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The Minnesota School Employees Association (MSEA) is an independent labor union representing classified (non-teacher) employees of public school districts within the state of Minnesota. MSEA was founded in 1980 following a split of the Minnesota Association of Auxiliary Personnel (MAAP) from the Minnesota Education Association (MEA, now Education Minnesota) to focus on providing representation and collective bargaining for all classified school employees. MSEA is a "full-service" union, where the central office staff and field representatives are highly involved in providing direct assistance to local bargaining units, which is contrary to many other public employee unions where local bargaining units are expected to be self-sufficient.

History
Following the split from MEA in 1980, MSEA experienced a period of growth which included becoming affiliated with Service Employees International Union (SEIU). This arrangement lasted until 1995, when the membership through the Delegate Assembly voted to leave SEIU and become an independent union.

In the 2000's, the union began to encounter challenges from union raiding (a process where another union gains bargaining rights of a local unit) attempts on local bargaining units.

In 2018, was directly impacted by the Janus decision which forced MSEA to continue to providing representation for former "fair-share" employees, who now receive those services without paying for them.

Eligible Employees
MSEA represents a variety of public school employees across the state, all consisting of job classifications that do not require any mandatory licensure (such as teachers, social workers, school psychologists, or licensed nurses). Each bargaining unit may include only portions of the general job classifications on this list, which includes but not limited to:


 * Special Education Paraeducators
 * Media Paraeducators
 * General Education Paraeducators
 * Information Technology Paraeducators
 * Secretaries
 * Due Process or Special Education Departmental Secretaries
 * Bus Drivers and School Transportation Workers
 * Janitorial and Custodians
 * Food Service and Cooks
 * Printing or Mailroom Staff
 * Other non-certified positions

Structure
MSEA is a 'bottom-up' democratically led organization, with the highest decision making body being the annual Delegate Assembly consisting of delegates from the member districts. Units are further organized around the state in one of eight regions, each represented by a Director which sits on the Board of Directors. Some Directors are elected directly to board officer positions in addition to serving as regional director. MSEA also maintains a central office with paid staff, including an Executive Director and Field Representatives.

Paid Staff - Office

 * Deanne Glynn, Executive Director
 * Dale Tennison, Financial Data Entry Specialist (Membership Dues)
 * Rebekah Gaiovnik, Communications Coordinator
 * Elizabeth Pretzel, Administrative Assistant
 * Deb Wright, Financial Manager - Consultant

Field Representatives

 * Greg Gardner
 * Angie Lien
 * Evan Mapes
 * Mark Junod
 * Tamara Jones
 * Terri Knutson

Board of Directors

 * Amy Woodford, President - Paraeducator, Cass Lake School District
 * Laurie Larsen, Vice President / Region 6 Director, Paraeducator, Little Falls School District
 * Sue Fresonke, Treasurer / Region 4 Director - Paraeducator, Perham School District
 * Mary Bruggeman, Region 1 Director - Bus Driver, Thief River Falls Public Schools
 * Lori Sizenbach, Region 2 Director - Paraeducator, Northland Community Schools
 * Linda Jones, Region 3 Director - Paraeducator, Moorhead School District
 * Wendy Derhaag, Region 7 Director - Paraeducator, Shakopee Public Schools
 * Carissa Jones, Region 8 Director - Food Service, Austin Public Schools
 * Bradly McGarr, Not Yet Assigned - Information Technology Paraeducator, Shakopee Public Schools

Region 1 - Northern Minnesota

 * Grygla
 * Kittson Central
 * Lake of the Woods
 * Red Lake/Ponemah
 * So Koochiching
 * Thief River Falls
 * Warroad

Region 2 - North Central Minnesota

 * Bagley
 * Bemidji
 * Cass Lake/Bena
 * Clearbrook/Gonvick
 * Crookston
 * East Grand Forks
 * Northland Community Schools

Region 3 - Moorhead & Vicinity

 * Barnesville
 * Breckenridge
 * Detroit Lakes
 * Dilworth/Glyndon/Felton
 * Fergus Falls
 * Frazee/Vergas
 * Moorhead
 * Perham/Dent

Region 4 - St. Cloud & Vicinity

 * Alexandria
 * Browns Valley
 * Little Falls
 * Mid-State
 * Sartell
 * Sauk Centre
 * St. Cloud
 * Wheaton

Region 5 - West Central Minnesota

 * ACGC Public Schools
 * BOLD Public Schools
 * HLWW Public Schools
 * Lester Prairie
 * MAWSECO Special Education Cooperative
 * Willmar
 * Yellow Medicine East

Region 6 - Metropolitan Twin Cities

 * Anoka
 * Centennial
 * Central Public Schools
 * Eastern Carver County
 * Eden Prairie
 * Edina
 * Minnetonka
 * Prior Lake/Savage
 * Shakopee
 * St. Paul
 * Southwest Metro Intermediate School District

Region 7 - Southwestern Minnesota

 * Fulda
 * Mankato
 * Mountain Lake
 * Murray Co. Central
 * Sleepy Eye
 * St. Clair
 * Windom
 * Worthington

Region 8 - Southeastern Minnesota

 * Austin
 * Kingsland
 * LaCrescent
 * LeRoy/Ostrander
 * Lyle
 * Rushford/Peterson

Legislative Involvement
MSEA was involved in lobbying the United States Congress to pass the Recognizing Achievement in Classified School Employees Act of 2019, which directs the United States Secretary of Education to create a Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award to highlight excellence exhibited by a classified public school employee serving the Pre-Kindergarten through High School levels. The legislation seeks to highlight the contributions to the education environment and successes of students provided by often overlooked but vital non-teacher staff. The bill, HR 276, was signed into law while the Delegate Assembly was in session in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.