3. TEACHER RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

3.1 ACCOUNTABILITY

3.1.1 School Improvement Plan waivers shall be considered part and parcel to the collective bargaining agreement.

3.1.2 Faculties shall be afforded maximum flexibility for purposes of implementation.

3.1.3 All SAC waiver proposals at a site shall be approved by secret ballot vote and monitored by a CTA Association Representative.

3.2 LESSON PLANS

3.2.1 The principal or his designee may request teachers to submit a copy of their lesson plans or outlines used for the teaching week at the end of the last day of that teaching week. The principal may request the copies at the end of a particular unit. Teachers shall use the county elementary lesson plan or secondary lesson plan outline format. The teacher's plans are to be used as a guide in order to fulfill the county's instructional objectives and to assist the teacher in conducting a planned instructional program. Current lesson plans shall be available in the classroom for inspection at all times. Teachers shall not be routinely required to submit a copy of their lesson plans or outlines to the site administrator.

3.2.2 In the event a teacher is absent, it shall be the teacher's responsibility to have lesson plans at the school prior to the start of the pupil day to cover the period of absence not to exceed the balance of the week in which the absence occurred.

3.2.3 If the principal or his designee, through documented classroom observation, determines that a teacher is having difficulty with classroom instruction or is not meeting instructional objectives, the principal, as part of a professional improvement program, shall hold a conference with the teacher having difficulty. The principal, as part of this professional improvement program, may require lesson plans to be turned in at the start of each week during this period by written memo stating deficiencies and suggestions for improvement.

3.2.4 Unit members assigned to assist in the development of Individual Educational Plans (IEP's) shall be released from other non-classroom assignments for that purpose.

3.2.5 Unit members whose duties would be impacted by an Individual Educational Plan shall be provided with opportunity to serve on the team responsible for developing, reviewing, and/or revising such program.

3.3 PARENT CONFERENCE DAY

3.3.1 Parent conferences shall be scheduled after school and at night.  This time shall not exceed five hours and shall be in lieu of work time on the scheduled parent conference day. The school parent conference day will be a paid holiday if parent conferences are held as scheduled in this item.

3.3.2 If a teacher cannot comply with the afternoon or evening schedule for parent conferences, the teacher shall inform the administrator, and notify the parents of his/her students. The teacher and the administrator will attempt to identify an alternative time for the scheduling of these conferences which is mutually agreeable to both parties.  In the event a mutually agreeable time is not available, the teacher shall report to work on the day that is designated as parent conference day on the Payroll Schedule.

3.4 DUTIES FOR STUDENT SAFETY

3.4.1 The principal or his designee may assign duties necessary for the safety of students, within or beyond the workday. These duties shall be distributed equitably and posted.

3.4.2 Direction of vehicular traffic shall be voluntary.

3.5 COMPENSATORY TIME

3.5.1 Administrators shall grant compensatory time for duties assigned beyond the normal work day, and the compensatory time need not be used immediately. Teachers shall notify the site office in advance of utilization of said compensatory time. However, such compensatory time shall not encroach upon instructional time. When the request for utilization interferes or conflicts with a planned activity, the administrator shall have the right of approval.

3.5.2 Teachers shall be provided with compensatory time when assigned, during their planning period, to cover another teacher's class. Compensatory time shall be taken as described in Section 3.5.1.

3.5.3 Accumulated compensatory time shall carry over from year to year at the school where earned.

3.6 VOLUNTARY ACTIVITIES

3.6.1 Activities beyond the workday such as club sponsorships, private parent organization meetings, dances, and athletic events shall be voluntary on the part of the teacher.

3.6.2 Faculty attendance at each school's annual open house is voluntary, however the parties recognize the importance of this activity to the school community. Therefore, teachers who attend open house will be granted two hours of compensatory time.

3.6.3 Committee assignments should be equitably distributed and whenever possible, committee meetings should occur on regularly assigned meeting dates.

3.7 FACULTY MEETINGS AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

3.7.1 Faculty meetings and inservice education programs shall be no longer than a total of fifty (50) minutes per week beyond the normal workday, except for school accreditation. No more than one faculty meeting per week shall occur on time beyond the normal workday.

3.7.2 Teachers shall normally be provided with a minimum of one workday advance notice for all after school meetings provided for in Section 3.7.1.

3.7.3 A teacher shall be exempt from inservice participation if he/she is able to show proof of recent satisfactory training in the area the inservice is to cover.

3.7.4 If the principal or his designee, through documented classroom observations, determines that a teacher is having difficulty with classroom instruction or management, an individual teacher may be required to participate in an inservice program not conducted for the general faculty.

3.7.5 Afternoon faculty and inservice meetings shall begin within ten (10) minutes after student dismissal.

3.7.6 Half-day teachers and teachers whose normal workday ends before the majority of the faculty shall not be routinely required to stay or return after their regular workday for faculty meetings.

3.7.7 Teachers shall not be required to attend meetings away from the school center during pre- and post-planning. These days are specifically set aside to enable teachers to work on classroom duties and functions. Teachers shall be notified two days in advance of any tentatively scheduled in-school meetings. Such meetings shall be kept to a minimum.

3.7.8 There shall be a written evaluation of all workshops and/or inservice programs at the end of such programs by teachers attending. A summary of such evaluation shall be forwarded to the appropriate General Director and available to the Association.

3.7.9 Staff at MSC schools shall be offered inservice opportunities equivalent to those offered to staff on traditional calendars including the summer inservice institutes.

3.7.10 Nonviolent crisis intervention (all teachers) and aggression control techniques (E.S.E. teachers) training shall be made available to all teachers. Attendance shall be voluntary.

3.8 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS

3.8.1 Teachers shall have the right to exercise their professional option in the utilization of Board approved materials available within their respective disciplines to supplement state and county adopted texts and programs.

3.8.2 Teachers are to adhere to curriculum guidelines and the county copyright policy in utilizing all support AV materials.

3.9 SPECIAL SERVICE CLASSES

3.9.1 The regular teacher at the elementary level will not be required to remain with the students during the instructional time provided by the special service teacher.

3.10 STUDENT DIRECTION AND EVALUATION

3.10.1 Teachers will have the specific responsibility to direct and evaluate the learning experience of students according to county prescribed courses of study. Teachers shall not be required to administer make-up work for credit for students who have unexcused absences.

3.11 PRIVACY OF DISCUSSION

3.11.1 When individual problems occur between administrators and teachers, discussions relating to these problems shall be dealt with in private.

Teachers shall not be publicly reprimanded.

3.12 SCHOOL PROPERTY

3.12.1 Teachers shall be accountable, but not financially responsible for school property lost, stolen or damaged on school premises when school policy and procedures have been followed.

3.13 REPORT CARDS AND STUDENT RECORDS

3.13.1 Teachers shall be required to issue grades to students who enter after the start of a grading period according to the following procedures:

A. A student entering a school with transfer grades shall have the transfer grades averaged with work completed in the class to arrive at a report card grade.

B. A student arriving at a school without transfer grades shall have the grading procedures specified at the entry interview. These procedures shall be forwarded in writing to the receiving teachers with the student's schedule.

3.13.2 Elementary teachers shall not be required to review or check student cumulative folders of students for which the teacher will have no instructional responsibility.

3.14 GRADING MATERIALS

3.14.1 Teachers shall be given all automated grading materials prior to the morning of the day the grading period ends. Teachers shall be given at least four (4) full workdays to complete the automated grading materials after the day the grading period ends. Grades, report cards and/or data processing materials shall be submitted to their school office on the morning of the fifth workday. Grades, report cards and/or data processing materials for the final grading period shall be submitted by noon on the last workday for teachers.

3.14.2 Teachers may be required to provide parents with interim grades (progress reports) or scholarship warnings according to specific SAC waivers or county procedures.

3.15 STUDENT SCHEDULE CHANGES

3.15.1 Schedule changes for students shall not be routinely approved. All recommended schedule changes shall be reviewed by the affected teacher(s), counselor(s), and administrator to determine the validity of such proposed changes.

3.16 STUDENT PLACEMENT

3.16.1 The referring teacher shall be invited to participate in any conference involving a change in elementary student placement within the school. Normally, such conferences shall be scheduled to begin within the teacher workday.

3.16.2 Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) students shall be equitably distributed whenever possible.

3.16.3 Advanced notification shall take place prior to implementation of a least restrictive environment program. Appropriate in-service training shall begin as soon as possible.

3.16.4 Teacher input shall be considered prior to an administrative decision to retain or not retain a student.

3.16.5 New students enrolling in a school shall normally be assigned to the teacher(s) with the lowest student class load.

3.16.6 The District shall not assign an individual with exceptional needs to an exceptional education class until previous placement has been verified.

3.17 FIELD TRIPS

3.17.1 All field trips must be approved by the building principal prior to any arrangements being made.

3.17.2 In order to keep maximum supervision and instruction in the schools, only the sponsoring teacher(s) whose class is attending a field trip may accompany his/her students. Teachers unrelated to the field trip shall not go along on said trip as chaperons, and the sponsoring teacher is responsible for making arrangements for necessary chaperons among parents of the students who are involved on a one adult to fifteen students ratio. Classes missed by the sponsoring teacher(s) will be assigned by the administrative staff to other teachers with three days' advance notice.

3.17.3 Transportation and entrance fees will be collected and receipted by the teacher scheduling the field trip.

3.17.4 Substitutes shall be provided for teacher sponsors who take field trips of a day or more duration when the field trips are on the school system approved list or are a scheduled activity by Florida High School Activities Association.

3.17.5 An approved field trip list will be maintained by the appropriate General Director of Instruction.

3.17.6 Teachers shall be granted compensatory time when duty free lunch is missed because of a field trip which is required by the district that the teacher must attend.

3.18 COLLECTION OF MONEY

3.18.1 Teachers shall not be required to promote, merchandise or collect money for any activity which is profit motivated on behalf of the school. Teachers shall collect fee money during school opening registration and field trips as mentioned in 3.17.3.

3.18.2 Teachers shall not be required to collect lunchroom money.

3.18.3 Contributions to any charity, project or function shall be voluntary. Solicitation activities shall be kept to a minimum.

3.19 STUDENT INTERNS AND OBSERVERS

3.19.1 Interns shall be assigned within the General Administrative Areas of the county to approximate the proportion that exists between the numbers of teachers in those areas.

3.19.2 Student interns shall be assigned to non-probationary teachers except for special programs approved in advance by the appropriate Assistant Superintendent. A copy of the form submitted requesting exceptions shall be filed with the appropriate Assistant Superintendent and be available to the Association.

3.19.3 Assignment of pre-teacher students to directing teachers shall be conducted in a fair and equitable manner which is mutually satisfactory to the principal and to the directing teacher.

3.19.4 In working with pre-teacher students, it is understood by the school system and the teaching profession that the rights of the system and the teachers shall be considered in the placement of such students for the purpose of interning or observing.

3.20 TEACHER AIDES

3.20.1 Teacher aides will be under the direction of the principal or his/her designee. Aides assigned to teachers are to be utilized and supervised by the teacher to whom the aide is assigned. Aides are not to be routinely used to perform services for the school's administrative office.

3.20.2 Substitute aides shall be provided when the aide under contract is absent in the early childhood program provided federal funds are available.

3.20.3 When a kindergarten aide is absent, the administrator shall institute an emergency plan to assist the kindergarten teacher, in carrying out the curriculum, providing for the safety of students and providing the teacher with planning and lunch time as specified in Section 2.7.

3.20.4 Anytime an aide is reassigned to duties other than the supervising teacher, said teacher shall be informed of the reassignment, length of time and reason.

3.21 ATHLETIC PEP RALLIES

3.21.1 Athletic pep rallies in secondary schools shall be held at the end of the student day. (Participation in state playoffs may be an exception.)

3.22 STUDENT HEALTH EXAMS

3.22.1 Teachers shall not be required to weigh or measure children, give eye examinations or perform any other student health checks or exams.

3.23 ACTING PRINCIPAL

3.23.1 If a classroom teacher is placed in charge of a building during the absence of the administrator from the building, the teacher will remain in the classroom unless an emergency requires him to go to the office. The special area teacher will temporarily take the teacher's place in the classroom until the teacher is able to return if at all possible. However, if the principal is expected to be absent for five days or longer, a substitute shall be hired to teach the classes of the Acting Principal.

3.23.2 It is recommended that when possible a teacher who is requested to substitute for an administrator in his absence hold certification in administration, education leadership, and/or supervision and that the teacher shall have shown an interest and willingness to accept the responsibility.

3.23.3 The acting principal shall have the authority to make decisions in dealing with problems which might occur during the absence of the school administrator.

3.24 TRANSPORTATION

3.24.1 All personnel who are required to travel in the discharge of their duties, shall be responsible for securing transportation.

3.24.2 Teachers who transport students as an extension of their normal work activities shall, pursuant to accepted Board policy, be covered by the Board's liability insurance policy.

3.24.3 Teachers authorized for reimbursement by the Finance Department for in-county travel as part of their regular duty shall be paid mileage at the maximum rate allowed by state law.

3.25 ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS

3.25.1 Teachers shall not personally profit as a direct result of any company or individual engaged in business with the School Board.