Fernie District Teachers' Association
Menu
  • External link opens in new tab or window Link Icon Link Icon Link Icon Home

    Welcome

    This website is used by the Fernie District Teachers' Association (FDTA) for publication of information related to association business and to the teaching profession. If you are new to the area or to the FDTA please visit our New Member's Area. Otherwise, we hope you'll find what you're looking for below.


    21/22 Meeting Dates

    General Meetings

    General meetings are open to all FDTA members. While we weather COVID 19 most general meetings will be conducted online. Please watch your email for more information.

    Fall General Meeting

      • 05 October 2021
      • 5:30 PM
      • Location TBD


    Winter General Meeting

      • 01 February 2022
      • 5:30 PM

      • Location TBD


    Annual General Meeting

      • 03 May 2022
      • 5:30 PM

      • Location TBD



    Staff Rep and Executive Meetings

    Unless otherwise indicated the executive committee meets at the FDTA office at 4:00. If you are interested in attending and are not currently a member of the executive please contact the president using the form below.


    Dates:

      • 07 September 2021
      • 05 October 2021
      • 02 November 2021
      • 07 December 2021
      • 04 January 2022
      • 01 February 2022
      • 01 March 2022
      • 05 April 2022
      • 03 May 2022
      • 07 June 2022

    Bargaining

     What is Local Bargaining?

    As teachers in the South-East Kootenays the terms and conditions of our employment with SD5 are laid out in a collective agreement. This contract is a “melded” document, composed of a broad agreement between the BCTF and BCPSEA and a more narrow agreement between the FDTA, CDTA, and School District 5.

    Every three years both the local and provincial agreements are renegotiated. At the provincial level the BCTF advocates for salary increases, class size and composition policies, workload policies, professional development funding, and similar. At the local level the FDTA and CDTA advocate for fair and equitable hiring policies, local Health and Safety initiatives, and policies concerning transfers, leaves, layoffs, recall, seniority, etc. within our district.

    The majority of the time both the local and provincial bargaining teams will reach tentative agreements with our employers after a few months of discussion. At this point members will vote to ratify each of the proposed agreements. If the majority of members favor both agreements they will be melded to form the Collective Agreement which will apply in SD5 over the following three years.

    Bargaining 2021

    Local bargaining for the agreement which will be in force from 2022 through 2025 begins this November. At present we are interested in broad consultation with all of our members and in order to best represent the collective opinion of our colleagues at the bargaining table.

    The local bargaining team is faced with two major questions: (a) what full list of policy items are we bargaining for and (b) how should we prioritize those items in negotiation. Completing the bargaining survey allows you to quickly give your input on both questions. Joining our discussion form or contacting the bargaining team directly allows you to go in-depth. These can be found through the following links:

    ***

    Collective Agreement

    Your Agreement with SD5


    Collective Agreement 3.0MB


    This is the local and provincial matters agreement. It contains common articles bargained between the BCTF and BCPSEA and local articles bargained between the FDTA/CDTA and the SD5 Board of Education. It also contains a number of “letters of understanding”, indicating agreement between the union and employer as to how the articles should be interpreted.


    If you believe that the CA is being violated in any way please contact your staff rep or the FDTA office.


    (NB: This is the previous CA, which was effective through June 2019. A new agreement was bargained through March of 2020 and the BCTF and FDTA voted to ratify the provincial and local portions respectively in April of 2020. The new document will be posted here as soon as possible.)


    Pro D

    Financial Support for Pro D


    The FDTA financially supports members in their professional development. This includes support for individual members pursuing Pro D in- or out of the district and groups of members hosting Pro D events in their schools. Please use the forms below in order to apply for support.


    Apply for Pro D Funding 1.1MB
    Apply for Staff Development Funding 565.0KB



    As noted in the application form it is expected that teachers receiving financial support will share information about a conference they attend or an activity they pursue with colleagues. As a result there are currently ~25 active reports on file with FDTA for your interest. See the FDTA archives tab for more information.


    Self Directed Pro D

    The BCTF views professional development as both an individual and a collective endeavour and encourages members to think about many different aspects of Pro D when planning their "green" days. If you intend to complete a self directed professional development activity in the near future please review the documents below and submit the paperwork to your school's Pro D rep/organizer.

    Staff Developement Self Directed FORM.pdf
    Staff Developement Self Directed CheckList FORM.pdf


    Important Dates for Pro D

    There are six Professional Development days scheduled for the 2021 school year. Plans utilizing these days - and in particular the RSA day in April - will change in response to new information regarding COVID 19. Please check back later.

      • September 1 - "District" Day
      • October 22 - Provincial Specialist Association and School-based Pro D
      • January 21 - School Based Pro D
      • February 18 - School Based Pro D
      • April 25 - RSA day
      • June 3 - School Based Pro D

    The FDTA Pro D chair will occasionally schedule meetings or training sessions with Pro D reps and organizers from across the district. For 2021/2022 those meeting dates are:

      • October 12 - Zoom Meeting 4:00-6:00
      • November 23 - Zoom Meeting 4:00-6:00
      • March 08 - Zoom SURT 10:00 - 4:00 and Meeting 4:00-6:00
      • May 17 - Zoom Meeting 4:00-5:00 , Recognition Dinner 5:00 at location TBD

    Scholarships

    Scholarship Information


    Each year the FDTA awards as many as 3 $800 scholarships to dependents of members. If you are the dependent of an FDTA member and will graduate from a public Canadian high school in 2022 you are eligible to make an application for one of these scholarships.


    In the event that more than three students apply the scholarship will be awarded on the basis of your academic success. Accordingly, you'll be asked for a copy of your latest report card, generally the third report you receive in grade 12.


    Applications are to be completed and submitted to the FDTA office by the 01 May.  Please see the attached document and application for below for more information. 


    FDTA-Scholarship-Application.pdf 79.2KB

    Archives

    Reports of the FDTA Executive and Members

    Reports made by the FDTA executive at the previous Annual General Meeting (May 2020) are available to members at the FDTA office or by email.

    FDTA members who attend conferences or activities report back on their experiences. For your interest, the following reports are available through the office:

    • Mathematics for Elementary Teachers:  J. Wenda-Szoltysek

    • POPARD Helping Schools Help Students:  D.  Cameron

    • Ross Greene Collaborative & Proactive Solutions Conference:  S. Jones, R. Storey

    • Ethics in Counselling and Youth Self Harm:  K. Keast

    • CBEEN 2017 Inquiring Voices Sustainability Symposium:  K. Purdy

    • Yoga Teacher Training:  M. Traub

    • PSA Super Conference 2017:  D. Degagne, A. Barras, L. Shully, H. Lloyd, S. Finch, A. Forefield, J. Jackson, A. Smith, J. Howard, R. Esch, L. Weber, T. Skead, K. Conlin, C. Smith

    • Visit to Observe Arrowsmith Alternate School Program:  K. McKeown

    • Alberta Music Educators' Association Conference:  B. Bassett

    • Manitoba Museum Of Human Rights & Freedoms:  W. Percy

    • Learning Disabilities & Associated Disorders:  T. Wagner

    • St. Eugene Writers' Conference:  D. Gibson

    • Gonzaga Basketball Coaches Clinic:  I. Jarrell, J. Mill

    • California STEAM Conference 2017:  S. Larsen, J. Parker

    • Social Thinking:  J. Schacker

    • CrossFit Level 2:  C. Smith

    • Alberta Teachers' Association Fall Math Conference:  P. Chow

    • Satir - Use of Self in Therapy:  R. Polacik, K. Walker, S. Charest

    • Crosscurrents 2018 Conference:  S. Nohels

    • Titanic:  The Artifact Exhibition:  K. Germaine

    • Healing & Treating Trauma, Addictions, & Related Disorders:  D. Billings

    • Keith Liggett Writing Workshop:  D. Gibson

    • BC Language Coordination Association Conference:  P. Oscienny, D. Wolchuk

    • Making Living Compost Workshop:  H. Lloyd



    Annals of FDTA history

    Coming Soon!


    Mentorship

    Mentor / Mentee Form

    Hello FDTA Members


     I would like to introduce an additional opportunity for mentorship. If you are interested in applying, please read this email carefully as well as instructions on the accompanying application form (below).  This form will be posted on the FDTA website, shortly. Please fill out the form completely and accurately to prevent processing delays.

     

    Currently there are two types of mentorship available.


    The two types are :

    SD5/CFTA -- Mentor/Mentee Pair
              • This is from Article D.30 – and it has been ongoing for sometime
              • I put out a notice in September  with the forms
              • It is meant for teacher pairs
              • If a pair of teachers wants one day each of mentorship -- this is their first application
              • contact the president for forms (External link opens in new tab or windowfdta01@gmail.com)

    FDTA 45K Mentorship
              • This is new
              • It is a one-time lump sum of money ($45,000) from last round of bargaining
              • Completed applications are sent to the office manager, Rhonda  External link opens in new tab or windowfdta@shaw.ca

    FDTA 45K MENTORSHIP APPLICATIONS


    Their are two parts to the FDTA 45K Mentorship:

      • Part A – for a pair of teachers that have already accessed SD5/CFTA mentorship pairing and would like an additional, one extra day, each
      • Part B – mentoring for a group (3 or more teachers) up to 4 days total for the group.


    Everyone must request a TTOC unless they plan to be in charge of their class during mentoring.


    Note: a pair of teachers uses Part A while a group of 3 or more teachers uses Part B. Any one teacher may access only one part (Part A or Part B) per school year.

     

    The committee will meet every second Tuesday of the month to approve mentoring projects.  Our first meeting date will be 14 December.

    After applications are approved they will sent to Rhonda and she will send out a second form in order to generate a release letter. A release letter is the Union's agreement to pay the District for the TTOC that will replace you while on mentorship. It is also required when you book off on the SRB.
              • Complete and  be sure to indicate date(s).
              • Be sure to indicate if it is full day(s) or half day(s) (a.m. or p.m.) that the mentor pair or mentor group wants to be released. (This is not like the SD5-CFTA Mentor/Mentee Pair -- the dates of mentorship are not needed by the Union).

    Once the release letter is returned to you (to your personal email only), you will need to attach it to your SRB leave application.
              • please be sure to choose A.21. CFTA as the the type of leave
              • do not choose (1) A.21. BCTF or (2) “Mentorship Pair”.

    Sorry for being pedantic but please follow instructions and complete all information requested!



    Mentorship Program FORM 28 Oct 21.pdf

    Contact

    207 - 442 2 Ave

    PO Box 10

    Fernie, BC V0B 1M0


    250-423-3333


    Office Manager - fdta@shaw.ca

    Union President - fdta01@gmail.com


    Visit the Office


    Copyright 2020 Fernie District Teachers Association


      close lightbox