The Martin County Education Association - Article VI Professional Issues

Article VI Professional Issues

VI.1 Assault and/or battery against a teacher

If an employee is a victim of assault and/or battery, he/she may pursue whatever legal recourses are normally open to him/her without restraint by the Board or its representatives. An employee who is the victim of assault or battery during the discharge of his/her duties, and who has his/her property damaged thereby, may be reimbursed for such loss providing (1) that the property is worn or in manual possession at the time of the incident; (2) that the maximum reimbursement shall be $300 to any employee per incident; and (3) that the decision of the Superintendent shall be final and binding. Payment shall not be construed as an admission of negligence, fault, or guilt.

VI.2 Technology

The Board and the Association recognize the benefits of computer technology. The Board shall endeavor to provide state of the art computers and printers for teachers' use at each site. Each site will establish a committee of teachers who will be responsible to review the location of computer equipment and make location recommendations to the site Principal who will give such recommendation significant weight.

VI.3 Covering classes

An employee who has a regular class load shall not be required to cover an absent employee’s class in addition to his/her own class.

VI. 4 Curriculum

The Board shall provide the opportunity for all employees to be involved in selection, reviewing and evaluating instructional materials and curriculum planning.

VI.5 Duties and record keeping

A. Basic education teachers will be notified in advance of the IEP committee meeting, and every effort will be made to ensure the teacher’s participation in the meeting. In circumstances where this is not feasible, the Mainstream Consultant will communicate with the Basic Education teacher prior to placement and following the IEP committee meetings.

B. The parties agree to create a Paperwork Reduction Committee to study such matters as the parties mutually deem appropriate (e.g., preparation of Medicare and Medicaid forms) concerning paperwork reduction. The parties shall meet.

VI.6 Faculty leaders

A. A Faculty Council shall be established in each work location. The Council shall be advisory. It is encouraged to meet no less than three times per year. The principal (or designee) will offer 5 dates of availability. The Council Chairperson shall schedule meetings with the principal (or designee).

The Council shall consult with the principal (or designee) with respect to curricula and instructional materials.

Composition of the Faculty Council shall be as follows:

An addition to the designated building representative, one half (1/2) of the council shall be composed of members of the faculty elected by the faculty. Faculty Councils shall be established within thirty (30) days following the beginning of the school year. The number of members shall be as follows: Elementary Schools 5, Middle Schools 7, and High Schools 11.

Upon notification by the MCEA designated building representative that an election is necessary, the principal shall, in a timely manner, call a faculty meeting for this purpose. The Faculty Council shall elect a chairperson to serve until such time as the council is reconstituted.

Faculty Councils are authorized to meet before and after the student day, for the purpose of considering recommendations to be presented to the principal by the Faculty Council chairperson prior to the Faculty Council meeting with the principal.

The Scope of the Faculty Council shall include issues, matters, and/or recommendations to improve the school’s instructional program. Such recommendations will be given full consideration by the principal.

VI.7 In-service points

A. Teachers may request a status report on their accumulated in-service points at any time through the secretary to the Executive Director of Human Resources and Staff Development. The District commits to respond to such requests within three (3) workdays. Additionally, the District will investigate the possibility of giving teachers electronic view only access of an appropriate database.

B. Sixty (60) in-service points will be granted for teachers who complete all procedural and substantive requirements for the National Board Certification.

VI.8 Interim teachers

In the event that a school is not able to secure a certified teacher, the Principal or designee will seek volunteer interim substitutes from his/her teaching staff. The teacher will be required to make up all planning/administrative time, which is missed due to the extra teaching period. This time may be made up at school or any other appropriate location, either before or after normal work hours and must be documented in written form. Compensation will be at the teacher’s regular hourly rate.

VI.9 Parent-teacher conferences

A room or space shall be assigned by the principal for scheduled parent-teacher conferences.

VI.10 Rules and laws available

A copy of rules adopted by the Board, a copy of Florida School Laws, and a job description book shall be available to all employees at the media center or library at each school.

VI.11 Schedules

Tentative schedules shall be provided upon teachers‘ request each semester, at least one week ten (10) days prior to teacher pre-planning for the first semester and one week ten (10) days prior to beginning of the second semester. This does not preclude subsequent schedule changes.

VI.12 School budget

The Board shall design a budgeting procedure and time line that will provide for teacher’s input at each grade level/department/team.

VI.13 Substitute teachers

In the event that a school is not able to secure a substitute teacher, the Principal or designee will seek volunteer substitute teachers from his/her teaching staff. The teacher will be required to make up all planning/administrative time, which is missed due to the extra teaching period. This time may be made up at school or any other appropriate location either before or after normal duty hours and must be documented in written form. Compensation will be on a pro-rata share per period or block taught. The rate of pay to be divided will be $95.00 per day [e.g., high school for 3 blocks @ $95.00 = $31.67 per block].

VI.14 Supervision of student teacher

A. No supervisory teacher shall supervise more than one full-time student teacher at one time. The supervisory teacher shall, upon application, be awarded thirty (30) in-service points for effective supervision of one student teacher for one semester as determined by the appropriate Supervisory Director.

B. The principal shall determine the assignment of the student teachers within his school, after consultation with the teacher, prior to placement of the student teacher.

C. During the year, employees may register with the appropriate Supervisory Director, a desire to be considered for supervising student teachers.

VI.15 Use of paraprofessionals

Educational paraprofessionals shall not be used in a professional instructional capacity on a full-time basis.

VI.16 FAU Good FIT and Accelerated Induction into Teaching Program

A. In accordance with the District’s agreement with FAU, teachers who volunteer to serve as a Good FIT (First Introduction into Teaching) host teacher to a FAU Good FIT intern will receive a stipend of $150 per student hosted per semester. A good FIT host teacher’s participation in the orientation and final celebration gathering is strictly voluntary. Model classroom teachers who are asked to work with Good FIT students will be rotated so that as many teachers as possible may 21 benefit from this program. Finally, confidential student information will not be shared with Good FIT interns.

B. In accordance with the District’s agreement with FAU regarding participation in AIT, it is agreed that participation as a peer teacher to an AIT teacher is strictly voluntary. FAU mentor teachers and/or AIT teachers are required to receive permission of a regular classroom teacher prior to observation of that teacher’s class.

C. The signed contract between Florida Atlantic University and the District regarding these programs shall not be in conflict with parameters of this agreement.

VI.17 Fingerprinting

A. The Florida Legislature pursuant to 1012.32 Florida Statutes requires School Districts to fingerprint all current employees hired on or before June 30, 2004.

B. Florida Statute requires the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to maintain a data base of these fingerprints so that School Boards can run complete criminal history reports every five years.

C. The Martin School District has agreed to pay the cost for re-fingerprinting all current employees, the FDLE yearly maintenance fee and cost of running a complete criminal history check every five years.

D. This agreement is not intended to cover any future legislative mandates regarding fingerprinting.

VI.18 Restraint and Seclusion Procedures

The following is an agreement regarding the procedural requirements of Florida State Statute 1003.573 relating to restraint or seclusion of students with disabilities.

A. The School site Administrator shall be responsible for:

contacting the parent via telephone and/or e-mail, documenting the time and method of parent contact;

notifying the district level online reporting system user via phone and/or e-mail;

completing the parental written notification form and sending the parental written notification form to the parent.

B. In the absence of a School site Administrator, the responsibility for A.1-3 above will become the responsibility of the (in the following order):

Assistant Principal

Behavior Specialist

Crisis Team Leader

Mainstream Consultant when no school site administrator is assigned to the site.

Teacher when no school site administrator is assigned to the site (i.e. Sandy Pines, Perkins Pre-K Center, Salerno Learning Center and Martin Girls Academy).

C. At no time will teachers be responsible for home site visits.

D. The teacher(s) involved in an incident of restraint or seclusion will complete those portions of the restraint/seclusion incident report(s) on the day of the incident which are necessary and relevant to reflect their observations of and/or participation in the incident. The School site Administrator, or teacher when no school site Administrator is assigned to the site (i.e. Sandy Pines, Perkins Pre-K Center, Salerno Learning Center and Martin Girls Academy), will be responsible for completing the balance of the restraint/seclusion incident report(s) on the day of the incident.

E. The School site Administrator, or teacher when no school site Administrator is assigned to the site (i.e. Sandy Pines, Perkins Pre-K Center, Salerno Learning Center and Martin Girls Academy), sends the restraint/seclusion incident report to the district level online reporting system user via fax.

F. In the absence of a School site Administrator, the responsibility for E. above will become the responsibility of the (in the following order):

Assistant Principal 22

Behavior Specialist

Crisis Team Leader

Mainstream Consultant when no school site Administrator is assigned to the site.

Teacher when no school site Administrator is assigned to the site (i.e. Sandy Pines, Perkins Pre-K Center, Salerno Learning Center and Martin Girls Academy).

G. No teacher shall be required to sign a waiver of liability in order to participate in seclusion and/or restraint training.

H. Teachers currently holding positions where seclusion and restraint training is now being required, shall be provided with the opportunity for a voluntary transfer out of said position during the 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 school year in lieu of participation in the training.

The District will make a concerted effort to accommodate teacher requests for voluntary transfers into positions for which teachers are qualified as soon as possible. It is understood and agreed however that nothing herein shall supersede any other contract provision regarding involuntary transfers.

Transfers will be allowed during the school session and during the summer months; however transfers are encouraged to be effective with the beginning of the new school year. The current principal’s approval is not required for a voluntary transfer pursuant to this agreement.

Paragraph H of this section applies only to the Challenger School.

VI.19 Lesson Plans

A. All teachers will create lesson plans. Lesson plans will contain specific components that include:

1. The learning goal, materials, procedures, activities, and assessments

2. Modifications or accommodations for students with an IEP/504 (e.g., extra time, seat preference, etc.)

3. Those ELL strategies and/or State Standards (identified by reference number) which are not currently in textbooks, district pacing guides, or other instructional materials.

B. Length and format of plan shall be at the discretion of the teacher. Teachers will be required to submit lesson plans upon request of administration no more than once per month, unless documentation exists in evaluations that prior lesson planning has been insufficient, in which case a teacher may be required upon three days‘ notice to submit additional lesson plans up to one week in advance. Meaningful and timely written feedback shall be provided on such lesson plans.

C. Teachers will be required to have lesson plans prepared one (1) school week in advance. These plans will be ready the first morning of the week the lesson plans are to be implemented.

D. Teachers are required to have emergency lesson plans, covering a minimum of three instructional days, submitted to the Principal/designee no later than the fifteenth (15th) student day of each school year.

E. While on extended leave, teachers will not be required to provide lesson plans, grade papers, or enter student grades beyond the first five consecutive days of absence. For the purpose of this section, extended leave shall be defined as leave beyond five (5) workdays.

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