ie. Election Day, Chancellor's Day).
• The supervisor’s meeting will continue independently with feedback shared with the UFT.
• A survey format for needs assessment was discussed for members to be able to give input on PD.
• It was discussed whether evaluations should be online to get feedback from the therapists after PD workshops.
• Part-time hours are to start with the school day and follow 6.55 hours per day.
• The Department of Education will offer, for one year only, different combinations of part-time hours.
• Part-timers are paid for the vacation weeks.
• It was discussed whether part-timers are paid if their work day falls on a holiday.
• All job responsibilities for therapists are listed on the DOE website under job descriptions.
• A note was made that if therapists are being asked to perform non job-related tasks, they are to notify their supervisors by email to assist them but if the matter persists they should then contact the UFT.
• PTs do not perform initial evaluations except in District 75 – these are handled by the evaluation team.
• OTs do perform initial evaluations and can request assistance from the evaluation team.
• A note was made that if therapists are in a school two days or less they are not responsible for evaluations.