Important Benefit Information…

GALLAGHER BENEFITS

Medical, Dental and Vision benefits for all employees
are administered by Gallagher Benefits. They have
offices at the DFT Building at 15250 Mercantile Drive,
Dearborn, MI 48120 and can be reached at
313.982.3292 and/or the DSEHP Benefit Call Center at
888.222.4309.

OPEN ENROLLMENT STARTS MAY 15, 2014

Open Enrollment for all employees starts May 15,
2014 and ends June 15, 2014. Every employee will
be mailed a customized Open Enrollment package
to the address on file with Human Resources. You
must respond according to the instructions in the
package or your benefits will end June 30, 2014.

MEDICAL WAIVERS

Medical Waiver payments for 2013 – 2014 will be
made on the June 13th, 2014 payday. Note that all
waiver forms are now due by June 15th of each year,
NOT September 15th
.
BENEFITS OTHER THAN MEDICAL, DENTAL AND VISION

The following benefits for all employees will continue
to be administered by the Benefits office at Ten Eyck:
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for Medical
and Dependent Care Expenses
• Employee Assistance Plan
• Long Term Disability
• Life Insurance
• Tax Deferred Saving Plans (403b and 457)

General Membership Meeting Tonight

Friendly reminder that there is a general membership meeting tonight from 4:00 – 5:30 pm at Howard Elementary School.

Hope to see you there!

Professional Affiliations

Please remember that each ADSA member is entitled to $90 toward a professional affiliation or subscription. If you haven’t already done so, please submit your completed application or your paid receipt to Rita Rauch (Nowlin Elementary School) for payment.

Encouraging Words…

There’s a lot on our plates this time of year, just keep in mind that….

Keep up the great work and continue to do what we do best; INSPIRE, LEAD, MOTIVATE & PERSEVERE!

ADSA meeting

Our meeting will be held this Monday, March 17th at 4:00 pm in the Stout Middle School Media Center!

“One does not tire of a profitable occupation”

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

State Board of Education Statement on Snow Days

February 12, 2014 LANSING — The State Board of Education this week unanimously adopted a statement on the replacement of Snow Days, when a local school district exceeds the six days allowable by state law; encouraging districts to replace the lost time with full days of instruction instead of adding hours to the remaining days on their existing school calendars. Statement by the State Board of Education on Snow Days The State Board of Education’s stated mission is that all students graduate ready for careers, college, and community. The State Board firmly believes that students should receive the maximum amount of quality educational instruction possible in order to meet that goal. Current state law requires school districts to offer at least 1,098 hours of instruction in the 2013-14 school year. The districts must also provide a minimum of 170 days or the number of days offered in 2009-10, whichever is greater. Many districts provide 180 days of instruction; some districts provide more. State law also recognizes that circumstances outside of the control of a school district, such as severe weather, illness outbreaks, or interruptions in utilities, may cause schools to be closed unexpectedly.  The law provides for up to six such days to be counted toward those 1,098 hours without loss of state aid. Any days beyond the six allowed must be replaced for the district to receive its full amount of state aid. Legislation (House Bill 5285) has been introduced to allow school districts to make up those additional days beyond the six allowed by adding minutes onto each day remaining on their school calendars. A better solution would be to make them up with full days of student instruction. The majority of the studies for extended school year programs indicate that participation in extended year schools is associated with favorable achievement outcomes. Increased quality instructional time in which students are actively engaged in learning can have a positive effect on student achievement. Research suggests that expanding the amount of instructional and academic learning time for at-risk or low-income students may improve student learning and close achievement gaps between those students and their peers. The 1994 Prisoners of Time report by the National Education Commission on Time and Learning, stated that time can be “an academic equalizer.” The State Board of Education believes, and strongly encourages school districts to, replace additional lost days with full days of student instruction, not by adding on minutes to the existing days remaining in the school year. Full replacement days offer every student the full extent of quality instruction that they missed when the school was closed. This method allows teachers to complete their full lesson plans with integrity and provide students with the appropriate depth of instruction they need to meet their instructional goals for every class. This is the better strategy to ensure that students will be ready for career, college, and community. Adopted unanimously on February 11, 2014

Fan-out no longer to be used…

• We will no longer be using the ADSA fan-out to notify members if school has been cancelled by the superintendent.  The Executive Board has determined that the district use of robo calls and other social media by our Communication Office has made the fan-out system inefficient and redundant.  It will only be used if there is an emergency or information that is needed to be shared with our members.

New Absence Procedure…

• You will no longer need to report an absence (Illness, Care of Family, etc.) to your supervisor using the absence form that was required by HR a few years ago.  Rather, you need to report your absence in AESOP, send an email to your supervisor stating that you will be absent from the building and arrange for building coverage by another ADSA member.  You will still need prior approval from your supervisor if you would like to use a personal business day (per contract).  This change in practice was approved by Superintendent Whiston at our last Executive Board meeting.