Oct. 2012 - KPR ETFO Teachers' Local

Kawartha Pine Ridge
Elementary Teachers’ Local
2155 Davis Road, P.O. Box 10091 Peterborough, ON K9J 8G0
Phone: (705) 743-8573 Toll Free: 1-800-340-3781 Fax: (705) 743-3125
Email: contact@kpretfo.ca Website: www.kpretfo.ca
Minutes of Executive Meeting
Wednesday, October 17 th , 2012
Present: Bill Betz, Jeremy Fowlie, Dave Genge, Sean Hazeldine, Suzanne Hunt, Darline
Pomeroy, Linsey Cashin, Christy Thompson, Cara White, Dave Wing, Bob Hall, David
Berger, Linda Spoelstra, Shirley Bell, Deb Raymond (Staff Officer)
Regrets: Sharon Woischwill
1.0 Welcome
2.0
2.0 Adoption of the Agenda
2.1 Motion to adopt the agenda. Jeremy, Linsey - carried
3.0 Minutes of
3.1 Motion to accept the minutes of September 18, 2012. David B., Christy - carried
3.2 Thank you – Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Clarington
- Certificate of appreciation to KPR ETFO for the ‘Violence Against
Women’ conferences last year at Armour Heights rec’d from the
Peterborough Domestic Abuse Network
4.0 Treasurer’s Report (Jeremy)
4.1 Motion to accept the treasurer’s report. Jeremy, Sean - carried.
4.2 Motion to pay outstanding bills. Jeremy, Bob - carried
5.0 Grievances (Darline)
5.1 Motion to move into committee of the whole. Darline, Bill - carried
5.2 Motion to move out of committee of the whole. Darline, Suzanne – carried
6.0 Health and Safety Report (Deb)
6.1 WHMIS Refresher program
– over 300 KPR Staff have not completed the program (only some are teachers)
- discussion over when it could be completed in future (i.e. staff meetings?)
- new symbol ‘added/ created’ for asbestos

6.2 Wi-Fi Issue
- KPR was expected to report back after 21 days from May Health and Safety meeting
- Board will not label routers in each building, as requested by ETFO H&S
- testing process seems different in each building, and appears to contradict Canadian
Safety Code 6
- strength of Wi-Fi system has been questioned
6.3 Locked Classrooms
- these rooms have previously not been opened for H&S inspections
- now an on-site person will have a key for those rooms – they need to be part of regular
inspection
6.4 Vermiculite Inspections
- Darline and Deb met with Valance Young in September to discuss process for site
inspections
- booklet and ‘green’ folder given to Principals in the 9 affected schools, which are
educational and accessible for staff (i.e. look fors, pictures, site maps)
- Ministry of Labour – Follow-ups occurring in most schools
- about 10% of elementary schools will be checked / inspected this year
6.5 Occasional Teacher Packages
- template will be provided to ETFO staff to use for OT’s in your class
- looking to create consistency between buildings
- has been an on-going issue
6.6 Safety Training sessions
- moved from Keith Wightman to Board Office
- will take place October 25 th , 26 th
6.7 Science Safety Program
- has been created by KPR as part of the Program Safety package on ‘Docushare’ section of
web-site
- program idea in response to tragedy at Ottawa HS last year
6.8 Staff First-Aid Training
- KPR has set aside $15,000 for staff who would like to be trained
- no supply coverage – expectations that staff would complete on your own time
- there is a High School program that is training staff to “teach” students first-aid and that
program has release time provided – no release for Elementary teachers
6.9 Workplace Violence Training
- coming up in January
- new program is being revealed in December

7.0 Emergent Issues
7.1 Request for Donations
Cobourg Dragon Boat and Canoe Club – to support mentally challenged and
handicapped kids, who are undertaking the new challenge of kayaking and canoeing–
program called ‘Paddle All’ – brought forth to the club by ETFO member Christine
Proulx
Motion to contribute $1000 to Cobourg Dragon Boat and Canoe club for ‘Paddle All’
program – Darline, Linsey – carried.
($500 from Equity- Line 443, $250 from Status of Women – Line 485,
$250 from Political Action – Line 453)
- Executive have decided to ‘re-visit’ this program and initiative later in the year for
possible future donations or contributions
7.2 Local Priority – Mental Health Issues
- guest speaker coming to Steward Retreat to tell her story and explain her dealings
with Mental health issues throughout her life
- hoping this will ‘kick-start’ some discussions and ideas around what we can do
within KPR to reach and assist members with mental health issues
- currently, this is very prevalent issue throughout our Board, with ETFO members
8.0 Committee Reports
8.1 Awards (Cara)
The committee would like to set the date for the year-end Awards banquet.
Looking at May 16 th or May 23 rd . These will be firmed up soon.
8.2 Collective Bargaining (Dave)
The CB team: Bill Betz, Jeremy Fowlie, David Berger, Drew Wilson, Darline, Dave and
Derek
* ETFO President Representative Council – met last week to work through ideas as to
what the “next step” would be in ETFO dealings
- a memo will be sent out to members by the end of the week
- decision that ALL Locals in Ontario will be asking for conciliation
by Friday, October 19th
- Our CB team met with the KPR Board on Friday, October 12 th
- NO Bill 115 items are on the table for discussion – ETFO will not sign-off on the Bill 115
parameters
- Members will receive our “next steps’ update from Stewards for next week
- will meet again for bargaining with the Board on November 9th
8.3 E I P (Christy)
- met on October 2 nd – approved 25 applications
- big month will be December, as applications have already been sent in
- new committee member Terry Moodie (Keith Wightman P.S.)
- Reminder to members – E.I.P. Committee needs to approve applications PRIOR to the
conference being applied for

8.4 Political Action (Bill)
First meeting occurred on Thursday, October 11 th @ Keith Wightman in Peterborough
- committee has around 20 members, with half being female members, which is a
traditional change
– new members were present – a mix of younger teachers, and experienced teachers
- issues around process and the goals of the committee were introduced
- discussed possible ideas for action in the Local, based around the current climate that is
occurring Provincially
- ETFO Local “Pause” wristbands have been ordered, have arrived, and will be distributed
to Stewards at the meeting
(Looking for a $1.00 donation from each member for the bracelets, and the collected
money will be donated to local charities)
- what are ways to get information out to members – use of social media? Logistics around
e-mail? What should members be talking to the public about?
- discussion around what the issues are for younger members – how do they see the
“pause”? how do they see themselves as part of a “union’? – what are some ways our
group can educate these younger members
8.5 Equity (Darline)
-‘Take Back the Night’ in Peterborough was supported by KPR ETFO on September 20 th
- members attended the “Week Without Violence” workshop @ TAS and viewed the
movie “Prom Night in Mississippi” – very well received
- committee is looking at the idea of ‘Food Bank’ Fridays – having local staffs collect items
each week for the local food banks
8.6 Professional Development (Darline)
- COPA presentations took place at Kenner Intermediate and Prince of Wales on
Wed. Oct. 17 th and was attended by over 100 students
- Retirement Workshop will be on March 28 th , 2013
- “New Early Years” program will be presented locally in March
- PL committee will meet on Monday night (Oct 22 nd )
** Goals of both committees will be to look to how they can support members with
worthwhile workshops and opportunities
8.7 Social (Dave)
- Rally at Jeff Leal’s Office on Friday, October 12 th , was followed by social time@ the
MoHo, attended by KPR ETFO and OSSTF members
- “Warhorse” production for Saturday, October 27 th was well received, and sold out very
quickly
-Oshawa Generals game has been booked for November 23 rd
- looking for any suggestions for members on possible Local activities that we could look
into

8.8 Status (Sharon)
- committee met on October 3 rd – contract and OT are members on the committee
- explored possible initiatives to look into for this year and timelines for planned projects
- ‘Gifts for Seniors’ to begin in November – distribute in mid-December
- looking ahead to early March for the Status of Women’s retreat (traditionally in mid-
February but there are conflicts this year)
- possible poster contest to celebrate the ‘International Day of the Girl Child’
9.0 Other Business
KPR ETFO Priorities 2012/2013
1. To protect the collective bargaining rights of all members
2. Engaging Members
3. Member protection and support
4. Promoting equity and social justice issues
5. Promoting publicly funded education
6. Enhancing the status and profile of elementary teachers and education workers
9.0 Adjournment
Motion to adjourn. – Jeremy, Shirley - carried
Next Meeting: November 20 th @ 5:00
December 18 th at 1:30 (dinner to follow)
January 22 nd , 2013 at 1:30
February 19 th at 1:30
March 20 th at 5:00
April 16 th at 5:00
May 21 st at 5:00
June 19 th at 5:00 (dinner to follow)