Clarifications on Comp Time and Pay for Class Coverage

Regarding absorbing students when a substitute is not available, the new contract language states that:
Elementary and Secondary teachers who absorb students from an absent teacher’s class will be granted compensatory time.  Elementary teachers who absorb students for a full day from an absent teacher’s class will be granted two hours of compensatory time. Secondary teachers who absorb students for one period are granted one hour of compensatory time.  Secondary teachers who absorb students for more than one period will receive a maximum of two hours.  Compensatory time shall be taken as described in 3.5.1 with the exception that time may be used on faculty meeting day if no pre-notified faculty meeting is scheduled.

In regards to absorbing students for part or whole day, without loss of planning time, the district has agreed to award comp time equal to time students are "absorbed",  up to 2 hours maximum per day.  
So this is what is correct: if students are added to your class for 1 hour, then 1 hour comp time will be awarded. If students are added for 1.5 hours, then 1.5 hours will be awarded. Two hours comp time will be awarded for 2 hours or more coverage per day. So anything between 2 hours coverage and full day, gets the full 2 hours.  
(This is a big improvement over a common misinterpretation of the new language which would have prorated the amount of comp time earned, based on 2 hours for a full day's absorption of students, wrong: 1 hour comp time for half day, wrong: 1/2 hour for quarter day.)

Hope this clarifies the comp time to be awarded for taking in students during your instructional time.

Regarding payment option for loss of planning time, the new contract states:
In an event that it is necessary to assign a teacher substitute duties during their planning period, the teacher may choose to be compensated either by compensatory time or a rate of pay to be negotiated.  The rate of pay shall be no less than the highest hourly rate for a substitute teacher.

For the option of monetary payment  for giving up planning time, payment will be as follows.
In secondary, teachers will be paid  $15  for a period of coverage, whether the period is 50 minutes or 60 minutes long.
Elementary teachers who lose their "specials" planning period (generally due to not having a substitute for a specials teacher) will be paid  $9  for each specials class they lose, which is generally 30 minutes.
Secondary and elementary teachers who lose their planning period due to class coverage have the option to select comp time or pay (as described above) for that loss of planning time.

The district will be sending directions to principals in the next week or so for submitting payroll requests for substitute payment to teachers. Shortly after that, payment will begin in regular paychecks every two weeks. We'll keep you posted.