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LCEA president Kathy Smith highlights PERC election, announces retirement
Summary
Kathy Smith of the Lake County Education Association told the school board the union faces a Public Employees Relations Commission election required by recent state law changes and announced she will retire.
Kathy Smith, president of the Lake County Education Association, told the Lake County School Board on April 28 that next week is teacher appreciation week and that the union is conducting a Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC) election required by new state law changes.
"We have to now have an election to prove that we can continue to be the bargaining unit with Lake County Schools due to some new laws from Tallahassee," Kathy Smith said. She described logistics for instructional staff ballots: they should have received ballots at their worksites or by mail, must affix postage, and the ballots will be tallied in Tallahassee.
Smith said the union is marking its 50th year of bargaining with the district and urged members to participate in the election. She also announced her retirement and invited the board and community to a May 7 celebration and annual meeting.
Board members offered public congratulations. Miss Cunningham recalled Smith’s classroom and district service and thanked her for union leadership; Mr. Mathias and Mr. Dodd also praised Smith’s work and wished her well in retirement.
Smith’s remarks came during the public input portion of the meeting; no board action related to the PERC election was taken during the session.
Details on the specific state law changes triggering the election were not provided in the meeting remarks.
