Orange County Schools HR Newsletter June 2017 Issue2 Vol3

June 2017 Issue 2 Volume 3 Orange County Schools Celebrates Mr. Chris Walker, the 2017-18 Teacher of the YearHillsborough Elementary School Teacher Mr. Chris Walker has earned the distinction of the 2017-18 Teacher of theYear for Orange County Schools. Mr. Walker is the Physical Education Teacher at Hillsborough Elementary and he isthe lead Physical Education teacher for the school system. Also, Mr. Walker serves as the Men's Varsity SoccerCoach for Cedar Ridge High School and as the North Carolina Physical Education Association President.On receiving the honor being the district teacher of the year, Mr. Walker reflected about the other nominees. “Thecandidates from all the other buildings were solid and I am just honored to be among such great leaders in thewhole district,” offered Coach Walker. “My goal is to make OCS the premier school district in the state, whereeveryone wants to teach and where everyone wants to send their children and family members,” continued CoachWalker.Mr. Walker’s motivation as an educator focuses on the whole child, not just expectations set forth on a document. “Ibecame a teacher for the joy of seeing children grow,” said Coach Walker. “It is awesome to me when a student hassucceeded in an activity or task that they felt was unachievable,” added Coach Walker.Chris Walker has twenty years of teaching experience, and doesn’t consider his profession “work” in the classicalsense. “I don’t experience the drudgery and frustration that others express when talking about their jobs,” saidCoach Walker. “Students tell me they can’t wait to come back to PE class, but what they don’t know is that I am theone who can’t wait for them to return,” said Coach Walker.Inside this Issue2017-2018 TOY --------- 1Teacher Free Speech ........ 1Child Involvement Leave … 2Payroll News ………....…. 22018 Benefit Changes……. 3Retirees …….… 4Dependent Eligibility -------- 4Future Teachers ………… 5 Board Passes Resolution on Teacher Free Speech Rights The OCS Board of Education has passed a resolution reaffirming itsEvaluations ……………….. 5 commitment to and support of the free speech rights of teachers.Summer Hours --------------- 5 Open or download the resolution to read more.Employee Excellence ........ 6 Resolution on Teacher Free Speech Rights

Board of Education Supports Staff with Child Involvement LeaveThe Orange County Schools Board of Education reaffirmed its support of staff and their families by clarifying its BoardPolicy on Child-School Involvement Leave (policy 7510, Leave of Absence). Prior to the clarification, parents andguardians could only take unpaid leave under the provision of child-school involvement leave.The current policy now makes clear that parents, guardians, or persons standing in loco parentis may take up to 4 hoursof paid leave per year to attend a school event or otherwise be involved at the school where their child attends. Staffthat have children in the school system have the flexibility to attend and participate with his/her child at school events.“This is just another step that the Board has taken to support our staff,” said Teresa Cunningham-Brown, Chief HumanResources Officer for Orange County Schools. “Our staff is entrusted with nurturing and growing the students of oursystem and their children are clearly included in that group,” added Ms. Cunningham-Brown. Payroll News  Beginning July 1, 2017 the following employees will be paid Semi-Monthly. This is the final phase of semi- monthly implementation. Teacher Assistants 10 Month Classified Staff Child Nutrition Staff Bus Drivers Afterschool Employees 12 Month Custodians 12 Month Office Staff 12 Month Support Staff Summer Camp Employees Summer Contracts  We will no longer require all returning 10 Month salaried staff to complete an installment Pay Declaration Form unless they are changing their installment pay election for the coming school year. The deadline to return any installment pay election changes for 2017/2018 will be June 15, 2017. This is a change in procedure from previous years as we hope to reduce paperwork necessary when the school year begins.  Reminder - Any change in your address, phone number or tax withholding information should be submitted through Timekeeper.  Be sure to report any direct deposit account changes to ensure that your paycheck is deposited to the correct bank account. Direct Deposit Agreement forms are available through the Staff Intranet link via the OCS home page. Forms should be sent to the Payroll Department immediately when a change occurs.  Please note that pay dates for all monthly paid staff will now be at the end of each month, with the exception of June. There will be no early pay dates in March, November or December. This change was made so that the pay dates for monthly and semi-monthly paid staff would be the same between the payroll calendars.

3Important Information Regarding 2018 Benefit Changes and Program UpdatesAs a reminder, the State Health Plan’s Board of Trustees, under the leadership of State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA,has approved changes to the State Health Plan. The benefit changes are effective for the benefit plan year beginningJanuary 1, 2018. The benefit changes are designed to provide Plan members with stability and predictability in theirbenefits and begin the task of lowering the state’s $42 billion in unfunded liabilities for retiree health benefits.The Board of Trustees approved the following benefit changes effective January 1, 2018:Freezing family health care premiums  This is an initial step to improving the affordability of Plan benefits for families. Unlike many other states, North Carolina does not subsidize dependent care coverage, resulting in 80 percent of Plan members choosing individual coverage.Eliminating the Consumer-Directed Health Plan (CDHP 85/15)  This will reduce complexity and provide long-term financial stability. This plan is known as the “richest” and, as such, presents a significant liability to the state. Please note: Because the CDHP is being eliminated, the Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRA) will not rollover for use in 2018. The HRA funds will only be available for claims incurred in 2017 and submitted for processing before March 31, 2018.Setting employee-only base premiums for the Traditional 70/30 Plan at $25 per month, and for the Enhanced 80/20Plan at $50 per month  This puts North Carolina more in line with other, comparable states and creates a more balanced approach for spreading cost increases across the population and promoting long-term financial stability. Non-Medicare retirees will not be required to complete the tobacco attestation or pay a premium for the Traditional 70/30 plan.Proposed 2018 Wellness Premiums & Credits  Reduce complexity and improve the member experience by simplifying the wellness premiums and credits  Reduce the number of wellness premiums and credits from 3 to 1  Retain tobacco attestation only  Increase the monthly tobacco wellness premium and corresponding credit from $40 to $60  Apply tobacco attestation to all plan options for Active Employees  Retirees will not be required to complete the tobacco attestation or pay a premium for the 70/30 plan  NOTE: Members on the 80/20 plan will continue to receive a copay reduction for using their selected primary care physicianProposed 2018 Subscriber Premiums  The simplified wellness premium and credit structure for the tobacco attestation would be combined with the following monthly subscriber premiums for active employees and non-Medicare retirees.  Subscribers can reduce their total premium by completing the tobacco attestation to earn a $60 premium credit. Active Employees & Non-Medicare Retirees 70/30 Plan 80/20 PlanTotal Monthly Subscriber Premium $85 $110Tobacco Premium Credit ($60) ($60)New Subscriber Premium After Credits $25 $50Proposed 2018 Dependent Premiums  Premiums for Employee and Children and Employee and Spouse coverage will be released later.

34 2016-2017 Retirees Kelly Bigelow Margaret Dow Kim Kelleher Jane Wickwire Donna Brinkley Margaret Dreibelbis Rebecca Kirkendall James Wilkinson Berthinia Brown Darrell Brown Nancy Edmisten Melisa Knight Sherby WoodMartha Ann Brown Amy Poindexter Kim McColman Elaine Wright Jaris Burklin Patricia Gibson Patrick Moser Kay Maness Catherine Gillispie Janet Cain Lynne Gronback Iris Pennix Julia Champion Linda Poythress Debra Collins Carl Hall Earnest Price Anthony Conner N. Joyce Hatch Robert Shriner Jr Mildred Davis Linda Hill-Wise Dickie Dease II Patricia Horne Dana Smith Mary Deegan Toni James Manus Virginia Talley Susanne Joubert Tina Walker Sharon WhitmoreDEPENDENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION AUDITThe State Health Plan recently announced strategic priorities and benefit changes designed to provide Planmembers with stability in their health plan benefits. As an important step towards reducing costs andelimination waste, the Plan is conducting an audit to verify eligibility of dependents covered by the Plan.All employees with dependents who are enrolled in the State Health Plan should have received a letter at theend of May with a request to provide documentation of their dependents which will need to be providedby July 31, 2017. FAILURE TO RESPOND AND PRODUCE THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION WILL RESULT INTERMINATION OF DEPENDENTS' COVERAGE UNDER THE PLAN EFFECTIVE AUGUST 1, 2017.If you do not have access to eEnroll, you can email the required documentsto: [email protected] or fax it to 866-742-6444. EMPLOYEES ARE REQUIRED TOINCLUDE FULL NAME, DEPENDENT'S FULL NAME, STATE HEALTH PLAN ID NUMBER AND THE NAME OF THEIREMPLOYING UNIT ON BOTH THE EMAIL AND FAX IN ORDER FOR THE DOCUMENT TO BE ACCEPED. Mailed,hard copy documents will not be accepted.HR will continue to send out weekly reminders to all employees until the due date.

OCS Future Teachers4The Future Teachers Program is a recruitment initiative aimed at developing OCS’ internal student talent. Future Teachers participants will be OCS high school graduates wOhoCiSnteCndatroepuBrseuae rcsareers in education and who plan to commit to teaching with OCS upon completion of their teacher preparation programs. Eligibility: 1. Must be a OCS high school senior 2. Gain admittance to a college or university for the Fall 2017 semester 3. Intend to pursue a career in K-12 teaching with OCS Future Teachers participants will receive: • Annual summer professional development stipends, beginning the Summer following the freshman year of college • An OCS job offer for a teaching position for which they are licensed and highly qualified • The opportunity to develop a professional network with OCS staff and peers The following Students were recognized as Future Teachers: ORANGE HIGH: Sara Dobbs; Korie Dean; Anna Snyder; Audrey Day; Clareasa Snider; Cheyenne Gross; Marissa Mass; Jordan Lloyd; Alyson Bishop; Hunter Hall; and Madison Tilley. CEDAR RIDGE HIGH: Ortencia Garcia and Elyse Smith You are beary special to OCS The Orange County School’s Human Resource Department would like to introduce you to our beary special new member, The OCS Care Bear! The job of the OCS Care Bear is to bring sunshine to our staff that is out of work for FMLA, disability or workers’ compensation. As a district we want you to know that you are missed, that we are here thinking of you and wishing you well. This is our way of letting you know that you are a valued member of the OCS Team and we hope to see you back beary, beary soon! Keep an eye out for your beary special delivery. End-of-Year EvaluationsThe end of year is almost here. At this time all summative evaluations for certified staff should be completed or very near tocompletion. Our final deadlines for the 2016-2017school year are as follows:June 13, 2017 End of year PDP completed (All other certified staff)June 16, 2017 Summary evaluation completed (All other certified staff) All Classified employee evaluations due to HRAs a reminder, any late hires (anyone that will not work a complete 120 days by the end of the school year) will follow theAbbreviated Plan. Anyone that was hired after March 1st should just have a paper copy of an informal observation done by June13th. All classified evaluations and paper copies should be submitted to HR by June 16th. Thank you for all you do, not only forour students, but for our teachers as well!

6 HUMAN RESOURCES Summer Hours DEPARTMENT CONTACTS Lorem ipsu20m17OSpduemnomtoleotrhOrefPfsiucebiltHicoaurms iracundia reFamily CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER June 19th – August 11th District Office (King St.) Teresa Cunningham-Brown •Monday-Friday 8 am – 5 [email protected] School Offices •Monday-Thursday 8 am – 4:30 pmHR EMPLOYMENT COORDINATOR Heather Witherspoon 2017 Summer Hours •District office and Operations will work Monday-Friday. [email protected] • School buildings will operate Monday-Thursday, closed on Friday. •Expectation for staff to work scheduled 40 hours unless hours areHUMAN RESOURCES SPECIALIST supplemented by appropriate leave regardless of hours buildings are Phyllis Tillman open to the public. •All buildings and locations will be closed on [email protected] •Start Date: Monday, June 19th End Date: Friday, Aug. 11th HUMAN RESOURCES Why does OCS operate on Summer Hours? SPECIALIST/SUBSTITUTE •The district utilizes a modified summer schedule in order to allow TEACHER COODINATOR buildings to be closed for construction, maintenance and summer work to be completed. Phyllis Vincent •Many locations have reduced staff due to employees taking appropriate earned state leave so reducing the hours buildings [email protected] open to the public assists with the number of staff needed to safely keep buildings open to the public. HUMAN RESOURCES BENEFITS •The district also utilizes temperature controls to reduce costs over the SPECIALIST summer months so buildings being operated one less day allows the Meg Merritt mechanical systems to be setback. [email protected] OCS Employee Excellence Award Recipients - May 2017 HUMAN RESOURCES ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT  Paul Hornbuckle, Custodian at Grady A. Brown Elementary School Arlie Kuzman  Cheryl Mitchell, EC Teacher at New Hope Elementary School [email protected]  Rosimar Ubarri Gonzalez, Pre-K Assistant at Pathways Elementary School Orange County Schools programs are  Callie McBroom, Social Worker at C W Stanford Middle School staffed and offered without regard to race, gender, sex, age, color, religion,  Connie Crimmins, Director of Exceptional Children national origin, citizenship status, ethnicity, political affiliation, or disability.