|
Article 8 - Professional Standards
Professional Standards Committee. Each school will have a Professional Standards Committee (PSC) consisting of a minimum of three (3) teachers, elected by a majority of the faculty voting by secret ballot of the faculty, and also consisting of an Association Representative and the principal unless otherwise agreed to by the Association Representative and principal. The PSC will be responsible for making decisions as noted in Article 8. Decisions in specified areas, except for lunch periods and secondary teaching loads, will be made by reaching mutual agreement. If mutual agreement cannot be reached, then interventions will be provided by the Association and the District. If mutual agreement still cannot be reached, then the principal will make the decision.
Decisions may be made by the PSC to alter the length of the lunch period (Article 8-2) or Secondary Teaching Load (Article 8-5-1) only after applying the decision-making standards which will be supplied for this purpose, conducting a confidential vote of the majority of the faculty, and reflecting this process on a form which will be supplied for this purpose. Changes will not be made to the length of the lunch period or secondary teaching load without a positive majority confidential vote of the faculty. Information about such changes will be sent to the Instructional Issues Council for tracking purposes.
8-1 Contract year. The contract year shall be one hundred eighty-one (181) days. If a teacher is required to extend his/her contract year and is continuing to do the work he/she performed during the contract year, he or she shall be paid at their regular scheduled rate per day. Regular scheduled rate per day is the teacher’s salary divided by the number of days in the contract year.
8-1-1 In addition to the one hundred eighty-one (181) days, newly hired teachers may be required to attend pre-session orientation meetings and shall be paid in accordance with Article 32. New teachers will be paid for orientation meetings on the next practical payday. Teachers hired after the orientation process will be afforded comparable training opportunities to that offered during orientation.
8-1-2 The length of the contract year for teachers shall be one hundred eighty-one (181) days, which shall include four (4) planning days, two (2) professional days, one (1) assessment day and one (1) parent/teacher conference day.
8-1-2-1 During each of the planning days, a minimum of four (4) hours shall be reserved for self-directed instructional planning, allowing the remainder for any activities initiated by school administration.
8-1-2-2 During each of the professional days, a maximum of six (6) hours shall be reserved for in-service at the District, area or site level.
8-1-2-3 The assessment day will be used for individual and/or small group assessments or other assessment-related activities.
8-1-2-4 Schools may modify the daily schedule on the parent/teacher conference days to meet the needs of the Community.
8-1-3 There is an expectation that teachers will attend beyond the contract year for professional development determined by the principal if:
- the program needs to be scheduled outside the contract year,
- no programs will be scheduled for the last two weeks of June and the first two weeks of July,
- written notice is given ninety (90) days prior to the end of the school year,
- the educational reason is sound,
- teachers attending are paid in accordance with Article 32,
- adequate alternate opportunities to learn the content are provided.
8-1-3-1 Teachers who cannot attend will need to discuss reasons with their administrator.
8-1-3-2 Schools may seek a waiver from this Agreement, as in Article 2‑4‑1, if the training cannot be scheduled during the week prior to or after the school year. In such cases attendance would be voluntary. Under no circumstances, will a waiver be granted if training is also being held before or after the school year, as in Article 8-1-3.
8-1-4 Evening Meetings. Each teacher may be required to attend three (3) evening events approved by the PSC per school year, as part of the contracted time.
8-1-5 Special Conditions of Employment. Any special conditions regarding the assignment of any teacher will be reduced to writing and become an addendum to the individual's initial employment contract with the District.
8-2 Forty (40) Hour Work Week. The work week shall be forty (40) hours and shall include:
- Lunch Periods. There shall be a minimum standard forty-five (45) minute daily lunch unless altered by the PSC process. Lunch shall be duty free.
- Operations time up to thirty (30) minutes per week to include but not be limited to faculty meetings or school-related committee meetings.
- Professional time up to ninety (90) minutes per week to include but not be limited to grade-level meetings, vertical teaming, department meetings, planning with a literacy coach, staff development or data analysis.
8-2-1 The principal shall have authority to permit teachers to diverge from the regular school day.
8-2-2 The District’s scheduled student school contact day will not be extended without applying the due process of collective bargaining.
8-3 Planning Time. Each teacher shall receive a minimum of forty (40) minutes of uninterrupted, self-directed instructional planning time scheduled during the student school contact day. If that is not possible, some of the uninterrupted block of forty (40) minutes may be scheduled outside the student school contact day.
8-3-1 Area Superintendents may grant exceptions to the above only in those cases where the Collaborative School Committee has chosen to utilize any supplemental allocations in regular classes instead of specials classes in order to reduce the class sizes of teachers in their buildings. In such cases, the school must schedule forty (40) minutes of self-directed instructional planning time for teachers in the largest practical blocks of uninterrupted time. A minimum of twenty (20) minutes daily and two hundred (200) minutes weekly will be guaranteed.
8-3-2 The Instructional Issues Council will evaluate and monitor the granting of exceptions to Article 8-3 and implementation of Article 8.
8-4 Multi-School Assignments. When teachers are assigned to more than one (1) school site, the principals at the schools involved shall collaborate on the scheduling of the workdays for those personnel. These teachers shall be required to assume non-teaching duties only in their home school assignment. Every effort will be made to limit the amount of inter-school travel. Such teachers shall be notified of any change in their schedules as soon as practicable.
8-5 Teaching Loads. The range of teaching loads, number of preparations and number of pupil contacts required should provide for effective instruction and meaningful teacher-student interaction.
8-5-1 Secondary Teaching Load. Unless altered by the PSC process, the normal teaching load for secondary school teachers shall be five (5) teaching periods per day, or the equivalent thereof if block scheduling is used. A teacher may request to teach a sixth period.
8-5-1-1 The maximum class size in grades six (6) through twelve (12) shall not exceed thirty-five (35) students. In no case shall a teacher have a total greater than 175 students per day unless an exception is provided for in Article 8-5-1-2.
8-5-1-2 For music and physical education classes, a PSC Committee may annually set a higher daily class size limit for a single school year or semester after engaging in direct consultation with the affected teacher(s) and department chairperson(s). The criteria to be considered in deciding whether to increase the maximum class size limit must include safety of students and staff, adequacy of the facility and equipment, and the impact on the educational program in those classes. The PSC Committee will specify which courses and sections will have the higher class size limits and the actual maximum number in each. All raised limits will expire at the end of each semester or school year as specified by the PSC Committee. All decisions to increase maximum class size must be made no later than the time that schedules are set for the school each semester.
8-5-2 Elementary Teaching Load. The Board shall maintain its effort to retain the class size reduction which has been achieved in grades 1 and 2. The level of staffing to maintain such class size is dependent on availability of funding. When it is necessary to have class size exceed twenty-five (25) in primary elementary grades (K-3), the Board shall honor teachers' requests for qualified paraprofessional assistance according to the following schedule, and in grades four (4) and five (5). When class size exceeds twenty-seven (27), the following schedule will apply:
8-5-2-1 One (1) hour of paraprofessional assistance per day for one (1) to two (2) students over twenty-five (25).
8-5-2-2 Two (2) hours of paraprofessional assistance per day for three (3) to five (5) students over twenty-five (25).
8-5-2-3 Three (3) hours of paraprofessional assistance per day for six (6) to seven (7) students over twenty-five (25).
8-5-2-4 For grades K-5, in no event shall classes exceed thirty-five (35) students, unless the only solution is transferring students to other schools.
8-5-3 Specialized Service Providers. The District and the Association recognize the valuable contribution that specialized service providers bring to our schools and to improving student achievement. Therefore, the Board and the Association are committed to providing schools with both multidisciplinary teams and staffing ratios that lead the Denver metropolitan area. To meet this commitment, the parties agree that beginning with the 2003-2004 budget process, any increases in the “at-risk” funding component of the School Finance Act that are not earmarked by the State will be used to improve specialized services staffing ratios.
8-6 Department chairpersons in high schools shall be elected by the Department, subject to approval by the principal. Unless determined otherwise by the Collaborative School Committee (CSC), the term for department chairpersons shall be three (3) years. Department chairpersons shall not succeed themselves unless approved by the CSC.
8-6-1 Department chairpersons shall be provided time to fulfill the duties of that assignment as determined by the principal after consultation with the CSC.
8-7 Non-Teaching Duties. The District agrees to make every effort to reduce non-teaching duties that do not best use a teacher's presence and skills, through the use of teacher aides and part-time clerical assistants.
8-7-1 Assignment of teachers to non-teaching duties not done by aides will be rotated so that no teachers will have the same assignment for more than four (4) consecutive semesters, unless the teacher agrees to such assignment. Reassignment to such non-teaching duty can only be after an interim of at least two (2) consecutive semesters.
8-7-2 Special educators’ and specialized service providers’ non-teaching duty time will be used solely for implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates.
8-8 Lesson Plans. Teachers will maintain effective lesson plans related to the approved curriculum for use by the teacher in regular instruction and review by the administration, as well as specific, detailed lesson plans for use by substitute teachers.
8-8-1 Teachers and administrators will discuss and agree upon the format of lesson plans.
8-8-2 The administrator can ask for lesson plans to be turned in for the purpose of improving instruction and will provide constructive feedback to the teacher submitting the plans.
8-8-3 If the administrator has questions of the teacher regarding the lesson plan, then the administrator and the teacher will discuss the lesson plan and identify any next steps as necessary. A teacher will only be responsible for lesson plans for the first five (5) days of any absence.
8-9 Classroom Interruptions. The District agrees that classroom interruptions diminish the time for instruction. The administrative staff and teachers shall make every effort to avoid unnecessary interruptions during instructional periods.
8-10 Class Coverage. It is an administrative responsibility to cover all scheduled classes.
8-10-1 During the first month of each school year, the principal, in consultation with the department chairs at the secondary level or grade level chairs at the elementary level, shall develop a written contingency plan for class coverage occasioned by a shortfall of substitute teachers. Individuals must possess the appropriate teaching credentials to be considered for class coverage. Such plan shall include the procedure for enabling teachers to invoke Article 32-6.
8-11 Emergency School Closings.
8-11-1 When weather conditions constitute a danger sufficient to require the closing of schools, the following procedure shall be followed:
- If the conditions exist prior to the normal school opening time, teachers shall be notified, as early as possible, by public media or direct contact and shall not be required to report to work.
- If the conditions require closing during the school day, teachers shall be dismissed as soon as possible after students are dismissed.
8-11-2 When weather conditions are such that schools will be open, but some professional staff or students are not able to attend because of the severity of conditions in their locale, the following procedure shall be followed:
- As soon as possible, teachers affected shall notify the principal of their inability to attend school that day.
- Professional staff who cannot attend school because of weather conditions or other emergencies will have deducted from their personal leave, if available, or sick leave if personal leave is not available, the day or days they were unable to attend their assignment. All teacher absences under this Article are subject to review by the school building level administrator.
8-12 Teacher-in-Charge. If a teacher is placed in charge of a building during the absence of the principal, and when the principal's absence will be one-half day or longer, the teacher will be relieved from either the office or classroom assignment.
8-13 Transportation of Students. Teachers shall not be required to transport pupils to activities, which take place away from the school building.
Return to Agreement Table of Contents
|
