The Highland County Retired Teachers Association held their general meeting, attended by 32 members and guests, on November 4, 2019. Following social time, President Robert Hottle called the meeting to order at noon. The meeting began by recognizing members with October, November, and December birthdays, followed by Vice President Jim Faust leading the membership in singing “Happy Birthday” and “God Bless America”, and the recitation of the “Pledge of Allegiance”, led by President Hottle. After Vice-President Faust introduced guest speaker Tamla Cole, a blessing was offered by President Hottle and members enjoyed a Ponderosa buffet meal with ham, turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, tossed salad, rolls, butter, drinks, and assorted desserts. At the conclusion of the meal, STRS Representative Tamla Cole presented an informative program concerning topics of great interest to the group. First, she shared and explained the Actuarial Update as of June 30, 2019. The COLA status was discussed in depth. We learned that COLAs have been used since the 1950’s and only recently discontinued. The reason given was that our funded ratio currently sets at 76.1%. .She also shared the possibility that our Medicare Part B reimbursement may become ongoing. This is very likely as that funded ratio is currently at 175%. It was noted the $29.90 monthly reimbursement is the lowest amount that can be offered per government regulation. On the lighter side, Ms. Cole shared some current membership statistics. We have 198 retirees age 100 and older. Of that number, 170 are female. Our oldest retiree is 107 years young! Also, 173 of the active teachers in our system have 40 or more years of experience. The average age of STRS retirees is 74. In conclusion, STRS has 500,000 active and retired teachers and is worth $79.9 billion. sAt the conclusion of the program President Robert Hottle brought the business meeting to order. Minutes of the August 5 General Meeting, available with the newsletter and the web site, were approved as was Treasurer’s Report, submitted by Doris Pulse.
Scholarship Chairman Mary Black announced that she will report the first semester GPA’s of our scholarship recipients at the February 2020 Meeting. The Necrology report by Cindy Eigel memorialized the passing of Ruth Ann Mathews of Greenfield, Marguerite Murphy of Hillsboro, Ted Downing of Hillsboro, Donna Crampton of Hillsboro, and Cooper Snyder of Wilmington. During the Legislative Report a state law concerning emotional learning in schools was reported by Charles Newland. Also, it was noted that two Cincinnati educators are suing STRS concerning the legality of suspending the COLAs. No reports were submitted from Membership or Pre- Retirement It was announced that our November Community Service Project, "Sweats for Vets", resulted in $318 being collected. The bulk of this money will be used to buy sweats for the Highland County residents at the Georgetown Veteran's Home. Our February service project will entail collecting money for Highland County residents of the VA Hospital in Chillicothe. The May service project will be collecting donations and household items (soaps, assorted papers, house cleaning supplies, etc.) for our local SOS. The membership is also asked to bring in empty prescription bottle as an ongoing project. Current officers were unanimously re-elected for 2020. The program planned for February 2020 addressing school safety will be presented by Mr. Croy and Mr. Fawley. Prior to adjournment, the location of the next HCRTA General Meeting was discussed. Options discussed included Giovanni’s and Ponderosa. Members were reminded that If our goal of 40 attendees is not met and we choose Ponderosa, we must agree to pay an extra $3 for the meal, making the cost a total of $15. The membership was reminded that as of this month we are still not reaching the break-even mark of forty (40) attendees. Members were encouraged reach out to former colleagues with personal invitations. The final decision as to location will be made at the January 6 ,2020 Executive Meeting. Any interested member is welcome to attend. Meetings are at 9:30 AM at Belle Gardens on Harry Sauner Road. Members were invited to the Highland House to view "Silver Bells" trees and the Highland County school desegregation videos following adjournment. |
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