Do

Identify the part(s) of your plan you were able to implement (given the nature of leadership work, your project may actually continue beyond submission of your Capstone Portfolio).

• I established a monthly newsletter that is sent out via email to members. The newsletter includes information about upcoming events, current work of the union, celebrations, and often includes some kind of clarification or focus on parts of our contract. (Evidence 1)

• I meet at least monthly with district administration to address union issues and concerns. (Evidence 2)

• I attend board meetings and board committee meetings regularly and speak on union issues. Board members have begun to see me as a trustworthy and respectful voice of our educators and union members.

• I work hard to ensure I am responding to member concerns and make sure those concerns are addressed in a timely fashion. I also follow up on those issues to make sure anything that has come from those meetings are being acted upon. (Evidence 3)

• I am invited and attend district administration and leadership meetings as the voice of union members.

• With the support of my union leadership team, we hosted a public forum of our trustee candidates and invited our members as well as the public. (Evidence 4 & 5)

• Through committee work, we brought a proposal to our negotiations team to substantially raise our extra duty stipends a year before we had originally anticipated being able to do so (Evidence 6).

How successful was your action plan at addressing the challenge?

Our biggest success was the building of a positive relationship with district administration and our board of trustees. The union leadership is invited to attend district meetings regularly and is seen as a respected and trusted voice in district decision making which has not always been the case in the past couple of years. We are also called on to speak on behalf of union members during board meetings when discussing policy decisions. With this relationship, we were able to pass a substantial increase in our extra-duty stipends this year.

I also feel our union members feel much more informed and are becoming a bit more engaged. We brought 5 of our 6 delegates to the annual conference this year which we have not been able to do in the past (Evidence 7). While our membership has not grown significantly, we gained some members towards the end of the year and are working on a beginning of the year campaign to get new members from our new staff and current staff. I feel we are in a better position to gain new members with the increase in engagement from our current members.

Which stakeholders and association practice or program were impacted? How do you know (site evidence)?

Union members feel that they have a voice that is heard at the district level (Evidence 8). This is most greatly evidenced by a meeting that occurred to discuss a potential move to staggered start times as a way to ease transportation challenges. Our union members were very concerned about this change and I was able to gather their feedback through email that I brought forth to our district administration and board of trustees (Evidence 3). Because of the feedback of our members, we were able to shift the conversation to other ideas to solve the challenges away from impacting our members working conditions.

I have developed a relationship with our district administration built on mutual trust and respect. District leadership invites me to meetings to speak on behalf of our members and our board of trustees asks for our union voice during board meetings. While it is difficult to gather evidence to support this, I have received messages from our field consultant from his perspective and what he has seen and heard regarding the relationship that has been established this past year. (Evidence 9)

This year, we were also able to negotiate and ratify our extra duty stipend schedules (Evidence 6). Members had wanted to ensure we were tying these schedules to the base and I also wanted to make sure every member impacted had a voice in the discussion. We elicited feedback from current member coaches and individuals most impacted by the extra duty stipends. These had not been touched for 11 years and were substantially lower than any other AA district in the state. Through our negotiations, we were able to pass and ratify these extra duty stipends as appendixes to our contract. It was a huge win for our members!

How were your four chosen competencies used in the implementation of your project?

Interpersonal Effectiveness: I have worked very hard this past year to serve as support for our members by communicating with various stakeholders on behalf of our shared interests and concerns. Our public forum provided a space for our members to ask questions of our potential candidates to determine which candidates held a similar vision for the future of our district. I have worked hard to ensure my communication is done with empathy, humility, and trust which I feel is reflected in the relationships and trust I have been able to establish with members and leadership.

Communication: I send out monthly email newsletters to our union members. I am working on crafting this communication to meet diverse interests and include any state or national level issues that would interest our local members. I have worked hard to differentiate my communication based on the various stakeholder perspectives to ensure my communication comes across as respectful while still advocating for the needs of our members.

Collaboration: I frequently identified and explained the shared vision of our members with district administration in various opportunities including district committee meetings, leadership meetings, board meetings, and extra duty stipend negotiations.

Organizing and Advocacy: I influenced stakeholders during our extra duty stipend negotiations as well as in various union meetings with administration to avoid grievance or disciplinary actions. I navigated challenging relationships between the various perspectives and values of our board of trustees, district administration, leadership and members. I also facilitated the adoption and implementation of a new extra duty stipend matrix for this next school year.

What obstacles, if any, did you encounter? How did you address them?

The biggest obstacle I encountered was time and my ability to always overcommit myself. I took on the role of union president while also teaching full-time. At the same time, I also participated in various professional development opportunities. Time and overcommitment can make it challenging to manage tasks and to ensure effective communication. This is definitely not something that is sustainable or reflective of a positive work/life balance. To manage my time, I relied heavily on my calendar as well as various notes and lists to keep myself on track. Because of time constraints and overcommitment, I definitely made some mistakes. When I did make a mistake, I made sure to own up to the mistake and work to rectify any miscommunication, misunderstanding, or inaction. This was a big lesson in making sure I am not overcommitting my time which will eventually catch up to me and impact my ability to be a successful leader.

Given the outcomes, describe any changes you might make to the Capstone Project’s action plan.

Since time is the biggest hurdle, I feel that our union needs to advocate heavily for a full-time release president. Outside of that, there are some other changes I would make to increase the potential benefit of my action plan. I would like to include more communication to members about any state or national union issues that are relevant and impact our local members. This next year is a legislative year and a negotiations year which will likely result in needing more active engagement from our members. I am planning to increase engagement by holding more membership meetings/focus groups to discuss future negotiations and also provide information in multiple ways outside of just communicating via email. We are also focusing heavily on gaining new members at the start of the year and will be hosting a BBQ for our members or potential members. I feel that building our capacity will also help with time as with more leaders comes a larger sharing of the leadership responsibility. I will continue meeting regularly with district administration and work to be a strong voice for our members in any district decision making.

Evidence 4&5 School Board Candidate Forum