Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/61011
What's hot You can influence who is elected to your school board It's School Board elec- tions time. And several DSEA local associations, with DSEA help, are interviewing and recom- mending candidates for those races. R ed Clay E.A. is working to elect Kenny Rivera, a Social Studies teacher at Brandywine High School and active BEA member. And we just learned that CREA is recommending David Sechler, whose children all attended Caesar Rodney schools. He is currently an associate at the Delaware Academy for School Leadership at the University of Delaware. CREA has a long history of recom- mending candidates for their school board and takes care to keep their lines of communication with the school board open and respectful. Appoquinimink E.A. is recom- mending Charlisa Edelin, a legal studies professor and attorney with three children in Appoquinimink schools and one at the Prestige Academy Charter School. Christina E.A. is recommending incumbent Shirley Saffer. Locals that wish to interview can- Brandywine High School Social Studies teacher Ken Rivera is running for the Red Clay School Board. Want to work for the state following retirement? Beware of strict IRS rules! I f you are a retired state work- er receiving a state pension check, there are very specific state and IRS guidelines regard- ing when and under what circum- stances you can return to work for the State after retirement. For example, if you go back to substi- tute, you can work no more than 30 hours/week. Anyone working more than that is now being told of the enforcement of these IRS guidelines. The Pension Office has contact- ed all agencies and school dis- tricts regarding the retirees that are employed by them to ensure that the state and IRS rules are being followed. With a few exceptions under state law, a state retiree is not allowed to receive a state pay check from employment while also receiving a state pension check. There are several conse- In addition, the IRS requires that these age-related guidelines be followed in order to return to work with the state: If under age 65 • Must have a bona fide separa- tion after retirement of at least six months • Must not have had a pre- arranged agreement to return to work with the state • Must not be a contractor, work- ing for a contractor for a tempo- rary agency unless there has been a six-month separation. If over age 65 and working in a non-pension creditable position that meets the exceptions above (temporary, casual/seasonal, or school substitute), you may receive both a pension and a pay check from the State of Delaware without meeting the requirements for people under age 65. didates to consider recommenda- tions are encouraged to do so, and will receive help with planning their involvement, including help from DSEA, from DSEA staff. We expect a few more locals will be participating in their school board elections, finding people who will ask your opinion and listen to what you have to stay about your experience as they vote on district policies. All school board elections will be held on Tuesday, May 8. These elec- tions are regulated by the Dept. of Elections. Voting is most often held in school buildings, from 10am to 8pm. Zeisler reaches ten-year mile- stone marks ten years with DSEA in April as a UniServ program assis- tant in the Newark Office. Along with Yvonne Williams, she assists the UniServ directors with their responsibili- ties, including local association work as well as with DSEA Task Forces and Committees. In 1994 the DSEA Executive W e congratu- late Carol Zeisler who Showing their Lewis school pride at a recent Red Clay School Board meeting are (from left): Dana Garcia, Angela Grant, Michelle Hennessy, Gloria Morris, Cheryl McMahn, Susan Palmer, Rebecca Heckett, Clemence Overall and Robin Totten. RCEA may file class action grievance T he nine staff from the Lewis Dual Language School in Red Clay showed solidarity at the most recent Red Clay Board Meeting. The issue was the dis- trict's intention to involuntarily transfer nine of them. Janette Vickers, RCEA's vice pres- ident, told the school board that these staff members are and have always been committed to the stu- dents and their families of Lewis Elementary. RCEA is exploring the possibility of a class action grievance regard- ing these involuntary transfers as they were not done in accordance with the contract. Although the dis- trict cited "organizational need," the criteria used to identify these people was not agreed to or dis- cussed with the association. Zeisler Welcome Red Clay Secretaries! Board created a program to recog- nize DSEA staff for service mile- stones. To see the complete list of DSEA staff, as well as Executive Board members and local union leaders, go to www.dsea.org/AboutDSEA/ WhosWho.html. T www.dsea.org his month the secretaries of Red Clay voted to join the DSEA family, the third new bargaining unit for us this year. They join the teachers/specialists, paraprofessionals and food service worker family of DSEA locals in Red Clay. And they now represent the sixth secretarial unit: we also represent secretaries in Christina, Capital, Smyrna, Lake Forest and Indian River. March/April 2012 DSEA ACTION! 3