SAS Staff News, October 27

School Student Special Transport Scheme for Students with Disabilities

Please circulate this Newsletter to ALL PSA members including GAs and Teachers Aides Concerns were raised with the PSA by a number of our members regarding applications for the above scheme.

In a number of schools the administrative staff were being asked to undertake this process online and submit any changes to the Special Transport Unit by Friday 27 October 2006.

In most schools the checking of the application details for this scheme has never been a SAS Staff responsibility. In many schools the Head Teacher Special Education (or similar) has always undertaken this task.

The PSA has today met with the Department of Education and Training (DET) to take up the concerns of our members about having another new responsibility shifted from other staff to SAS Staff.

PSA Members who have never done this work in the past are advised to not do the work again this year. The staff who undertook the check of application details last year can do it again this year.

The DET has agreed to meet with the PSA and resolve these issues before the applications are due to be checked next year. When these discussions take place we will raise the IT problems (including access via the DET Portal), timing of the due date for the checking of applications and seek to reach agreement on whose responsibility it is to undertake this task.

In the past this was not done electronically and it was not considered by the PSA or many of our members to be the responsibility of SAS Staff.

If you choose to undertake this task our members have advised that it is time consuming to switch between STMS Web and OASIS for each student. It may be better if you do the following:

• After logging on follow the steps to Student List
• Each student will have to be printed then check off with OASIS or school records for relevant information
• Make changes on these sheets
• Fax to Special Transport Unit if needed. Remember you do not need to undertake this task this year if you have never done so in the past.

Sue Walsh, President
Kris Cruden, Senior Industrial Officer