MEMORANDUM

Memo To:   All Buffalo Teachers

From:         Philip Rumore, President, BTF

Date:          May 12, 2021

Subject:     Transfers/”Conversations”, APPR/Evaluations

Transfers/”Conversations”
The arbitrator in a 1993 arbitration, Ronald Kowalski, stated (Note: He refers to a previous arbitration);

“The District has argued that it was unable to honor the request for transfer by the Grievant in part because principals at Schools #27 and #93 did not select him as a candidate. However, Arbitrator Simmelkjaer’s Opinion and Award has established that ‘the inclusion of a principal’s prerogative or right of veto violated the transfer procedures embodied in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.’ As Arbitrator Simmelkjaer has stated, if Section A (2) and Section A (1) of Article XIV are satisfied in that the teacher is a permanent teacher and the transfer will not upset the staff balance in the desired school then the only remaining factor necessary to consider was Section A (5) if the application has been made in a timely fashion prior to April 15th. The factor referenced by Arbitrator Simmelkjaer in Section A (5) is ‘that the wishes of the individual teacher be honored whenever possible.’ Among teachers seeking a transfer to a school seniority shall be the governing factor if all other factors are substantially equal.”

“Arbitrator Simmelkjaer’s Opinion and Award establishes that the Grievant’s preference must be honored whenever possible regardless of the wishes of the principal.”

“In the instant case, honoring his request was possible in that he was the senior teacher seeking transfer to the schools in question. The District therefore violated Article XII J. and Article XIV of the Master Contact as per Arbitrator Simmelkjaer’s Award when it failed to honor the transfer request of… in 1992.”

We have won every grievance on this issue. Teachers were then given their choice of schools either later in the process or in the next year.

We have filed a Federation grievance on such “conversations”.

Also note on the District correspondence, prior to the list of schools and dates to sign up for conversations (Click Here), it states;

“Open Houses are a voluntary mechanism to allow Principals or their designee to meet with teachers to discuss school wide expectations. Principals may or may not take advantage of the opportunity to host open house meetings.

It is also optional for teachers to sign up for the open house meetings.” (emphasis added)

Some teachers choose to visit the school to see if they want to transfer to the school. It’s up to you.

APPR/Evaluations

The New York Senate passed legislation (*5576-A) (Click Here) on Tuesday that we have been working on to eliminate the APPR for 2020-2021 for both tenured (Contract) and Probationary teachers.

We are awaiting a vote in the Assembly (*6750) (Click Here). As this is written, it has been sent to the floor for a vote. It must then be approved by the Governor. We believe he will sign it. (See #17 in both)

Stay tuned.

Regardless of the fact that some “administrators” are actually “evaluating teachers” we, as we have said previously, will have them (the evaluations) thrown out.

They tried to have us, as the administrators did, agree to virtual evaluations. We did not.

Indeed, we have a copy of what the District submitted to the State wherein it states that evaluations will be done in-person, not virtually.

Please stay well. Take no chances.

MEMORANDUM

Memo To:   All Buffalo Teachers

From:         Philip Rumore, President, BTF

Date:          May 14, 2021

Subject:     Scam?

We are awaiting confirmation that the correspondence most teachers received relating to a company, Kroll, providing free services relating to the hack on the District. Please take no action until the District confirms that this is not a scam. We have asked that the District notify you regarding this. 

The District has just responded to us that the "Kroll" correspondence is not a scam. You will be receiving correspondence from the District.

MEMORANDUM

Memo To:   All Buffalo Teachers

From:         Philip Rumore, President, BTF

Date:          May 17, 2021

Subject:     Cyber Attack

As you know, the BTF sent correspondence to the District in relation to the lack of information relating to the cyber attack (Click Here). We also shared the correspondence with parent organizations that were equally upset.

The BTF and parents have repeatedly questioned the District on the specifics of the break such as the personal information that was compromised. Since the breach occurred on May 12, 2021, the BTF and parents have pressed the District for specifics at the weekly reopening meetings.

Incredibly, with disregard for all security protocols, correspondence was sent to all teachers and parents via the U.S. mail, without previous notification that it was coming and without attribution.

After teachers’ calls, we notified the Superintendent, Darren Brown-Hall and Nate Kuzma Friday evening.

Once we received clarification that they would communicate that the letter wasn’t a scam, we then notified you. (Click Here)

We are still not satisfied with the response –

• There are insufficient specifics e.g., for each person, exactly what information was compromised?
• There has been no written verification by a law enforcement agency that notification to individuals should be delayed.

While entities that have been hacked have some latitude in how soon details of the hack must be released, this delay and lack of specificity is unacceptable.

We have begun working with our attorneys and will be seeking further assistance from the New York State Attorney General and others.

Part of the above-mentioned separate negotiations on this issue will be permanent Kroll-type coverage for everyone and reimbursement for any damages.

Please continue to relay concerns to your LRS. (Click Here) and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Stay tuned!

MEMORANDUM

Memo To:   All Buffalo Teachers

From:         Philip Rumore, President, BTF

Date:          May 18, 2021

Subject:     Updates

Masks
The latest correspondence from the District indicates that there is no change, at this time, in relation to the wearing of masks in the B.P.S. (Click Here)

Note: The BTF masks that we ordered from a USA vendor have finally arrived and will be sent to schools/sites! The insert refills are very reasonable and available from local stores and Amazon.

While we all hope they will be unnecessary soon, please wear them with pride.

Once in the schools/sites, we will set a day for all, who wish, to wear them as a demonstration of our caring, pride, and solidarity.

B.P.S. Data Breach
As per our last correspondence (Click Here), we will be seeking damages and District payment for the services of Kroll.

We know that the District has put out what we consider incomplete information. We will be working with our NYSUT staff and attorneys, and parents to pursue legal action with the N.Y.S. Attorney General and others.

Use of Federal Funding
We will be presenting a resolution reflecting the important future planning for the use of the over $40,000,000 as per our May 11, 2021 correspondence to you and the District (Click Here) as well as other critical issues. Part of the resolution will call for us to work with parents to have the use of these funds be approved by the school Site-Based Management Teams (SBMTs)

Building Elections
Since teachers are now in buildings, packets describing the procedures for electing building Delegates,Alternates, and Building Committee members are being sent to all Delegate Chairs. Now that teachers are back in school, the elections will be done using the standard procedures. Please look for a notice of your building’s election where BTF information is normally posted. The term of office of the new Delegates, Alternates, and Building Committee members will begin with the Council of Delegates meeting on June 17, 2021 and end with the close of the school day on the day of the June 2022 Council meeting.

BTF Award
Each year, the BTF presents a certificate to an outstanding student in grades 8 and 12. The form for the 2021 BTF Outstanding Award has been emailed to each Delegate Chair. If your school did not receive the notice, please call the BTF at 881-5400.

Please stay well. Take no chances.

MEMORANDUM

Memo To:   All Buffalo Teachers

From:         Philip Rumore, President, BTF

Date:          May 20, 2021

Subject:     Update – District Breach Resources, APPR Legislation

District Data Breach Resources
Here is a list of some resources that are available for you to check (Click Here). They were supplied by NYSUT and will be added to as more are identified.

We are also pursuing legal actions in relation to the attack. We will update you as they are filed. Some may be class actions based on individual issues.

APPR Legislation
The legislation we sought your assistance with that would eliminate the APPR for this school year (2020-2021) has, with your help, passed the New York State Assembly yesterday. It is now on its way to the Governor who hopefully will sign it today. As you know, it had already passed the New York State Senate.

It will eliminate the use of the APPR (2020-2021) for tenured/contract and probationary teachers.

Please stay well. Take no chances.

MEMORANDUM

Memo To:   All Buffalo Teachers

From:         Philip Rumore, President, BTF

Date:          May 24, 2021

Subject:     BTF Election Results – Sick and Personal Day Accuracy – School/Site Safety – Virtual Graduation – APPR – Ransomware Attack – Negotiations – Student Support

BTF Election Results
As most know, the BTF Election Results have been posted on the BTF website (Click Here).

We must now come together to overcome the many challenges ahead and as always, overcome every one of them. Let there be no doubt.

Sick Day/ Personal Day Accuracy
As you know, we have been informed that for some teachers, the sick day/personal day accumulations on their paychecks is incorrect.

Please check. If there is a payroll problem, they will work with you to correct it, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

School/Site Safety
We cannot let our guard down in our commitment to ensure the safety of all during the pandemic.

Significant progress in vaccinations, screening and procedures has occurred.

However, we must continue to work to ensure continued safety in our schools/sites.

If you have concerns, please continue to notify your LRS (Click Here) and BTF, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Remember, if your concerns go unaddressed for what you consider a reasonable time, advise us again.

Virtual Graduation
As was announced at the Council of Delegates meeting, the Executive Committee has, as we did last year, approved our participation in virtual graduations (Click Here).

If you haven’t already received an invitation, call Tamara Walter from WUTV/WNYO at (716) 447-3221.

The station will bill the BTF for $1,500 toward the event. This covers the cost of 30 minutes. Some schools are using school funds to pay for a full hour.

It is interesting to hear that some schools are doing both virtual and in-person graduations, as they want to have a video copy of their graduation to keep as a remembrance.

APPR
As this is being written, the legislation we have all been working on, that eliminates the APPR for the 2020-2021 school year, is on the Governor’s desk awaiting his signature. The legislation eliminates the APPR for tenured/contact, probationary and temporary teachers.

Ransomware Attack
We have filed what is called a “Notice of Claim” with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB).

This is the preliminary step to taking further action against the District for not providing the detailed information we are seeking and not beginning separate negotiations on the impact of the ransomware attack on teachers.

We have also been in contact with NYSUT, our state affiliate, seeking stronger New York State legislation to protect public employees from such attacks.

One of our teachers sent us information on a website that contains very interesting information. We have forwarded information to this organization. (http://studentprivacymatters.org)

Negotiations
We are still waiting for the PERB mediator to provide us with possible dates to resume negotiations. The pandemic has caused a major backlog for PERB.

Support for Our Students
The Council of Delegates has unanimously approved the attached Resolution (Click Here).

It has been forwarded to the New York State Commissioner of Education, New York State Board of Regents, the Superintendent and Board of Education, NYSUT (our State affiliate), the National Education Association (NEA, one of our National affiliates), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT, our other National affiliate), the Governor, New York State Legislative Leaders and importantly, local parent leaders. It was also distributed to others and the media.

The Buffalo Public Schools 2021 survey for the American Rescue plan is now on the District’s website (Click Here). Please complete the survey using the information from the resolution to share your input on how the ARP grant should be used to benefit our students. Remember to add that the final plan must be approved by each school’s SBMT.

The survey will allow staff to see school-level data from the individual schools in addition to districtwide data.

While some have said we will not obtain the support for which we are calling, that has not and will not stop us from being on record for and working to secure the support our students need.

Not now. Not ever.

PR:su