President's Updates

President's Update March 13, 2025

January seemed to take about a year, while February and March took about a minute. Our Spring Break is almost here. All of this and it’s been far too long since sending you anything to keep you informed and up to date. Thanks for your patience and thank you for knowing that you can always reach out and connect independently as needs arise.

January seemed to take about a year, while February and March took about a minute. Our Spring Break is almost here. All of this and it’s been far too long since sending you anything to keep you informed and up to date. Thanks for your patience and thank you for knowing that you can always reach out and connect independently as needs arise. As I was thinking how I was amiss for not getting this out there I’m always reminded that this time of year, especially as educators our personal gratitude cups for ourselves and the jobs we do are running on empty - You are not told enough and at this time of year is when educators need to remember the most - Thank you for all that you are doing daily - the pressures of the classroom or even that one conference or student behavior sometimes makes us forget - but I have seen so many of you in the classroom and interacting with students - YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAILY! You change the world each and every day just by being present, you make students feel special, loved, worthy. You make someone a little bit better, smarter, happier -  daily. Thank you for doing the most important job - you make TUSD the success that it is! 

Here’s the latest from TEA:  

  • TEA Election Results - Congratulations to the TEA Executive Board Members who have won reelection
    • Margie Wright - Elementary Director
    • Theresa Payne - Middle School Director
    • Sean Pfaff - High School Director
  • Stay Informed:  Each site should be having a ten minute meeting monthly. We do have some of our sites without reps (Tustin Connect/ Education Support Center) so we would love to find reps at those sites - people can even share it. But the main thing is that each member should be getting some information brought back monthly to their sites by our site reps, as well as having someone who brings concerns from their sites to TEA. We know that it can be really busy sometimes as well, and our site reps are all teachers with full plates, but let us know if you are not hearing information so that we can ensure that all members are getting information as well as able to share their own concerns with their site reps to bring back to TEA during our Rep Council Members. 
 

  • Employment for next year- 

    • Permanent and Probationary employees should be asked to resign their letter of intent either currently or soon after spring break. This is not a contract, but a letter of intent. If you intend on coming back next year and want employment, sign the document and make sure you get a copy of what you have signed. If you are unsure  whether you want to return for whatever reason, you have until June 30th to return that document. If you have any issues with waiting while you think, please contact TEA and we can make sure you have the time to turn it in as it complies with document and code. 

    • Temporary employees - Thank you to those that filled out the questionnaire in the last update. We had over 70 who shared their contracts, years and situations with temporary employment in TUSD, many of whom have been in the district for over two or more years. We have currently asked, several times, what programs the contracts are funded from (if that was what was checked at the top of your contract) or who spots are being kept for in the district (i.e. how many are out on leave/ in positions at the district etc.) who need spots held for them. That would help us in working to see how many should be moved over, or what the next plans are. 

    • The reality of moving over - Currently special education is the area where people are being moved over to probationary or perm, if at all. The rest are all contingent on open spaces the district has and then they ask for recommendations from principals. So, to answer the question that has been asked three times this week at different site meetings, it is on both the district and the admin. When moving over. The district decides the number of spots, and admin. Make the recommendations. 
 

  • THE HOT TOPIC ASKED THE MOST RIGHT NOW - What is happening with the Department of Education and what does that mean for California. 

    • This feels much like it did during Covid - everything is very much in the air and changing…hourly to daily. This evening I was just on a Zoom by NEA (National Education Association) that went over what is going on, as we know it at this moment. Along with NEA President Beck Pringle, AFT (American Federation of Teachers) President Randi Weingarten and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzkner. Information is constantly changing, sometimes by the hour, but for now: 

  • The above states information from NEA for the state of California currently. The most recent reporting states that California receives about 14% overall in federal funding. The Governor, Attorney General and State Superintendent of California have already met several times and even held special legislative sessions to cover the Executive Orders that come down, to include the dissolving of the Department of Education. 
 

  • Teacher of the Year Dinner - 

  • Congratulations to all of the Teacher of the Year Recipients. While the choices are always hard it is always fabulous to see how astounding each one of you is and what fabulous things you are doing at each site. Thank you for your commitment to TUSD students! 

  • Would you like to attend the Teacher of the Year Dinner, but you haven’t purchased your ticket yet? TEA has sponsored the event, along with purchasing additional tickets and will be raffling off seven tickets to members. Please fill out this form if you are interested. Names will be pulled on Tuesday, April 18th before 5p.m. Winners will be notified by email. 
 

  • Ongoing Conversations with the District and Bargaining:

    • Bargaining: Our last bargaining date of the year was March 5th. At this time we are still waiting on some final information on one item of interest. 

      • Special Education - The Special Education Best Practices is going to move from just being best practices to being an MOU. The document is due to be signed soon, once it is finalized and typed from the sharing at bargaining. Moving to an MOU means that it is not part of the contract internally but is now a contractually bonded Memo of Understanding and a stronger, closer to contractual, document than we have had in the past. There are a few changes from the last document, the largest being that the SDC Preschool MOU will now be a portion of this document and create, similar to the current groups that have/ and are starting, a small group to discuss and work on specific SDC Preschool items. 

      • SERP - While we have asked, and it still is between a few companies. I can tell you that for this year, I’m not feeling as confident as I was in January. It is still sitting with two companies, and information has not been brought forward. To be completely honest, after being through several in TUSD, I am not feeling as if it will happen this year but will remain hopeful as we lean into next year. Historically they are out, and we are working towards what will happen with the process by January/ February. Now being in March, no matter what interests either side, it is with companies and TUSD currently. I do not have a definitive decisions, but I can tell you that this remains a major interest of your Union going forward. As information comes you will be updated further. 

      • Middle School Minutes - This should be coming to a vote as soon as the wording is finalized, and our team reviews with our bargaining chair. Once it is finalized we can start the ratification process. 

      • Wrap Up Bargaining for the Year - The great news is that next year our WHOLE contract will be open for bargaining. This is the great opportunity for every item that we list and keep for each section as it opens in negotiations, will be able to come forward and we can work on items that have been waiting to get beyond basic discussion. Thankfully in the Interest Based Bargaining style we are able to discuss and work on bits and pieces no matter what is open, but having the whole contract open allows more to be brought forward and hopefully more changes that are desired made. 

    • Special Education: 

      • SAI - please make sure that the closer you get to a full caseload of 28 to keep your coordinators appraised and TEA appraised. Recently, we even agreed with a teacher to accept a waiver to let a teacher go over caseload. TEA is very willing and accepting of waivers being offered and allowing caseloads to increase, as long as Ed. Code is followed. A waiver has to be offered to someone before any caseload can go over 28.

      • All Special Education Educators please put Thursday, April 17th on your calendar - TEA is going to be hosting our annual Interactive Bargaining Survey at our office from 4:00-6:00 pm. Dinner will be served and the pretty flyer will also be sent out to sites through our Rep Council on March 25th.  

    • Elementary:

      • Report Cards - TEA heard and has asked, as well as itemized for our discussions with Dr. Villegas in our next meeting. The timeline put a push for report cards to be completed on the Monday after the Trimester closes, leaving you only a weekend to complete. Please let reps know if you were allowed to use additional time, or if there were additional issues around this that also impeded on your ability to complete report cards as well as plan for your Spring conferences. 

      • Safety on site and in classrooms - We understand that this happens in every level of education but elementary seems to be the one that TEA hears from the most currently.  No matter the incident please know that if there is any issue that is resulting in you or your students being harmed, or fearing harm, including mental health and stability, there is something that isn’t perfect, but it helps in the documentation. 

        • Here is the incident report to fill out - please click the link HERE to access. The report is then sent to your admin, Dr. Raphael Plascencia, and you keep a copy for your records. TUSD must also keep this on hand for at least 5 years.

        • TUSD’s full document can be READ HERE please remember to let TEA know if there are any issues with safety on your sites. The final page of the document states a Violent Incident Report which is the same document linked above. 

    • Middle School:

      • Middle school minutes were in bargaining on March 5th and once we have the updated and signed document we will begin our ratification process for the change to the middle school minutes. The reason for the flat number of minutes, without any wiggle room, was when it was requested the possibility of giving sites 50-100 minutes over the allotment, TEA said they would agree if that would also mean going 50-100 under the allotment. The number now stands at the flat number and will not have a span of minutes to either side. If you are on a schedule committee and you are in need of additional minutes. Please remember that there is a waiver process that may be filled out in order to make schedules work. It is Article 28 in our contract and can be found HERE. 

    • High School:

      • High School Bell Schedule for 2026-2027 School Year:

        • It was mentioned at the end of our last Rep Council, and some of those that have asked questions after meetings on their campus, but for those that have not heard, or information was not passed on… 

        • The Schedule is now back to each direct site - that means that each site, directed by their site admin, is now to work on what schedule works best for that site with their administration. 

        • If the schedule agreed upon by the site is outside of our contract - i.e. it is a block schedule without a daily prep, then those sites have to fill out and follow the waiver process next year (article 28 in contract) for the following school year. 

        • Once each site knows what they are doing, at that time TEA can look at bringing the effects of said schedules and work from there to bargain if needed.

      • Schoology: 

        • TEA had heard and been working to meet with TUSD for a couple of months to discuss the issue of Schoology going away. We understand and wanted to work to see what we could do to urge The District to save the platform that members are passionate about and invested in. We finally were able to meet on February 19th.  We met with Grant Liftkin and Maurita De La Torre. We were fortunate to have two different member surveys. One that was used at the high school level (developed at Beckman) and one that was sent out in our last update.

        • TEA went into the meeting knowing we cannot mandate a district to spend a certain amount on a program but wanting to make it work for our members. In spite of the points we had to make, it was shared with us the back story and the issues with the system and their business model and work with our district as a whole- Some items presented:

          • Schoology only wanted to work with TUSD if they purchased their version of SIS (aeries platform). They were not quick to do any business support or open to many fixes because they wanted us to purchase and use all of their system, not one. 

          • TUSD provided usage numbers and the usage is recorded anytime someone is logging onto the system. They shared the comparison between the usage of Google platforms vs. Schoology across the district with active users. Active means actively on the sites for an extended amount of time, not just there to clink links. The numbers were astounding to the point where Google classroom was being used by 75% of the district and Schoology the remainder. Since this meeting I have also asked and those numbers seem to not change. They also have been the same district wide since right around the announcement of the district choosing to switch platforms. 

          • Pioneer and Beckman are the sites with the most usage. 

          • Google is open to working with TUSD to create and make more it work for those that are currently using Schoology now. Dr. Grant Liftkin is personally working with them to try to get them to create/ integrate items that would be similar to our Schoology items used the most.  

        • TEA asked for the following and after the above was shared and we are currently still working to help make sure the transition:

          • First we asked if the program could be purchased for the sites that used it the most. The answer was that Schoology would not allow TUSD to purchase for a few sites, it had to be an all or nothing and it would cost $10 per student in the district - or about 2 million dollars a year. 

          • TEA has also requested for additional planning time, release time, or time for members to be able to work with IT for help in the transitioning to Google classroom. There were several ideas we offered. Everything from members getting to sign up for help with 1:1 with IT people to help transfer over items to having IT come and be in department meetings to work with groups together. Several other stop gaps to help with transition were mentioned and we have also added it to our negotiations for next year to keep working with TUSD in looking for ways to make the transition, while not ideal or wanted, a little easier. We also have requested help by offering Google Gatherings at our office, hosted by TEA with food and prizes, and plenty of IT people to help transfer data and set up Google classroom for members. 

        • TUSD sent out a communique with the reasonings and their overall business reason for going away from the system.

        • If you have ideas/ ways that would help you best at your site, please let us know. Either through reaching out to a site rep, or emailing me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

           
 

  • STATE COUNCIL - CTA’s top policy-making body is the State Council of Education. Meeting four times a year, the council’s nearly 800 delegates sets forth CTA policy, develops legislation, and makes recommendations in general elections.

    • January State Council Minutes - January 24-26th from TEA State Council Representatives may be found- HERE The Next State Council will be held April 4-6, 2025.
 

  • Member Benefit Services - One of the perks of membership are the benefits that you have access to. So many of us forget that through our state (CTA) and national (NEA) partners we have access to a multitude of resources. You may see some below or check out their webpage HERE. 
 

  • CTA/ NEA - 

  • Legislation - AB65

    • What does it do:

      • Provide 14 weeks of pregnancy leave and help retain educators during a historic educator shortage.

      • Stop public school educators from having to choose to get by with less pay or “schedule” pregnancies based on the school calendar.

      • End the discriminatory practice of forcing women to deplete their leave balances to bear children.

      • Close the $100,000 gap in retirement that women earn compared to their male colleagues.

    • Where is it now?

      • This week AB 65 was debated in the Assembly Education Committee at the Capitol and passed with strong support and a vote of 6-0. Educators from around the state, State Treasurer Fiona Ma, and many other labor unions and allies testified in support. Legislators heard how the lack of pregnancy leave for educators impacts us as human beings AND our profession as a whole. The bill will be heard in the Higher Education Committee next.

      • On Tuesday, March 11th, CTA hosted a press conference with the bill’s author, Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and other elected leaders including Treasurer Ma and SPI Tony Thurmond. You can watch the entire press conference on the CTA Facebook page here. 

    • What can you do to help? 

      • Add your name to support the passage of AB 65 (Aguiar-Curry), historic legislation that will finally give Paid Pregnancy Leave to educators. ADD YOUR NAME HERE. 

      • Write to your legislators and let them know that pregnancy leave is a priority for you. Find your legislators’ contact information HERE. 

      • Help spread the word by liking/sharing the CTA posts on Facebook and Instagram.

      • Share your personal story about pregnancy leave - Every person’s journey to starting a family is different and unique. CTA needs stories to highlight the various ways educators are impacted without protected pregnancy leave. Share your Pregnancy Leave Story today to keep up the momentum for this critical legislation.

  • Know Your Rights - 

    • All students have federal and state constitution rights to free public education regardless of immigration status (Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982)) 

    • California Attorney General Bonta has provided guidance for K-12 Schools - click HERE for that information. It also provides additional links within the document. 

    • Know Your Rights -Red Cards - All people in the United States, regardless of immigration status, have certain rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution. Red Cards help people assert their rights and defend themselves against ICE’s unconstitutional actions. These are available in multiple languages.

      • www.cta.org/homeishere - a great resource by CTA that helps with links and offers additional information and items to order if you are interested. 

      • One item available to order is the KNOW YOUR RIGHTS RED CARD - All people in the United States, regardless of immigration status, have certain rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution. Red Cards help people assert their rights and defend themselves against ICE’s unconstitutional actions. These are available in multiple languages. Click HERE or on the picture below. If you would like to have them on hand for your site. We can  order them for you here at the TEA office. They come in several languages. Just let us know. They took about a week to be delivered when we ordered them before our last Rep Council. The site also gives instructions and teachers rights to use and distribute and cards. 

  • Orange Service Center - Equity Team Invitation: 

    • OSCC Equity Team has been working with the CTA Human Rights Department to organize this year’s second Equity Evening event. It will be held virtually on April 24th from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm. They will have a guest speaker who will provide information on supporting immigrant educators, students and families. See the attached flyer for more information. You may RSVP by clicking on the flyer below or by using this link to the Google form. The meeting link will be sent to registered participants before the meeting.
 

  • March Is:

 

  • American Red Cross Month - The Red Cross Month celebration has been an annual tradition since 1943, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the first Red Cross Month proclamation. To learn more please go HERE or press the picture above. 

  • Arts Education Month in California/ Youth Art Month/ Music In Our Schools Month - With the passing of Prop 28 last year it is hopeful that we can continue to improve and increase The Arts in Education. Last year at this time data show that only 11 percent of California schools actually offer all arts disciplines as mandated in the state Education Code. Arts education increases student engagement in their school by providing space for self-exploration, creativity and empathy. Celebrate its value and work to make it available to all students.

  • National Nutrition Month -.National Nutrition Month® is an annual campaign established in 1973 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. During the month of March, everyone is invited to learn about making informed food choices and developing healthful eating and physical activity habits. This year's theme is "Food Connects Us." Food is a connecting factor for many of us. Food connects us to our cultures, our families and our friends. Sharing a meal is an opportunity to learn about its preparation, who made it and where the ingredients were sourced. Health, memories, traditions, seasons and access can all impact our relationship with food. While these factors influence the foods we eat, the foods we eat also affect our health.Each year during March, we celebrate National Nutrition Month®, which is a nutrition education and information campaign that invites everyone to learn about making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. 

  • Cesar Chavez Day - March 31 - Cesar Chavez Day is a U.S. federal commemorative holiday, proclaimed by President Barack Obama in 2014. The holiday celebrates the birth and legacy of the civil rights and labor movement activist Cesar Chavez on March 31 every year. Many service commissions organize service activities on this day. California Department of Education Resources for teachers includes lessons for almost every grade and level. RESOURCES HERE 
  • National Park Services Resources HERE 
  • Los Angeles County has a website with great RESOURCES HERE.
 

May you all have ample time to relax, refresh and renew over Spring Break. Wishing you a week with no alarms and lots of time with loved ones. 

In Unity,

Lisa Hickman

President, Tustin Educators Association
Itinerant Teacher, Heideman Elementary 

Related Articles

Contract Ratification Vote Dec. 20, 2022

Compensation and Health & Welfare Benefits Vote Dec. 2022

Tentative Agreements and MOU Nov. 10, 2022

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