In this post:
General Membership Meeting
Summer Lump Sum Payment: Deadline for Decision, Friday, May 28th
Reminder: Health and Dental Insurance Open Enrollment Ends on Friday, May 28 General Membership Meeting
The NTA will hold a General Membership Meeting on Wednesday, June 2, beginning at 5:15. There will be two ratification votes after this meeting: one for the final spring MOA, and another for the fall MOA. The first will codify changes that happened this spring to increase students time in schools to 5 days per week; the second will modify the Elementary Time and Learning Agreement that is part of the Units A and B collective bargaining agreements to make elementary start time 10 minutes earlier. The spring MOA is temporary--it does not change the collective bargaining agreements beyond this school year; the fall MOA modifies the Units A and B collective bargaining agreements going forward, until such time as we negotiate a change. All voting will be electronic. Members are encouraged to attend the General Membership Meeting, but are not required to do so in order to vote. Members of all five units of the NTA will vote on the spring MOA. Only members of Units A and B will vote on the fall MOA, as the Elementary Time and Learning Agreement that must be modified to change start time is only in the Units A and B collective bargaining agreements. Look for an email later this week from Chris Walsh that will let you know how to login to the meeting. That email will also have links to the two MOAs.
Summer Lump Sum Payment: Deadline for Decision, Friday, May 28th.
On May 10th, Sean Mannion, Director of Finance for the Newton Public Schools, sent out the below reminder that, if you are a Unit A employee, the deadline for deciding how you receive your summer pay is Friday, May 28, 2021. From Sean's email: "All Unit A employees have the option of either receiving regular semi-monthly paychecks in July and August or receiving your July and August payments as a lump sum in your final June paycheck, which is paid on the last day of school for teachers (June 23, 2021). In this case, your final June paycheck will be equal to the amount of five regular semi-monthly paychecks (one for June, two for July and two for August) and you will not receive checks in July or August. Unit A employees include the following:
Teachers (teachers including all grade levels, special education, specialist teachers, library, OT/PT, social workers, and counselors)
Psychologists
If you are not one of these employees, this email does not apply. If you are not sure whether you are in Unit A or not, please email npspayrolloffice@newton.k12.ma.us If you would like to opt for a lump sum payment in June and no payments in July and August, please click on the link below and fill out the form. In order to prepare for the June payrolls, the deadline for this form is Friday May 28, 2021. For the form, you can find your employee number in the upper left-hand corner of your paycheck voucher/advice.
If you are a returning Unit A member and would like to continue with the same pay status as last school year, you do not need to do anything. [For returning employees, the form is only set up to switch to a lump sum payment. If you received a lump sum payment last year, but would like to switch to bi-monthly payments this year, I (Mike Zilles) recommend you reach out directly to payroll through the email address provided.] If you are a new employee and would like to receive paychecks in July and August, you do not need to do anything as well. Receiving checks in July and August is the default. If you are a new employee and would like to receive a lump sum payment, please fill out the form referenced above. Thank you for your time and please contact the Payroll Office at npspayrolloffice@newton.k12.ma.us if you have any questions."
Reminder: Health and Dental Insurance Open Enrollment Ends on Friday, May 28
If you need to change your enrollment for health or dental insurance, the deadline for making those changes is this Friday, May 28. Click here for more information.
"Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose." Please take care and stay well. Mike