VS 30 - HR and Capital Connections

Vol.1 Issue 5

The New Year brings the opportunity for new changes, and February is the time for Credit Salary changes for teachers! Teachers who have acquired 15 credits by February 1 are eligible to apply for a salary/lane movement.

The deadline to submit all required paperwork to move on the salary schedule is Friday, February 24. Please click here to read the procedure letter with the steps to follow to be eligible for credit/salary advancement.

It is important to note that in order to move in the salary schedule, 6 credits must be earned at a recognized college; the other 9 can be in-service credits (prior approval is required). Completion of the required credits has to be on or prior to February 1, 2023.

All your classes/courses must be marked “Complete” in MLP/Frontline/Professional Growth. Only classes that are listed in MLP will be considered for a salary advancement. Additionally, the OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS for College credits must be sent directly from your College/ University to the HR office to be eligible to move to the next lane.

Important to remember:

• You can only move 15 credits once per school year.

• All college credits must be verified by official transcripts sent directly to HR from the college/university

• Must be received at HR no later than 02/24/2023

For more information click here.

Please join us as we welcome Noemi Diaz, new Administrative Assistant in the HR Department.

Noemi is a familiar face at the VS30 since she used to work as a Teacher Aide at Forrest Road and continues to be actively involved in our Shaw PTA. Noemi comes back to the Friendly Schools after working with the Manhasset Public Schools in the HR Department and with many years of experience in the HR private sector.

If you have any questions regarding Employment, Certification, or other HR related functions please do not hesitate to contact her at extension 5011 or my extension 5010.

On December 19, Board Education Superintendent of School, Dr. Garcia-France, along with the members of the Board of Education and Principal Chris Colorassi, celebrated the passing through gate of Ms. Eberle.

During the recognition Dr. Garcia-France, celebrated Ms. Teresa Eberle, an Elementary Teacher at Shaw Avenue for having an ability to create meaningful and engaging opportunities for students. Dr. Garcia-France mentioned that Ms. Eberle engages in a wide range of professional activities to strengthen her instructional practices. Ms. Eberle uses her knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity and innovation in both face to face and virtual environment for our students at Valley Stream #30.

Mr. Colarossi describes Ms. Eberle as enthusiastic, patient, purposeful, and detail oriented. He added that she uses diverse educational strategies to engage the diverse learners in her classroom, making her classroom full of students engaged, ready to learn, respected and valued. Ms. Eberle uses constant reminders in order to provide the “Why” importance in her lessons. Finally, he described Ms. Eberle always connects with parents and the entire Shaw school community.

If you want to view the entire recognition that Mr. Colarossi prepared for Ms. Eberle, please click on this link.

If you know of any family planning on sending their child(ren) to a private or parochial school for the 2023-24 school year, please remind them that the applications are due to the Transportation Department at the Valley Stream Union Free School District #30 Business Office/Transportation Office at 175 North Central Avenue, Valley Stream, NY 11580 by April 1. This deadline is the same across all New York State.

Applications for the Valley Stream 30 transportation office will be available through the website. https://valleystream30.com/capital/transportation

Let’s all give a warm welcome to our newest additions to the VS District 30 Family:

• Bella Alvarez, Clerk Typist, Technology Department
• Laura Cassidy, Teacher Sub (FR)
• Jessica Castellon, Teacher Sub (CS)
• Noemi Diaz, Administrative Assistant, HR Department
• Rosalie Giovannelli, School Monitor (FR)
• Ansoiya Maraj, Teacher Aide (FR)
• Jamie-lea Peyer, Teacher Sub (SH)

Join us in welcoming new staff members!

At this point in the school year, the Business Office is trying to clean up any outstanding orders greater than 30 days in order to prepare for the next school year and new orders to be placed. There are still many summer supply orders, or “bid book” orders that remain outstanding. If you are still waiting on items from a summer order, please follow up with the vendor about the status of the item. Many items may have been canceled or discontinued without notification, holding up the payment process.

If you have received all of your items but are still in possession of your receiving copy of the purchase order, or “blue copy”, please sign off and forward to the Business Office, Attn: Rosann Colucci as soon as possible.

In accordance with previous years, the district will cut off requests for purchases for the current fiscal year in order to prepare for next year. Please communicate any needs that you may have for the remainder of the school year to your main office as soon as possible so that orders can be placed and approved prior to the cutoff.

This year, the district will cut purchasing off before the February break. All purchase orders must be entered for approval by Friday, February 17, 2023. Purchases will be made on an emergency basis only starting February 27, 2023 and will need to be accompanied by a Requisition Information Form detailing the need for the order after the cut off.

This year, staff’s W2’s will be printed and delivered to the buildings by the end of January. The W2's are delivered to the main office in each school, so pay a friendly visit to the Main Office staff and, at the same time, sign for your W2.

As we previously informed all staff, new rates for the NYSHIP Empire Plan became effective as of January 1st, 2023. The rates changed for both individual and family coverage. Health insurance premiums are deducted one month in advance, so the increase was reflected for the first time in your payroll check on 12/15/2022.

New rates PER PAYCHECK for 2023 coverage are shown below.

(*Rates are based on full time employment*)

Individual NEW 2023 Rate: $134.51

Family NEW 2023 rate: $317.59

If you do not have healthcare coverage and would like to enroll, the enrollment period will be open March 1, 2023 through March 31,2023. The AFLAC enrollment period will also take place March 1, 2023 to March 31, 2023. If you have any questions regarding NYSHIP or AFLAC, please feel free to email or call at TFergus@vs30.org or 516-434-3614.

Mark your calendars and remember to give a shout out to these special January babies:

1/3 Jamila Sloan (CS)

1/4 Lorine Gorelczenko (CS)

1/4 Maria Sciscioli (SH)

1/7 Jennifer Forcina (SH)

1/7 Warren Payton (SH)

1/9 Yannie Chon (CS)

1/11 Katesha Booker-Phifer (SH)

1/11 Valerie D’Alto (CS)

1/11 Veronica Rosado Wright (SH)

1/14 Anthony Auciello (FR)

1/14 Donna Ingram (CS)

1/16 Rosann Colucci(CO)

1/17 Patrice Kelleher (SH)

1/20 Natasha Livingston (SH)

1/20 Roslyn Odwin (CS)

1/25 Stephanie Fischer (SH)

1/25 Zoila Moran (SH)

1/26 Nyree Whittaker-Roth (SH)

1/28 On Kyung Joo (FR)

1/29 Michael DeLuca (SH)

1/29 Jan Granger (SH)

1/29 Shamela Karrim (SH)

1/29 Tracy Williams (FR)

1/31 Justin Stephenson (SH)

Last opportunity to attend the virtual training with The Office of Teaching Initiatives regarding Registration, Re-registration and CTLE requirements. Important information:

• The training will be presented through Zoom

• Upcoming training date:

• January 18th at 3:00 pm

• Available to district administrators and educators.

• You can register for a training by emailing: CTLEsponsor@nysed.gov

• Include the training date and contact information for the person organizing it from your district.

If you have questions about this process please contact Marcela Moran, HR Department, at mmoran@vs30.org or call (516) 434-3600 X 5010.

For those who participated, YES! You were right, Mr. Debler is our Throwback Thursday picture. The purpose of this article is not only to feel nostalgic for the past times, but also, to remind you if you have a picture ID that might not reflect your current self, please stop by the HR office to get a brand new ID!

Please contact HR at 516-434-3600 ext. 5011.

We all know someone who has Student Loans or we can have Student Loans ourselves. For those borrowers who have Student Loans with the Department of Education, the following is an important update to possible changes to the program.

On January 10, the U.S. Department of Education proposed regulations to reduce the cost of federal student loan payments, especially for low and middle-income borrowers.

The proposed changes to income-driven repayment plans would:

• Allow $0 monthly payments to any individual who makes under roughly $30,600 a year

• Cut payments for undergraduate borrowers in half

• Stop charging any monthly interest that is not covered by a borrower’s payment, ensuring that a borrower’s balance doesn’t grow if they are making their monthly payment, and

• Shorten the time it takes for low-balance borrowers to get their student loan debt forgiven

These are only proposed changes, and are not in effect yet. To read more you can check out the following:

For more information:

• Department of Education press release

• Department of Education fact sheet on income-driven repayment plan

• Department of Education fact sheet on increasing accountability over colleges

Money may be tight after the holidays so be sure to check out your Lifestyle Savings Benefit for discounts, rewards and perks for products and services. These include Health & Wellness, Auto, Electronics, Apparel, Restaurants, Beauty & Spa, Flowers & Gifts, Sports & Fitness and much more!

• “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” – Winston Churchill

• “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates

• “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” – John D. Rockefeller

“Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” – John C. Maxwell

Do you ever wonder what guides the district operations and procedures?

An easy answer is policy! We invite all our staff members to review the district policies to understand how our district operates. Moving forward, every month we will be highlighting one policy.

This month we are sharing our Employee Code of Conduct policy. Please click here to access it.

Please contact me if you have any questions at mmoran@vs30.org or (516) 434-3600 X 5010.

1/16/23 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day - School Closed

1/23/23 - Board of Education - Business Meeting, 8pm at the Shaw Ave Media Library

1/24/23 - International Day of Education

2/06/23 - Board of Education - Work Session, 8pm at the Shaw Ave Media Library

2/13/23 - Board of Education - Business Meeting, 8pm at the Shaw Ave Media Library

2/14/23 - Valentine's Day