ARTICLE V HOURS OF EMPLOYMENT
A. Starting and ending times will not vary more than ten (10) minutes from the current or previous year unless the District and the Association meet to seek a mutually acceptable solution. Notification of a change in given starting or ending times will be given to all affected parties as soon as a decision is made or at least six weeks prior to the implementation of the change.
B. The morning/afternoon Kindergarten Teacher’s workday will include:
1. 15 minutes prior to their students’ day. This will include supervision as determined at the site.
2. a. 190 minutes of instruction with his/her own class. (Traditional) b. 200 minutes of instruction with his/her own class. (YR)
3. 15 minutes morning break.
4. 15 minutes afternoon break.
5. 35 minutes lunch.
6. 75 minutes will be spent in the classroom of the partnered Kindergarten teacher. In the event that the Kindergarten teacher is without a partner, the principal will assign the Kindergarten teacher 75 minutes of time to be directly involved in the areas of assessment, instruction, and/or diagnostic processes with students in Kindergarten through 3rd grades. These assignments will be made with consideration of the needs of the school after joint consultation with Kindergarten through 3rd grade teachers. The assignment will include covering a 15-minute break (or breaks) for the other Kindergarten teachers. Unit members will be given one (1) week’s notice prior to the assignment or to a change in the agreed on assignment.
7. 10 minutes after his/her own class session for supervision.
8. See Appendix E for description of morning/afternoon Kindergarten Minutes.
9. The District may implement a full-day Kindergarten option at District-designated sites:
a. A full-day Kindergarten teacher will be given one (1), three and one half (3.5) hour aide per day. C. Workday (Time at work) K-12 grade. 20 July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018
1. Teachers will begin fifteen (15) minutes prior to student day and end at the end of student day except on days when staff meetings or collaboration meetings are scheduled, or on minimum days.
a. Traditional/Traditional Modified calendar. TK-K 368 minutes/day. 1-6 385 minutes/day. Middle School 420 minutes/day. 9-12 432 minutes/day. (includes Continuation)
b. K-8 schools.
TK-K 368 minutes/day.
1-6 385 minutes/day.
7-8 420 minutes/day.
2. Psychologists, Counselors, Nurses and Speech and Language Therapists will work a regular 8-hour day. Time will be built into the eight hours for breaks and a 35-minute lunch. Job descriptions for each of these positions will be developed that defines the essential duties to be completed within the work hours. Starting times may differ among individual positions and sites. D. Student Instructional Day (Time in class)
1. Traditional/Traditional Modified calendar. Morning/Afternoon TK-K Full-day TK-K 1-3 204 minutes/day. 288 minutes/day 305 minutes/day. 4-6 Middle School 9-12 320 minutes/day. 370 minutes/day. 372 minutes/day. (includes Continuation)
2. K-8 schools. Morning/Afternoon TK- K Full-day TK-K 1-3 204 minutes/day. 288 minutes/day 305 minutes/day. 4-6 320 minutes/day. 7-8 370 minutes/day.
3. Elementary and TK-8 Minimum Days Beginning the 2016-17 school year, minimum days at all elementary and TK-8 schools will reduce by twenty (20) minutes. All grades will dismiss one hour and twenty minutes prior to their regular day dismissal time, with the exception of grades 7-8 at TK-8 schools, which will dismiss at the same time as grade
5. 21 July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018
E. Teacher Instructional Day (Time teaching)
1. Traditional or Single Track calendar.
TK-K 288 minutes/day (1,440 minutes/week including 45 minutes prep).
1-3 305 minutes/day (1,525 minutes/week including 60 minutes prep).
4-6 320 minutes/day (1,600 minutes/week including 90 minutes prep).
6 (middle school) 5 out of 7 periods/day.
7-8 (K-8) 5 out of 6 periods/day.
7-8 5 out of 7 periods/day.
9-12 5 out of 6 periods/day.
9-12 (Continuation High School) teachers shall teach 7 periods, with 1 preparation period. Recognizing that the continuation high school shall have two sessions, morning and afternoon, full-time teachers shall teach in both the morning and afternoon sessions.
2. In order to meet program needs, increase state-mandated UC/CSU A-G access, and to increase student elective courses, middle school and high school sites can choose to implement non-traditional schedule(s) in alignment with specific programmatic needs. These possible schedules: • Would not start until the start of the 2017-18 school year at the earliest.
• Must be from a vote initiated by the principal with approval from the Superintendent or designee
o The vote must take place by February 15th if the plan is to implement an approved change the following school year.
o The vote must be approved by 55% of the active bargaining unit members assigned and working at that site who participate in the vote.
o The vote shall be by secret ballot
o The implementation provisions of a non-traditional schedule shall not waive or supersede any contractual provisions of the parties’ collective bargaining agreement. In order to demonstrate the desire to increase electives, the District will fund an additional one (1) FTE for VAPA, added in 2017-18, at NGMS and NHS. This FTE will be shared between the sites.
F. Collaboration Time Collaboration meeting time shall be used at all grade levels for the purposes of:
• Developing Common Assessments
• Curriculum Alignment Guide (CAG) Development
• Unit Development
• Sharing Best Practices
• Analyzing Student Assessment Data
• Student Placement
• Interdisciplinary Planning
• Student Social-Emotional Well-being
22 July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018 TK-6 and TK-8 schools: Collaboration meetings will be held on the second, third, and fourth Wednesday of each month that school is in session. Collaboration meetings will be established through a school schedule and articulated with staff by the second week of the school year. Collaboration meetings shall not exceed fortyfive (45) minutes in length. Collaboration meetings will begin no later than fifteen (15) minutes after the end of the grades 1-6 dismissal for TK-6 faculty and no later than fifteen (15) minutes after the end of the grades 7-8 dismissal for 7-8 faculty. In the event that there is a fifth Wednesday in a month that school is in session, no mandatory meetings shall be scheduled on that day. Middle School: Collaboration meetings will be held during the daily collaboration period. High School (non-Continuation): Collaboration meetings will be held on the second, third, and fourth Wednesday of each month that school is in session. Collaboration meetings will be established through a school schedule and articulated with staff by the second week of the school year. Secondary, grades 9-12, students shall report to school one hour later than the normal start time every Wednesday. Teachers shall report at their regularly scheduled start time and shall use this time for collaboration. In the event that there is a fifth Wednesday in a month that school is in session, no mandatory meetings shall be scheduled on that day.
G. Teachers, counselors, psychologists may be required by the District to participate, at no additional compensation, in the following activities outside of the regular workday:
1. Teacher-scheduled parent-teacher conferences. The teachers shall have the responsibility for scheduling and completing regular parent-teacher conferences. Annual parent conference days will be held over a week of five (5) consecutive minimum days for TK-5 and TK-8 schools.
2. One (1) Open House each school year.
3. One (1) Back-to-School Night each school year.
4. One (1) Promotion/Graduation ceremony program each school year for middle school/high school.
5. Federal law requires at least one regular education teacher to attend IEP meetings of a student who is, or may be participating in the regular education environment. Teachers are required to attend IEP meetings including those that are outside of the regular workday. These meetings will be scheduled no earlier than thirty (30) minutes before, or later than sixty (60) minutes after, the student day; or unless otherwise mutually agreed upon.
6. Participation in principal or parent-initiated meetings for the purpose of student assessment is among a teacher’s/counselor’s required duties. These meetings will be scheduled no earlier than thirty (30) minutes before, or later than sixty (60) minutes after, the student day; or unless otherwise mutually agreed upon. 23 July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018 H. Faculty meetings: The purpose of faculty meetings is to share, disseminate and discuss information that pertains to the operation of the school sites. Priority will be given to topics such as school policies, discipline issues, campus security, health and safety, schedules, calendars and other school business.
1. TK-6 and TK-8 schools: Faculty meetings shall be held on the first Wednesday of each month that school is in session. When the first Wednesday is a non-school day, the faculty meeting will be rescheduled the following week, not on a Wednesday. Faculty meetings shall not exceed forty-five (45) minutes in length. The total amount of time beyond the regular workday for such meetings shall not exceed sixty (60) minutes per month except in the case of emergency. Faculty meetings will begin no later than fifteen (15) minutes after the end of the grades 1-6 dismissal for TK-6 faculty and no later than fifteen (15) minutes after the end of the grades 7-8 dismissal for 7-8 faculty.
2. Middle schools and Continuation High Schools: Faculty meetings shall be held on the first Wednesday of each month that school is in session. When the first Wednesday is a non-school day, the faculty meeting will be rescheduled the following Wednesday. The total amount of time beyond the regular workday for such meeting shall not exceed seventy-five (75) minutes per month except in the case of an emergency. Faculty meetings shall begin no later than ten (10) minutes after the end of the regular instructional day. In addition, the sites may schedule a seventy-five (75) minute meeting on the third Wednesday of each month that school is in session for the purposes of school-wide program training. These meetings shall begin no later than ten (10) minutes after the end of the regular instructional day.
3. High schools: Faculty meetings shall be conducted during the first late start Wednesday. Teachers, counselors, psychologists and speech and language therapists are required to attend staff meetings as scheduled. Those assigned to more than one site will attend the staff meetings on a rotating basis with exceptions made according to agenda items.
I. Duty Before School, After School, Recess. The duty schedule will include the following criteria: 1. Duty assigned for calendar week.
2. Only one duty per week.
3. The same duty will not be assigned two weeks in a row.
4. Duty will be assigned by rotation. 24 July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018
5. Before school duty starts fifteen (15) minutes before instructional day.
6. After school duty ends fifteen (15) minutes after the instructional day.
7. Teachers may exchange duty as long as the exchange is noted on the master schedule in the office.
8. Traveling teachers and eight-hour work day bargaining unit members are exempt from duty schedules.
9. Duty schedules for Specialist teachers and Kindergarten teachers may vary, but the total duty minutes shall be equitable with other teachers.
10.Teachers at the middle schools and high schools will be assigned an equitable number of duties.
J. All bargaining unit members shall have a duty free lunch period of not less than thirtyfive (35) minutes daily.
K. All bargaining unit members may be requested to provide input on District committees. Such participation shall be voluntary except where required by statute. Meetings of committees required by statute shall be scheduled no less than forty-eight (48) hours in advance except in cases of emergency.
L. Elementary Adjunct Duties/Activities/Committees. It is recognized that bargaining unit members’ professional duties and responsibilities continue beyond the normal workday. Elementary adjunct duties will be shared equitably by all bargaining unit members at each site and will be selfselected. Equitability will be based on the anticipated number of hours a teacher is involved in adjunct duties/activities/committees. At the beginning of each school year the principal, in consultation with the leadership team at his/her site, will develop a list of adjunct duties/activities/committees for the school year. When the list is complete, teachers will be given the opportunity to self-select their duties/activities/committees. The principal or his/her designee, after reviewing and analyzing the resulting work list for equity and adequate coverage, may make appropriate adjustments where needed. Duties at the Elementary level will be no more than ten (10) work hours per year.
M. Middle school teachers may be required to supervise activities in addition to those set forth in this Article V, paragraph G above, and such assignments shall be made by the principal on an equitable basis. Participation beyond a total of seven (7) hours per year for each middle school teacher shall be voluntary.
N. Adjunct Duties/Activities/Committees at the High School.
1. High school adjunct duties/activities/committees will be shared equitably by all bargaining unit members, except psychologists, at each site. Equitability will be based on the anticipated number of hours a teacher is involved in adjunct duties/activities/committees. 25 July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018
2. Bargaining unit members, excluding psychologists, will have the opportunity to self- select adjunct duties/activities/committees.
3. Prior to the teacher’s last work day of the school year, the principal and the site leadership team will develop a list of adjunct duties/activities/ committees for the ensuing school year. This list will contain at least the following: a list of anticipated events; proposed dates; the number of bargaining unit members needed for each event; the anticipated number of hours per unit member; and the total hours needed for each event. The completed list of adjunct duties will be given to each bargaining unit member for review. Suggestions and/or corrections will be forwarded to the principal or site leadership team.
4. Duties at the high school will be no more than ten (10) work hours. A committee of NTA site representatives and administrators from each comprehensive high school will meet in the summer or early fall of each school year to analyze and revise the process to more adequately fit the needs of the non-instructional high school programs.
5. Bargaining unit members will be notified when and where the agreed upon list of adjunct duties/activities/committees will be posted. Bargaining unit members by seniority will have one week to self-select their preferred adjunct duties.
6. The principal or his/her designee, after reviewing and analyzing the resulting list for equity and adequate coverage, may make appropriate assignments where needed.
O. The traditional calendar work year shall consist of one hundred eighty-three point five (183.5) days (180 instructional + .5 meeting day +3 staff development days) for returning teachers. It will be one hundred eighty-five point five (185.5) days (180 instructional +.5 meeting day + 3 staff development days + 2 mandatory orientation days) for new teachers. The year round calendar work year shall consist of one hundred and seventy six point five (176.5) days (173 instructional + .5 meeting day + 3 staff development days) for returning teachers and one hundred and seventy-eight point five (178.5) days (173 instructional +. 5 meeting day + 3 staff development days + 2 mandatory days) for new teachers.
The music teacher’s work year shall consist of one hundred and eighty-three point five (183.5) days. Additional days will be paid at a pro rata per diem rate.
Teachers and bargaining unit members other than bargaining unit members contracted to work longer than the traditional 183.5 day school year shall be paid, with the approval of their supervisor, their per diem rate of pay for each additional day worked.
Counselors will work 195 days at their per diem rate. Counselors who work more than 195 days shall be paid, with the approval of their supervisor, their per diem rate of pay for each additional day worked.
Psychologists will work 195 days, which may include three staff development 26 July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018 days. Psychologists who are assigned additional workdays by the coordinator of Special Education will be paid at their daily rate.
Speech and Language Therapists will work 195 days, which may include three staff development days. Speech Pathologists who are assigned additional workdays by their supervisor shall be paid at their daily rate.
Nurses will work 188 days, which may include three staff development days. Nurses who are assigned additional workdays by their supervisor shall be paid at their daily rate.
Teachers in year-round schools can be offered an extended contract at the per diem rate on a year-by-year basis. They cannot be required to accept the offer nor forced into involuntary transfer as a result of refusal. The extended contract is a year-byyear offer and cannot be made into a permanent 230-day position. Teachers who accept the offer will have twelve (12) leave days, subject to the provisions of Article VI, for the year the offer is in effect.
P. A minimum of three (3) staff development days will be scheduled during the school year.
Q. The purpose of this section is to clarify the work year for part-time and partial year employees.
1. Part-time employees work the full year, but do not work full time (not equivalent to 1 FTE).
2. Partial year employees work full time each day, but not for the full year.
3. Both part-time and partial year employees shall work a specified percentage of either the traditional or year-round student days. In addition, teachers shall work three full staff development days.
4. For employees hired after the beginning of the school year, a work calendar will be established to include remaining teacher work days and staff development days.
R. “Emergency” as used in this article shall be as declared by the Superintendent.
S. Teacher’s participation in “Outdoor Education” and/or “Extended Day Activities” will be voluntary. Teachers not participating with their class will either exchange with another teacher, or be used in some other educational capacity.
T. Preparation Time Full time teachers will be given time during the instructional day in addition to the fifteen minutes before school to plan, correct papers, prepare lessons, conference with parents and students, and perform other professional duties. Meetings during prep time will only be scheduled with the consent of the teacher, except in emergencies. 27 July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018 Part time teachers in grades 7-12 are paid a pro rata amount of salary and benefits and are expected to use the prep time as described in Article V.
1. When a middle school or high school teacher agrees to an administrative request to substitute or is assigned to substitute during his/her prep period, the teacher will be paid $40.00 per period.
a. Each secondary site shall put together a list of teachers who wish to volunteer to work during their preparation period. This list will be done by period.
b. When there is a need for substitute teachers during a period, the site administrator will first go down the list of teachers who have volunteered to substitute during their preparation period. Once the volunteer list is depleted for a period, the school shall:
i. Create a list of teachers by preparation period.
ii. The list will be gone through in order until each teacher has been asked to substitute before the school can go back to the start of the list.
c. Unless there is an emergency situation in which a class of students will go without coverage, teachers will not be asked to substitute during their prep period more than twice per week.
2. Teachers in grades TK and K have a minimum of (45) forty-five minutes of Physical Education provided by a Physical Education Specialist per week for preparation in weeks of five (5) full instructional days. In weeks of less than five (5) full instructional days, i.e., weeks with holiday, staff development days, minimum days, the prep time will be scheduled as equitably as the schedule will allow.
3. Teachers in grades 1, 2, and 3 have a minimum of (60) sixty minutes of Physical Education provided by a Physical Education Specialist per week for preparation in weeks of five (5) full instructional days. In weeks of less than five (5) full instructional days, i.e., weeks with holiday, staff development days, minimum days, the prep time will be scheduled as equitably as the schedule will allow.
4. Teachers in grades 4, 5 and 6 at all Elementary schools have a minimum of ninety (90) minutes of Physical Education provided by a Physical Education Specialist per week for preparation in weeks of five (5) full instructional days. In weeks of less than five (5) full days of instruction, i.e., weeks with holidays, staff development days, minimum days, the prep time will be scheduled as equitably as the schedule will allow.
5. Teachers on the year round schedule receive approximately the same amount of prep time for the year as teachers on traditional schedule. Variation will be due to scheduling of the PE and prep time specialist teachers. Every effort will be made to have time be equitable and distributed consistently throughout the year.
6. Elementary RSP, TOSAs, reading, physical education and Title I teachers may schedule prep time within their own educational programs in an amount equitable 28 July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018 to teachers of similar work hours. Elementary SDC teachers team with another class to ensure equitable prep time in an amount equitable to teachers of similar work hours.
7. Counselors, Psychologists and Speech and Language Therapists and all other eight-hour bargaining unit members will schedule time within their workdays to prepare for assignments and duties.
U. Year Round Education In the event that the year round program at a year round school changes, adds tracks or deviates from the current calendar structure, a committee consisting of four (4 teachers chosen by the Association from the year round school staff and administrators will meet to plan the implementation of the changes.
V. It is the intent of the District to hire substitute teachers for classroom teachers, P.E. teachers, and RSP teachers when they are absent. TOSA, Intervention and Specialist teachers will not be required to substitute except in emergency situations.
W. Zero Period The workday of a teacher teaching a “zero” period is the same number of minutes as a teacher at the same grade level; however, the beginning and ending times will differ. If teachers teach more than five periods at the traditional calendar schools or six periods at the year round calendar schools, their salary will be increased by a pro rata amount.
X. The option to have up to five (5) current instructional days changed to minimum days to allow for teacher collaboration (either by grade level or departments), or other entire staff development activities. It is understood that this collaboration/development time will not be used for faculty meetings and teachers will attend until what would be the end of a normal school day.
Natomas Teachers' Association 