Wednesday, November 6, 2024

TVDSB Employee Assistance Program; Union Representation; Daily Assignments Greater than a half-day; Bereavement Leave; Provincial ETFO Sessions;

 

There are still some spaces for TVOT members to attend upcoming Professional Development sessions and be paid for their participation:
- "Making Sense of Measurement - The Metric System" is being hosted by the TVOT Local on Thursday evening, November 14th at the Lamplighter Inn with a free dinner provided.
- The Board has spaces in 3 afternoon sessions being held on the Friday, November 15th PA Day: "Building Vocabulary to Build Literacy"; "Critical Analysis in the Elementary Music Class"; "Self Regulation Across the Four Frames". 

The Conference / Session registration section of the TVDSB Employee Portal conference provides registration for all synchronous OTE PD sessions. Please note, to be paid, a reflection survey is required for PD session you attend - the reflection survey is located in the BrightSpace Classroom.

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All TVOT Occasional Teachers have confidential access to the TVDSB Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) / the Telus Employee Health Employee Family Assistance Program.




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Article L2.03The Board recognizes the right of the Union to represent a member at the member’s request at any meeting with the member. The Board or school/work site Administrator shall notify the member of their right to representation from the Occasional Teachers’ Local. The Union shall be present at any meeting that may result in discipline.

Article L7.03Remuneration paid to Occasional Teachers will be pro-rated for assignments to positions on less than a full-time basis, but in no circumstances will a Short-Term Occasional Teacher be paid for less than one-half (1/2) day. For the purposes of this article, one hundred and fifty (150) minutes equal one-half (1/2) day.
Article L10.05 BEREAVEMENT LEAVE  FOR LTOs  – Up to three (3) days will be granted in the case of the death of a member of the immediate family of a Long-Term Occasional Teacher. When used herein, immediate family shall include parent, sibling, spouse or partner, child, parent-in-law, child-in-law, sibling-in-law, legal guardian, grandchild, grandparent, step-parent, step-child, step-grandparent or person who has acted in a parental capacity in lieu of the natural parent. Notwithstanding the above, the leave may be extended by a maximum of two (2) days due to exceptional circumstances subject to the approval of the Superintendent of Human Resources or designate.
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3 Ways to Celebrate Financial Literacy Month



Welcome to Financial Literacy Month!

Talking about money can be tough, but it doesn’t have to be. This November, we’re embracing the theme “Money on your Mind. Talk about it!” to help break the stigma around financial conversations.

Whether you’re dealing with personal debt, budgeting for the future, or just curious about how to make your money work harder, Educators Financial Group can support you every step of the way.

Here are three ways you can learn with Educators Financial Group this Financial Literacy Month:

 

1.     Fast-track your financial literacy by signing up for a free 5-day mini course. In this 5-part email series, you’ll learn how to manage your debt, build a successful financial plan, maximize your money through tax-saving strategies, and more. Plus, when you sign up during Financial Literacy Month, you’ll automatically be entered to win 1 of 5 $50 gift cards.

2.     Get your questions answered by an Educators Financial Advisor. Book a call with an Educators Financial Advisor to discuss your finances and create a plan that works for you.

3.     Attend a new lineup of webinars:

o    Financial Planning in your Early and Mid Career on Nov 12, 5:00pm – 6:15pm

o    Investing - Empowering You to Make the Right Choices on Nov 18, 7:00pm – 8:15pm

o    Financial Empowerment - Securing Your Legacy on Nov 26, 4:30pm – 5:45pm

 

Ready to take control of your finances? Book a call with an Educators Financial Advisor and get personalized advice tailored to your needs. Let’s talk about money!













Wednesday, October 30, 2024

TVDSB Corporate Training; If You Began as an Uncertified; Prep Periods; Upcoming Paid PD Options; PA days and LTOs;

 



TVDSB Corporate Training
: The Local has received numerous calls about TVDSB's recent email communication. The Local is currently in discussions with the Board about the mandated corportate training, so stay tuned and we will let you know the implications for TVOT members.
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If you were an Uncertified Instructor with TVDSB, you contributed to the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS). When you became certified, this changed and you began contributing to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP). To ensure that your OMERS contributions are not lost, newly certified members must contact OMERS directly https://www.omers.com/ and instruct them to transfer these previous contributions to OTPP. This does not happen automatically - you must apply for a transfer or you will lose them.
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- Prep time is paid time, so members may not leave the school.
- Neither Teachers or Administrators can direct OTs on how to use their prep period.
- TVOT members follow the timetable of the absent Teacher. This includes supervisory duties and prep periods. (Article L18.02)
- Should an Administrator ask you to forfeit your prep period, note the date, assignment and length of the lost prep time as we have negotiated compensation for lost prep time to be paid at the end of the school year. (Letter of Understanding #5)
- TVOT members hired to do prep coverage or meeting coverage, are entitled to a 40 minute prep period as early in the day as possible. (Article L18.03b)
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Paid PD - Spots are still available for some PD sessions being offered on the November 15th PD day. Registration is via the TVDSB Employee Portal. Here is your chance to earn money on a day when you normally could not teach. Earn while you Learn!
Your TVOT Local will be hosting after-school PD at the Lamplighter Inn on November 14th. Dinner will be provided to those who register and attend.
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If you are in a LTO, you are expected to attend TVDSB PA days according to the FTE of your assignment, and you will be paid on grid for that time. For example, a 0.5 FTE LTO will attend and be paid a half day for their participation.
Those in LTOs of 5. FTE or less are eligible to participate in TVDSB paid PD for which they will receive the daily rate. With prior approval, they may also apply to participate in the school's PD and be paid the daily rate. Contact Staff Development for details.
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Want to know about upcoming Provincial ETFO workshops and conferences? Visit https://members.etfo.ca/programs/professional-learning/courses












Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Daily and Grid Rate Salaries; QECO Ratings; New Paid PD options with dinner included; ETFO Online Resources; Craig Smith as panelist

About Your Salary
A daily elementary Occasional Teacher / OTE in TVDSB is paid $271.60 plus 4% shown on a separate line, for a total per diem of $282.46.  
A Long-Term Occasional Teacher / LTO (any member who has been replacing the same absent Teacher in the same assignment becomes a LTO on the 10th consecutive day) is to be paid on the permanent Teacher salary grid according to their QECO rating and previous post-certification teaching experience. This updated salary grid has just been published in TVDSB's Outlook "Occasional Teacher Group" and in the secure section of our local TVOT website www.etfotvot.com .
N.B. The deadline to correct errors in salary is 12 months so members are urged to review their paystubs regularly. 
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As an LTO, you are eligible for salary that reflects your qualifications, however the onus is on you to provide the Board with a QECO / Qualifications Rating Statement or a card indicating your rating is in progress, prior to July 31st for retroactive adjustment. Note that the process can take several weeks.

1) To obtain a QECO Rating, follow the instructions at www.qeco.on.ca or call QECO at 1-800-385-1030 and request an application form.

2) Once received, submit the results to TVDSB Staffing Officer, Jessica Grison Roeder - j.grisonroeder@tvdsb.ca before the July deadline or forward a copy of the green QECO confirmation card if your application is in progress but will not be available by the due date.

The same July 31st deadline applies to proof of any post-certification teaching experience, outside of TVDSB so be sure to submit those documents to HR so as they will advance you on the LTO salary grid.

Please don’t hesitate to contact your ETFO TVOT Local for further details.


1) Your TVOT Local will be hosting paid after-school PD workshops on Thursday, November 14/24 at the Lamplighter Inn in London. Registration will open later this week in the TVDSB Employee Portal. N.B. Please let us know if you need to cancel as there are often waiting lists of members who want to participate. 

The Daily Occasional Teacher and the DE Classroom -  to help you to confidently (and safely) teach students in DE classrooms. Learn about safety plans, practical strategies for escalating behaviours when students are upset and the importance of using visuals. Understand how to build positive, working relationships with EAs, the importance of routines, and strategies for teaching non-verbal and minimally verbal students. This information will be practical to all your daily assignments!  Max: 40

Making Sense of Measurement: The Metric System! -  unpack the metric system in a logical, practical, understandable way making connections between the different metric units of measurement and their applications, including linearity, mass and capacity.   Be prepared to be hands-on and together we’ll strengthen our knowledge of the metric system by reconstructing it starting with the base units.  Max: 40

Visual Arts for Students with Exceptionalities –  a hands-on, experiential workshop to explore the fundamental concepts of visual art, the creative and critical analysis processes, and how artistic experiences can support students with exceptionalities.  Leave with practical ideas, activities, strategies, and additional resources for visual arts programming that offer multi-sensory, flexible, creative, collaborative, confidence-building, calming, and playful opportunities for students to learn and show their learning in unique and safe ways.  Max: 30

2) All asynchronous online paid PD has been moved to TVDSB's Brightspace platform. This is not the area you use for your classroom. Here is the link and you will need to log-in with your TVDSB Outlook password - https://stafflearninghub.tvdsb.ca/d2l/home .
N.B. Registration for all Board paid PD for elementary Occasional Teachers remains via the Board's Employee Portal in the "Conference/Session Registration" area. Please be aware that online asynchronous learning however, no longer requires advance registration - you can find it in Brightspace. 
Get Paid! Be sure to complete the mandatory Reflection Form (found under "Surveys" in Brightspace) so that you receive payment for your participation. Select a date of completion that you have available in TVARRIS. For full day sessions, you must complete a separate form for both the AM and PM sessions.
You will know you have completed the maximum of 1.5 days of paid PD when all three forms have been submitted as the remaining half day is set aside for the mandatory training which will be posted in the Spring 2025. 
Paid PD is open to daily Occasional Teachers in the elementary panel and those in LTOs of .5 FTE or less.
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ETFO Provincial issues PRS Matters bulletins to keep members informed on a varitey of important legal and professional issues so as to prevent situations which could threaten an individual member's career or the status of our profession.
Members are advised to call ETFO's Professional Relations Services (PRS) staff at 1-888-838-3836 for more information on such matters. Additional PRS Matters Bulletins can be found by logging into ETFO Provincial's secure site at members.etfo.ca




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ETFO Thames Valley Teacher Local President Craig Smith - Panelist


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Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Basic Info for LTOs and Daily OTs; Personal Email Addresses Please; Your Pension webinars; Upcoming meetings for ETFO Members;

 

As a TVOT Daily OT did you know?

-        You can accept TVARRIS daily assignments outside of your qualifications, e.g. French, Intermediate etc.

-        Morning half-day assignments shall end no later than 20 minutes after the end of class instructional time and afternoon assignments shall begin no earlier than 20 minutes before class instructional time.

-        Occasional Teachers shall not be assigned supervisory duties prior to the commencement of class on the first morning of an assignment or prior to the commencement of the afternoon class on the first day if it is a half-day afternoon assignment.

-   An Occasional Teacher who accepts and reports for an assignment shall be placed in that assignment unless otherwise mutually agreed. However, where there is a vacant classroom assignment, reassignment of the Occasional Teacher from a non-classroom assignment may be necessary at the discretion of the Principal to address student needs.

-   The timetable for an Occasional Teacher shall be the same as the timetable as the Teacher they are replacing. This includes prep periods and supervisory duties.

-   Members need to keep track of times when they do not receive their prep periods as they will receive compensation for the loss of this valuable time at the end of the school year

 

 As an LTO, did you know...

-        You have access to 11 days of sick leave at 100% of salary for those in a full year, 1.0 FTE assignment, and then 120 short-term disability days (STLDP) at 90% of salary (STLDP often requires medical documentation) 

-        Sick leave days are pro-rated for less than a full year assignment or less than a full time position. 

-        LTOs who are in full-time and part time positions are expected to attend Professional Activity days at their schools according to their teaching complement/FTE. That is to say a half time / .5 LTO participates in half of the PD Days and will be paid at the LTO rate to attend.

-        Long-Term Occasional Teachers should always check the LTO form when hired to verify that the information contained therein is accurate.

-        Long-Term Occasional Teachers’ salaries are based on the salary grid. The yearly salary for an LTO and a permanent teacher are the same for the identical years of experience and grid placement. However, the LTO’s annual pay is divided by the 194 teaching days in the school calendar for a per diem.

- To be eligible for benefits, LTOs must be in an assignment of 90 calendar days or longer.

-        LTOs in the NTIP program are exempt from the evaluation component of the program.

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Be professional – Don’t use the TVDSB system for personal correspondence. There is no privacy when an employee uses the Board’s property whether it is a TVDSB computer or the Board’s Outlook email system (even from a home computer). All such usage must be appropriate and related to your employment with the Board.  Inappropriate use of such equipment could result in the Board limiting or revoking your access and possible discipline.

The Union asks members to use a personal email address when contacting the Local.

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Your pension is one of your most important financial assets.
Register to attend one of several upcoming webinars hosted by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) and gain an understanding of how to maximize your pension benefits and how some life events may impact your pension. 
Sessions are being offered from mid-October to the end of November. Click on the link for more information and registration details - 

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Provincial ETFO Workshops 
From the first day that you teach in the elementary panel, you become a member of ETFO. All ETFO members are eligible to attend workshops hosted by the Provincial Office and in many cases, expenses for travel, meals accommodation, dependent care and release time will be covered per ETFO Provincial guidelines. To find out what is currently being offered, check out - 

https://members.etfo.ca/programs/professional-learning/courses

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Deadline to Register - October 17, 2024

Important Notice to all ETFO members - 
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This fall 2024, ETFO is holding membership meetings in communities across the province. 
Provincial and local leaders want to hear from permanent Teachers, LTOs and daily Occasional Teachers about your experiences in the workplace and 
about the changes you want to see in our schools. 
Join us for this important discussion and have your voice heard.
 
When:
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Registration and Light dinner provided at 4:30 PM; meeting at 5 PM
 
Where:
Hellenic Community Centre, 133 Southdale Road West, London ON
 
Registration:
Occasional Teachers/LTOs register by email: mail@etfotvot.com or by phone: 519-641-3936
Please alert us to any dietary restrictions
 
Additional details:
Deadline to register is Thursday, October 17, 2024 (advance registration required)
Forms for dependent care and kilometrage expenses will be available at the meeting.



Never hesitate to call the TVOT Office for ETFO Thames Valley Occasional Teachers at 519-641-3936 or mail@etfotvot.com. 
It is our job to represent the interest of our members in their dealings with the employer and to treat calls confidentially. We look forward to hearing from you.
 

Home Fire Safety


One of the most common emergencies Canadians experience is a fire in their home. House fires can happen anywhere and anytime, but they're most common between December and March. Since Fire Prevention Week is October 6 to 12, it's the perfect time to learn how to protect your home and loved ones from the impacts of fire. A house fire can pose a severe threat in just a few minutes, which is why it's so important to be informed and prepared.

Read more at https://bit.ly/3N4JLQ4. #OTIPUpdate

As our way of saying thank you for getting an auto and/or home insurance quote, we'll send you a $20 gift card of your choice. Plus, when you get a quote throughout September and October, you'll be automatically entered into our Back to School Bonus Contest for a chance to win $1,000 cash! Get an online quote or call 1-888-892-4935 and mention this offer.

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#WorldFoodDay