The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Highlights of the Provincial Executive Council meeting held Jan. 20–21, 2022, via Zoom.

1. Approved the 2022/23 proposed budget for presentation to locals.
2. Approved, for presentation to the 2022 Annual Representative Assembly (ARA), a resolution maintaining the annual fee payable by a full-time, active member at $1,347, effective Sept. 1, 2022.
3. Approved, for presentation to the 2022 ARA, a resolution maintaining the annual fee payable by an associate member at $202.05, effective Sept. 1, 2022.
4. Authorized that, for the period of Aug. 1, 2022 to Aug. 31, 2023, the Association not use annual members’ fees collected during that time period for the purpose of funding any activities that fall under section 5.1(2)(a) of the Public Education Collective Bargaining Act.
5. Authorized that, for the period of Aug. 1, 2022 to Aug. 31, 2023, any funding required for activities under section 5.1(2)(a) of the Public Education Collective Bargaining Act for the period from Aug. 1, 2022 to Aug. 31, 2023 shall be from either financial reserves of the Association that existed prior to Aug. 1, 2022 or Association revenue that is generated from sources other than annual members’ fees collected from Aug. 1, 2022 to Aug. 31, 2023.
6. Authorized the transfer of $4,289,000 from current cash holdings to the Special Emergency Fund.
7. Approved the names of two recipients for honorary membership in the Association, which is reserved for members and other persons who have given meritorious service to the teaching profession, to the Association or to the advancement of education.
8. Approved the names of two recipients to receive the Public Education Award at the 2022 ARA.
9. Approved in principle and referred to the Resolutions Committee for processing seven resolutions put forward by the Indigenous Education Committee.
10. Approved in principle and referred to the Resolutions Committee for processing three resolutions put forward by the School Leaders Issues and Concerns Committee.
11. Selected Keith Hadden to fill the position of co-ordinator, Teacher Employment Services.
12. Authorized a financial contribution of $2,500 to the Education International Afghanistan Solidarity Fund, through the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, to support relocation efforts and ongoing assistance for refugee teacher unionists and their families, ongoing assistance to member organizations in Afghanistan, and the monitoring of the human, teacher and trade union rights situation.
13. Approved amendments to the initial proposal for the 2020 round of central table bargaining between the Association and the Teacher Employer Bargaining Association.
14. In accordance with section 31(2) of the Teaching Profession Act, extended the deadline for the commencement of two hearings of the Professional Conduct Committee.
15. Received the report of a hearing committee that found a teacher guilty of one charge of unprofessional conduct for sending inappropriate Instagram messages to a student. The hearing committee imposed a penalty of a letter of severe reprimand, a declaration that the teacher is ineligible for membership in the Alberta Teachers’ Association for one year, and a recommendation to the minister of education that the teacher’s teaching certificate be suspended for one year.
16. Received the report of a hearing committee that found a teacher guilty of three charges of unprofessional conduct for making a disparaging remark about a female student to a male student, for making multiple comments about female breasts and male genitalia, and for allowing students to display a school presentation to classmates that showed women in bikinis and expressed approval for the presentation through comments made afterward. The hearing committee ordered penalties of a fine of $300 and a letter of reprimand for charge one, a fine of $200 and a letter of reprimand for charge two, and a fine of $200 and a letter of reprimand for charge three.
17. Received the report of a hearing committee that found a teacher guilty of five charges of unprofessional conduct for shouting at students to manage or respond to their behaviour; for not using nonviolent crisis intervention holds and carrying students, on several separate occasions, by their wrists; for engaging in physical contact with students when neither the child nor others were in immediate danger; and for engaging in actions toward colleagues in a manner that was not consistent with professional responsibilities toward colleagues.
    The hearing committee imposed the following penalties: the teacher is prohibited from presenting at any future professional development event that is sanctioned, organized or sponsored by the Association; two letters of severe reprimand; three one-year suspensions of the teacher’s membership in the Association to be served consecutively, for a total of three years; recommendations to the minister of education to suspend the teacher’s teaching certificate for a combined period of three years; and fines totalling $14,500 for all five charges. 
18. Approved dates of key Association-sponsored meetings and Council meetings for the 2024/25 school year.
19. Appointed field members and a Council member to serve on the Political Engagement Committee and approved amendments to the Finance Committee and Table Officers Committee frames of reference. ❚