A P R I L 15,
2014
Butte Teachers’ Union Newsletter
The regular meeting of
the BTU was held on
April 15, 2014 with
Karen Alley presiding
and 15 officers
present.
Business Agent’s report
 Mark wants to remind people
that their scholarship donation
will be taken out of April’s
check.
President’s Report
 The Calendar Committee has met
several times with and without the
district. Vote totals from schools
were close with option #3 being
favored slightly above option #1. At
the last meeting it was clear that the
district was going to recommend
option #1. The committee offered
input from our members. A second
version of option #1 with a 2 minute
MOU will be discussed at the meeting,
and members will vote on the two
options.
 The constitution committee made
progress, but they had difficulty
scheduling meetings. The committee
members will present items to be
considered and will continue their
work.
 RA was well attended. Several
candidates spoke, and votes were
taken on many items.
Butte Teachers’ Union Newsletter Page 2
School Board
Representative’s Report
The regular meeting of the Board
of Trustees was held on March 18, 2014.
Ron Ricketts described Kennedy’s 50th
Anniversary Celebration and the
activities in which the staff and students
participated. The Trustees paid tribute
to Jim Patrick, a longtime coach, who
passed away recently. Travel requests
were approved.
The Personnel Action Report saw
the removal of twenty-two substitutes
and the addition of five. This was mostly
a housekeeping matter and not a mass
exodus from the District. Jim O’Neill
received approval to advertise and hire
instructors for the summer academic and
enrichment programs. Approval was also
given to Kathy Cannon to advertise and
hire Adult Basic Education Summer
Program Teachers and Elementary,
Middle, and High School Extended School
Year staff. Approval was granted to
advertise and hire teachers for the
Middle and High School Summer Programs
as well as the Extended Year Speech
Program. Mrs. Cannon also received
approval to hire a temporary Special
Education Teacher to provide services at
the Whittier School. The Board granted
JR Richardson permission to call for an
election on May 6th of three (3) threeyear trustees and one (1) one year
trustee.
It was announced that the
Emerson School was given an Exxon
Mobile Grant in the amount of $500.00.
Policies for epi-pen liability release,
administering medicine to students, and
emergency treatment were approved. An
MOU between the District and BSB for
the purpose of providing improved
softball fields for the BHS Girls’ Softball
Teams at Stodden Park was approved.
New Business
A motion passed to support Ed Zimpel for
the school board position.
Butte Teachers’ Union Newsletter Page 3
Old Business
Karen Alley has received changes to
the constitution in writing from the
constitution committee. A motion was
passed to suspend the rules and e-mail
changes to the members rather than
have changes read at the meeting.
Changes will be voted on in May.
Main Changes include:
 Business Agent Pay
 BTU Secretary must be an active
member of BTU and employed
by the district as a secretary.
 Change in dues
 Building reps added to
constitution.
The calendar committee met and
discussed three different calendars for
the 2014-15 school year. Most members
wanted calendar #3. The District
responded in favor of option #1. The
Union gets two votes, and the district
gets two votes. The School Board gets
the final vote. The committee went
back with options 1A and 1B.
A motion to vote for calendar #1 with
the recommendation of moving
Tuesday of spring break to the end of
the year passed.
Job Fair Grievance Arbitration is set for
April 22, 23, and 24. Two of the
grievances were dropped.
E-Board elections: Anyone interested in
filling the open positions should
contact Mark Berg to find out what the
job entails.
School Board Members
Ann Boston (Chair)
2132 Princeton
[email protected]
782-8918 (home)
491-3223 (cell)
Vicki O’Brien
620 West Gold
[email protected]
496-5548 (work)
723-6621 (home)
490-3424 (cell)
Linda Sorini Granger
83 Burning Tree
[email protected]
496-3724 (work)
494-9867 (home)
491-1530 (cell)
Patti Hepola (Vice-Chair)
3006 Amherst
[email protected]
723-4078 (work)
490-9295 (cell)
Scott Ferguson
3471 Hannibal
[email protected]
(406)490-2207 (cell)
John Ries
605 W. Daly
[email protected]
782-4694 (home)
498-3973 (cell)
Debbie Shea
100 Moon Lane
[email protected]
494-4708 (home)
310-0867 (cell)
Carol Wold
122136 Nissler Road
[email protected]
782-8215 (home)
490-7782 (cell)