SECTION 1. STATUS OF SCHOOL CALENDAR. The teachers’ basic contract year, recesses, and holidays shall be as indicated on the school calendar. Pursuant to Minnesota Statute 179A.07, the District and the Union shall meet and confer annually about the school calendar. In addition the District and the Union shall meet and confer regarding the calendar for the Birth to Three program.
The District will make a reasonable effort to communicate the calendar for the Birth to Three program to staff no later than April 1 of each year for the following year’s calendar. The District and the Union will make reasonable efforts to include teacher and administrator representatives from the Birth to Three program in these discussions. Teachers shall be on duty on those legal holidays on which the Board is authorized to conduct school per M.S. §120A.42 and as indicated on the school calendar.
ARTICLE 13. TEACHERS’ BASIC CONTRACT YEAR AND TEACHERS’ DAY (continued) SECTION 1. STATUS OF SCHOOL CALENDAR (continued)
Subd. 1. Each opening week at each site, teachers will be provided a schedule of directed meetings and activities for the school year in order to accommodate individual and building-level professional planning. In the case of exigent circumstances, the annual school calendar may be changed to accommodate program/District needs with appropriate prior notice provided to staff.
SECTION 2. BASIC CONTRACT YEAR
Subd. 1. For 2013-14 and 2014-15, the basic contract year shall consist of one hundred eighty-seven (187) teacher duty days. Evening conference are part of this one hundred eighty-eighty-seven (187) duty day work year. Each evening conference, for up to three (3) hours per evening, comprises one-half (1/2) of a duty day.
Subd. 2. K-12 teachers covered under tenure law
Probationary teachers covered under the Teacher Tenure Act will be provided all rights as provided under M.S. §122A.41. Subd. 2. Teachers shall be deemed to be in a probation period during their first three years of consecutive employment. During this period, a teacher’s annual contract may be non-renewed at the discretion of the District and without right of appeal. A probationary teacher is deemed to be reemployed for the ensuing school year, unless notified in writing before July 1, of the termination of employment. The District may discharge a teacher during the probation period for any of the causes as specified under the tenure law without right of appeal.
Subd. 3. Community Education Teachers and other members of the teacher bargaining unit not defined as “teacher” under M.S. §122A.41:
Probationary teachers not covered under the teacher tenure act shall be deemed to be in a probationary period during the first three years of consecutive employment. During this period a teacher’s annual contract may be non-renewed at the discretion of the District and without right of appeal. A probationary teacher is deemed to be reemployed for the ensuing school year, unless notified in writing before July 1, of the termination of employment. The District may discharge a teacher for cause during the probation period and the teacher will have no right of appeal. For the period of service following probation, discipline and discharge may be appealed by the teacher under the terms of the grievance procedure as provided by the labor agreement.
Subd. 4. Probationary Teacher In-Service Days
Probationary teachers may be required by the District to be on duty for the equivalent of seven (7) additional duty days in each probationary year beyond teacher duty days in the basic contract year.
These will be in-service days or special in-service events for the specific purpose of participating in probationary teacher training programs and activities prescribed by the District.
4.1 Probationary teachers will be paid for actual time worked based on the hourly rate for workshops in Appendix D.
SECTION 3. LENGTH OF TEACHERS’ DAY
Subd. 1. For all teachers, the school day on which salaries shall be based is the period of time that the school is regularly in session for students plus reasonable time as is necessary to plan the day’s work, confer with pupils and parents, and perform such other duties that are appropriate for teachers.
It shall include a daily duty-free lunch period. However, a teacher may accept an extra pay assignment in lieu of the duty-free lunch period.
ARTICLE 13. TEACHERS’ BASIC CONTRACT YEAR AND TEACHERS’ DAY (continued) SECTION 3. LENGTH OF TEACHERS’ DAY, Subd. 1 (continued)
It is recognized that every teacher’s professional day, whether classroom or support staff, extends beyond student-contact hours to include time for such responsibilities as additional planning and evaluation, faculty and committee meetings, parent conferences, additional professional education, and other professional responsibilities of the teacher.
It is further recognized that these additional activities are not necessarily accomplished in the building to which the teacher is regularly assigned, and if the teacher leaves the building, it is to be for professional or extraordinary personal reasons.
Subd. 2. Evening Conference Time. The District may assign any or all teachers in K-12 instructional programs, to be present for duty on two (2) evenings during each semester, for up to three (3) hours per evening, for consultation, conferences, and meetings with parents and/or students. School sites may schedule additional evening conferences as needed within the one hundred eighty-seven (187) duty day work year. Teachers may be granted compensatory time off on a date specified by the District, on a similar pro rata basis.
Subd. 3. Elementary Planning Time. The District will provide preparation/planning time for licensed teachers on the basis of fifty (50) minutes per school day, or the equivalent.
Preparation periods shall be provided, as a norm, on each day, and shall be not less than twenty-five (25) minutes or more than sixty (60) minutes in length.
Thirty (30) minutes of preparation/planning time for kindergarten teachers is normally provided between morning and afternoon sessions with students, and does not involve time away from students during the students’ day. The additional twenty (20) minutes per day (equivalent) will be provided as scheduled by the District.
Subd. 4. Secondary Preparation/Planning Time
Within the student day, for every twenty-five (25) minutes of classroom instructional time assigned to a secondary classroom teacher on a regular daily basis, five (5) additional minutes of preparation time shall normally be provided in one or two uninterrupted blocks during the student day. Variations developed by the principal and staff in any school building and approved by the Superintendent and the Board of Education, shall be permitted, so long as the intent of this provision is observed, and the approximate equivalent to the preparation time per day prescribed herein, is provided within a week.
4.1 Part-time teachers will not normally be allocated preparation/planning time pursuant to this formula. If a teacher’s part-time assignment is at least .5, and he/she is assigned at least three (3) full hours of classroom instruction per day, then he/she shall be eligible for one-half (1/2) hour’s pay per instructional day at the Appendix D rate as provided in Article 9, Section 9, Contract Teachers as Substitutes. Part-time assignment in excess of .5 but less than .99 shall generate eligibility for this one-half (1/2) hour daily compensation. There is no prorated factor above one-half (1/2) hour.
SECTION 4. PREPARATION/PLANNING TIME PROVIDERS. Teachers whose primary assignment is to provide instruction for classes of students during the preparation/planning periods afforded classroom teachers, shall normally be scheduled for a maximum of ten (10) class sessions per day.
These class sessions may include fifty (50) minute periods as well as the more typical twenty-five (25) minute periods. If it becomes necessary to assign such a teacher to more than ten (10) class sessions per day, that teacher will be additionally compensated based on the rates as defined in Appendix D, Hourly Rates for sessions in excess of ten (10), using the shortest period(s) of the day to compute any compensation due. A teacher who voluntarily accepts or seeks assignment of more than ten (10) class sessions shall not be eligible for this additional compensation.
ARTICLE 13. TEACHERS’ BASIC CONTRACT YEAR AND TEACHERS’ DAY (continued) SECTION 5. SPECIAL EDUCATION ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS
All special education licensed service providers shall be excluded from student supervision assignments within the duty day except in an emergency basis or when a teacher accepts an extra-curricular lunch assignment and is paid the stipend per Appendix D. In recognition of the fact that special education licensed service providers typically serve on Child Study Committees and meet regularly to plan and modify student Individualized Educational Programs, they shall not be required to serve on other school committees. Voluntary participation in other school committees shall be permitted.