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Contract Quick Points
Agreement Between
the
L'Anse Creuse Board of Education and MEA-NEA, Local 1
Quick Points include language related to Staff Reduction, Class Size Limits, Assignments and Transfers,
Slotting Procedure Document
New for the 2009-2010 contract
Letters of Agreement or Understanding:
Restructured Day - ". . . modifications made to the current contract language to accommodate the restructured day for the 2009-2010 school year."Study Committee Agreements - "In the fall of the 2009-2010 school year, a subcommittee of the High School Interventions Committee, will be formed . . . for the purpose of determining implementation details to restructure the high school schedule." (High School, High School - North and the Pankow Center)
The following contract points will be changed as soon as copies of the new agreement have been released.
Please Note: The use of boldface type (and color) here is for visual emphasis only and may not appear as such in the contract agreement. For example, red will call attention to closely related items that may appear in different parts of the printed agreement.
(PERTAINING TO . . . CLASS SIZE LIMITS)
ARTICLE VII
Teaching ConditionsThe parties recognize that the availability of optimum school facilities for both the student and teacher is desirable to insure the high quality of education that is the goal of both teacher and the Board. It is also acknowledged that the primary duty and responsibility of the teacher is to teach, and that the organization of the school and the school day should be directed at insuring that the energy of the teacher is primarily utilized to this end.
A. Inasmuch as the pupil-teacher ratio is an important aspect of an effective educational program and is directly related to the volume of a teacher's work, it is agreed that the following limits on class size represent desired objectives. The utilization of facilities and personnel and the future planning of construction and staff recruitment shall be such as to move toward these objectives.
(Green figures reflect the addition of 17%, not rounded up)
1. Elementary (including Special service classes of art, library instruction, music, and physical education) Developmental Kindergarten
20 23 25 29 15 17 28 32 30 35 2. Secondary 28 32
30 35 24 28 35 40 30 35 24 28 24 28 40 46 24 28 40 46 30 36 3. Special Education 15 17 10 11 15 17 If at any time it is found that a specified limit is exceeded by more than seventeen percent (17%) then the involved principal, teacher, the Superintendent's representative, and an Association representative shall meet to plan means for relieving the situation. Said meeting will not take place until after the "count day" of a given semester. Effort will be made administratively to equalize class size by department and by building.
If at any time two (2) or more grade levels in the elementary schools or two (2) or more courses in the secondary schools are combined in one (1) classroom with one (1) teacher, then the teacher involved will have a twenty-two percent (22%) reduction of the class size in that room, as stated in this Agreement for the lowest grade level or class of those combined courses.
For instruction requiring specialized facilities, the available workstations shall control when that number is less than that provided above. At a time when elementary students in a middle school are scheduled for individual science classes (not part of self-contained classroom), the class size limit for those classes will correspond to the class size limit for secondary science, Article V!!, Section A.
Every effort shall be made to reduce class size upon opening of any new K - 12 school facility.
Special Education students are those students who are defined by the Michigan Department of Education, Guidelines for Special Education Programs and Services in Michigan.
Exclusive of co-teaching situations, elementary classroom teachers who have more than three (3) EI, LD, EMI, or POHI students assigned shall be compensated at the rate of one hundred dollars ($100.00) per year per student over three (3). Regular education teachers involved in a co-teaching assignment shall be compensated on a pro-rated basis as described above for those periods of time the special education teacher is not assigned.
Exclusive or co-teaching situations, elementary special services teachers, middle school teachers, and high school teachers who have more than three (3) EI, LD, EMI, or POHI students assigned per class period shall be compensated at the rate of twenty dollars ($20.00) per year per student over three (3) per class period.
If emergency rules and regulations for special education class sizes are put into effect by the State of Michigan and such rules result in a loss of funds if not complied with, such rules shall prevail over the figures stated in Article VII, A - 3 of the Master Agreement. The Board shall give notice to the Association should this occur.
The Art, Library Instruction, Music, and Physical Education teachers will not be required to teach segregated units of special education children, unless they mutually agree to co-teach these classes with the Special Education Teacher. Otherwise, these children may be integrated into the regular classroom.
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(PERTAINING TO . . .
REDUCTION IN STAFF)
ARTICLE IX
Reduction in Staff
A. In cases requiring a reduction of the teacher's work force due to a decrease in student enrollment, to allow for maximum reemployment, or because of insufficient funds, the order of reduction shall be:
1. Temporary personnel
2. Probationary teachers according to seniority and tiebreaker number and certification
3. Tenure teachers according to seniority and certification.Seniority shall mean continuous employment in the L'Anse Creuse Public Schools school district as a
bargaining unit member. Seniority shall also accrue to teachers who are on disability leave, teachers who are on layoff status, teachers on Association leave, and teachers who are on Career Option leave. Time for unpaid leave of absence, except as previously stated, shall not count toward seniority. Certified personnel who held supervisory or executive positions, and who held active employment status as of September 8, 1980, shall not be placed on the bargaining unit seniority list, nor shall they be credited with any seniority should they attempt to transfer to bargaining unit status. The starting date for seniority credit shall be the first teacher contract calendar day worked.The Board of Education shall decide the number of teachers to be laid off. The layoff will only occur through a complete year or seniority break on the teacher seniority list.
Teachers who are placed on layoff status because of a necessary reduction in personnel shall be notified sixty (60) calendar days prior to the end of the school year. At other times, teachers shall receive twenty (20) school days' notice, or in lieu of said notice, they shall receive twenty (20) days' pay.
In special layoff situations due to a discontinuation of a particular program offering, or to allow for maximum reemployment whereby certification is limited to an individual teacher only, that teacher may be laid off individually to avoid a major disruption to the overall education program.
By February 21st of each school year, the Board, after consultation with the Association, shall publish and deliver to each building representative a copy of the revised seniority list. The Board shall also deliver ten (10) copies of the revised list to the Association. Using the criteria established in this section, the list shall contain the ranking of each bargaining unit member and shall contain the number of years of seniority each member has accrued. The list shall also contain the certification(s) of each member. The list shall be binding in all cases involving seniority.
Prior to the slotting meeting, the Board will provide the Association with a list of positions for the coming year.
In the event of the implementation of this section, the Executive Board members of MEA-NEA Local 1, L'Anse Creuse shall be granted seniority in excess of any other bargaining unit member on the seniority list. MEA-NEA Local 1, L'Anse Creuse will provide the Board a list of Executive Board members each year of this Agreement. This paragraph will not apply to probationary employees.
B. Recall to vacancies shall be based on seniority in reverse order of layoffs according to the slotting procedures contained in the document entitled Slotting Procedures for L'Anse Creuse Public Schools. At the request of either party, said procedure will be reviewed and necessary changes may be made by the mutual agreement of both parties.
Recalled teachers shall be notified by mail, sent registered or certified, to the last known address as supplied by the teacher to the Board. Failure to respond to the offer of employment within ten (10) days after the receipt of said mailing shall result in the termination of employment. However, teachers may refuse offers of less than fulltime or less than a full year of employment and still retain their recall rights. A teacher may, at his/her option, request removal from the recall list, for the school year relative to part-time positions. Once a teacher has removed himself/herself from the recall list, the Board is not obligated to notify said teacher of a part-time position for that school year. Any teacher on leave is subject to the reduction in staff and recall procedures in this Article. Representatives from the Association will be present at the meeting where the notifications for reduction in staff and recall are developed. The Association shall receive written copies of said notifications within five (5) days of their development.
C. Teachers are encouraged to be cognizant of the employment and educational trends relative to their skills. It is realized that up to fifteen (15) calendar days prior to the end of the current school year, in order to allow for maximum reemployment of laid-off teachers for the upcoming school year, involuntary assignments or transfers of non-released teachers may be necessary.
The Board agrees to fill all known vacancies for the upcoming school year fifteen (15) calendar days prior to the end of the current school year. Further, the Board agrees to create no new positions within the bargaining unit, except to alleviate class size overloads, between the above mentioned date and the beginning of the second semester. After August 15, when there is no laid-off teacher who has the necessary certification for an identified vacancy, the Board may employ an outside candidate.
D. In the event of a decision by the Board of Education to close a school or schools, the following procedure shall be utilized:
1. By May 10, the teachers in the buildings to be closed will displace the least senior teachers in the school district according to seniority and certification by building and/or department in the master schedule for the following school year. The teachers from the closed buildings will select their new assignments with the most senior teacher making the first selection. This procedure must be implemented prior to the beginning of the slotting procedure. 2. If these teachers cannot displace any other teachers according to #1 above, then they are to be considered displaced and will be assigned according to the approved slotting procedure. E. In the event of a decision by the Board of Education to consolidate two schools into one school or to consolidate programs, the following procedure shall be utilized:
1. By May 10, the teachers in the buildings to be consolidated will select their assignments from the consolidated building's master schedule with the most senior teacher making the first selection. This procedure must be implemented prior to the beginning of the slotting procedure. 2. If these teachers cannot make a selection according to #1 above, then they are to be considered displaced and will be assigned according to the approved slotting procedure. 3. By March 1 the teachers in the programs to be consolidated will select their assignments from the consolidated program schedule with the most senior teacher, including tie breaker number, making the first selection. This procedure must be implemented prior to the development of the building schedules. 4. If these teachers cannot make a selection according to #3 above then they are to considered part of their assigned (current) building staff and will be placed on that master schedule according to their certification.
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(PERTAINING TO . . . VOLUNTARY TRANSFERS)
ARTICLE X
Assignments and Transfers
B. A voluntary transfer shall be defined as an assignment to a different grade. department, building, or position as a result of a teacher initiated request. Such request shall be made in writing at least thirty (30) days prior to the end of a semester. One (1) copy shall be filed with the Assistant Superintendent for Personnel and Employee Relations and one (1) copy shall be filed with the Association. The application shall set forth the reasons for the transfer, the grade, department, building, or position sought. Such request will be valid until the completion of the next subsequent slotting meeting. A response indicating whether the request for transfer has been approved or denied will be returned to the teacher as soon as possible. If a request for transfer has been denied, the response will indicate the reason(s) for denial. Non-tenured teachers shall remain in the building for which they were hired for the first 3 years (two years if they were previously tenured in Michigan) unless they are displaced from their current position. Special Education ancillary staff and Elementary non-tenured Specials teachers shall remain in their department for the first 3 years unless they are displaced from their current position. Exceptions may occur by mutual agreement of the Association and the Board.
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