Teacher Guidelines

JAY SCHOOL CORPORATION EMPLOYMENT GUIDELINES for TEACHERS Last revised by the superintendent 2.26.26 TABLE OF CONTENTS A. Days and Hours B. Assignment Return from Leave ECA Assignment Summer School Assignment Vacancies and Transfers C. Reduction in Force D. Teaching Conditions E. Teacher Evaluation F. Mileage G. Association Rights H. Payroll Procedures I. Chain of Command J. Unpaid Leave Please refer to the Jay School Corporation/Jay Classroom Teachers Association Contract for information on salary, wages, and wage-related fringe benefits.

A. Days and Hours School Year - l83 days Teacher’s day – 7 ½ hours (except as provided in the Teaching Conditions section (D) of this Document) B. Assignment ● Return from Leave A teacher returning from a leave of absence shall be given a position for which the teacher is certified. ● ECA Assignment ● If an assistant coach is unable to fulfill the coaching duties for a season, an attempt will be made to hire a replacement. If a successful candidate cannot be hired, then the remainder of the assistant coach’s salary and duties will be divided proportionately among the remaining head coach and the paid assistant coaches. The head coach and remaining assistant coaches will fulfill the duties of the assistant coach whose position was not filled. ● If a vacancy occurs in extra-curricular positions, that vacancy shall be submitted to the principal who will submit the vacancy to the Superintendent. All extra-curricular vacancies shall be posted at the Office of the Superintendent and at each school building. All teachers who are applicants for an extra-curricular position shall receive consideration . Teachers will be given consideration for an extra-curricular vacancy, which the Corporation has determined to fill, before the hiring of a lay person. Consideration means if a teacher has the same qualifications as or better than a lay person, the teacher will be hired. ● Summer School Assignment ● All teachers who continue to teach a specific summer school class shall be given priority for that class the following year. As long as the teacher does not refuse that teaching position, the same teacher shall have priority for that teaching assignment. ● New summer school assignments shall be assigned by the Superintendent or his designee based on current teaching assignment, and Indiana license qualifications. ● Each year prior to May 1, all building principals shall determine if any teachers in their buildings, (including department chairpersons and varsity football and basketball coaches) are interested in teaching summer school. This determination shall be made by distributing a sign-up sheet to all staff members and initiated as either "yes" or "no". ● Board approved leaves of absence for valid reasons will not interrupt continuous service. ● Summer school substitutes shall be hired from qualified teachers who indicated an interest on the sign-up sheets. ● A copy of sign-up sheets will be made available to the President of the Association upon request.

● Personal leave days may be taken in half or full-day increments. 4 hours or more will be considered a full day of leave. Less than 4 hours will be considered a half- day of leave. ● Teachers on academic summer employment and/or adult classes shall be eligible to use sick leave days on a pro-rated basis to the nearest half day. Vacancies and Transfers The Superintendent shall be responsible for the assignment and transfer of all professional staff members. The decision of the Superintendent shall be final. The procedures shall be in accordance with the terms of the negotiated agreement when language is given. Instructional personnel shall be assigned by the principal to a specific instructional assignment or assignments within the building after consultation with the Superintendent. Instructional personnel with multi-building responsibilities shall be assigned by the Superintendent. All professional staff members shall be given written notice of their building and applicable class, subject, and room assignments for the forthcoming school year not later than June 1 of the previous school year or as specified in the negotiated, collectively-bargained agreement; provided however, that if the Superintendent is delayed in the completion of such assignments by reason of emergencies, (such as questionable completion of new school construction, computer failure, abnormal professional staff member turnover or unavailability of professional staff member personnel in critical positions) the Superintendent shall provide such schedules as soon as practicable. Transfers between schools may be enacted by the Superintendent and within a school by the principal when the needs of students, the school, or the Corporation so require. Such actions shall be in accord with the terms of the appropriate negotiated agreement. A. Involuntary Transfer Prior to effecting an involuntary transfer of a teacher, counselor, or other nonadministrator to another school the "receiving principal" shall be consulted regarding the contemplated move. In the case of a nontenured professional staff member, a joint conference of "receiving principal", "sending principal", and transferred professional staff member shall be held in the interest of assuring continuity of the evaluation process. B. Voluntary Transfer and Reassignment Any professional staff member who desires a change in grade, subject assignment, or program, or who desires a transfer to another school for the following school year shall discuss the matter with his/her supervisor and thereafter shall file a written statement of such desire with the Superintendent as early in the school year as possible but not later than April 1.

Such statement shall include the assignment desired, the reason for the transfer, and the potential benefits to be obtained. The request will be forwarded to the Superintendent along with the supervisor's recommendation. S/He shall notify the staff member and other appropriate parties of his/her decision as soon as possible. Requests for transfer or assignment within a building shall follow the same guidelines but may be acted upon by the principal, subject to review by the Superintendent. Upon receiving a retirement or resignation the Superintendent will consult with the Principal to determine what transfers or assignment requests at the building-level may exist. After the Building Principal acts on building-level transfer requests, the final identified vacancy will be posted district-wide. Consideration of teachers who submitted written transfer requests to the Superintendent by April 1st will be given first consideration, followed by all other teachers who may request to be considered for the vacancy by the posted deadline. The decision of the Superintendent shall be final. Teachers hired on a temporary teaching contract for the school year, and if subsequent regular teaching positions become vacant, those teachers will be considered first for transfer to those subsequent teaching vacancies before those vacancies are filled with outside the Corporation persons. Qualification, licensure and interviews will be used in the offering and filling of the vacancies. C. Justifiable Decrease in Teaching Positions When circumstances warrant the implementation of a reduction in force ("RIF") in certificated staff, the Superintendent shall utilize the following procedures to conduct a RIF in the School Corporation. Discussion Prior to RIF: Discussion shall be held with the exclusive representative of the Corporation’s teachers prior to any RIF for the purpose of discussing any proposed reduction in the certificated staff. Procedure for RIF: As required by I.C. 20-28-7.5-1(d), once the positions to be eliminated are identified by the Administration, the certificated staff members to be dismissed shall be identified on the following basis: A. The Superintendent shall check the hire dates of persons who hold the license in the area subject to the RIF.

B. Those certificated staff members who were hired after July 1, 2011 will be the first employees subject to RIF and will be selected for the RIF based upon performance as the initial consideration. C. To the extent performance ratings are equal for certificated staff members hired after July 1, 2011, the Superintendent shall consider the following factors to determine which employee(s) will be subject to RIF: 1. The academic needs of students in the Corporation. 2. The results of an evaluation conducted under I.C. 20-28-11.5. 3. The possession of either additional content area degrees beyond the requirements for employment; or additional content area degrees and credit hours beyond the requirements for employment, if required under an agreement bargained under I.C. 20-29. 4. The assignment of instructional leadership roles, including the responsibility for conducting evaluations under I.C. 20-28-11.5. 5. The number of years of a teacher's experience. D. To the extent there is still a need to RIF additional positions after implementing steps A-C above, the Superintendent will look at the certificated staff members who were hired prior to July 1, 2011. The Superintendent will review their hire dates and determine whether the employee was non-permanent (in their first two (2) years of consecutive employment with the Corporation but had not yet signed a third contract for continuous employment), semi-permanent (had signed a third contract of consecutive employment with the Corporation) or permanent (had signed a sixth consecutive contract to be employed with the Corporation). E. The non-permanents will be subject to RIF before the semi-permanents and permanents. To the extent there is more than one (1) person in the non-permanent category, the Superintendent will RIF employees within the non-permanent category based upon their performance. To the extent evaluation ratings are equal for the non- permanent teachers, the Superintendent shall consider the five (5) factors listed in Step C, 1-5 above to determine which employee(s) will be subject to RIF. F. If there are still positions to RIF after review of the non-permanent teachers, the Superintendent shall consider which semi-permanent teachers will be subject to RIF. To the extent there is more than one person in the semi-permanent category, the Superintendent will RIF employees within the semi-permanent category based upon their performance. To the extent evaluation ratings are equal for the semi- permanent teachers, the Superintendent shall consider the five (5) factors listed in Step C, 1-5 above to determine which employee(s) will be subject to RIF. G. If there are still positions to RIF after review of the semi-permanent teachers and still have to RIF, the Superintendent shall consider which permanent teachers will be subject to RIF. To the

extent there is more than one person in the permanent category, the Superintendent will RIF employees within the permanent category based upon their performance. To the extent evaluation ratings are equal for the permanent teachers, the Superintendent shall consider the five (5) factors listed in Step C, 1-5 above to determine which employee(s) will be subject to RIF. Notification of RIF: Certificated staff members selected to be terminated pursuant to this guideline shall receive the initial notification of possible contract cancellation required by law between May 1st and July 1st preceding the proposed cancellation of their contract with the Board. D. Teaching Conditions No teacher shall be required to assume the duties and classes of another teacher, except in case of an emergency. An emergency is designated as an unavoidable and unforeseen situation that has come into being during the current working day. In the event a substitute cannot be found, the opportunity to volunteer for substitute duty during prep periods will be offered to teachers within their own building. Substitute priority will be given to the elementary schools. ● Teachers who participate in workshops outside the normal school day shall do so voluntarily. ● All non-paid teaching activities after the regular teaching day shall be offered to teachers on a voluntary basis. In the event that it is impossible to staff such activities through volunteerism, the principal may require a teacher to staff the activity provided only that all other teachers have been afforded the opportunity to volunteer. In no event shall any teacher be required to take such activities more than (5) times per school year. Open house is not considered one of the five (5) activities. ● All non-paid teaching activities after the regular teaching day for teachers who must travel to more than one school during the course of the regular school day shall be restricted to the school designated as the teacher's home school. ● In the event of a delay in the start of a school day, the teachers' required reporting time shall be delayed an equivalent amount of time. The Board has adopted a policy for 3 hour delays. The hours of the school day shall be extended by 1 hour on the delay days. ● The Association shall be on the agenda of the first-day teachers’ day program each year and will limit the Association’s meeting to as short of time as possible. ● Teachers shall be guaranteed a minimum of thirty (30) duty free and uninterrupted minutes for a lunch period between the hours of 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. each school day. ● The Association shall be notified, in writing, prior to the formation of any committee involving curriculum, curriculum related matters, or extra-curricular activities. These committees and their purpose shall be discussed prior to being created. ● Traveling teachers will not be scheduled, with students, any more time than general

education teachers. The intent of any supervisory responsibilities will be instructional, general supervision or safety-related. Any planning or preparation for instructional activities will be the responsibility of the teacher of record. Any conflicts arising out of assignments will be resolved through central-office review. ● All paid extra-curricular positions shall be assumed voluntarily. ● For the purpose of parent/teacher conferences, the 7 1/2 hour day may be extended with comparable time off for teachers, at the discretion of the superintendent. ● Traveling teachers will be given travel time between schools and preparation time. The Corporation shall provide teachers who teach in multiple schools at least a locking cabinet for the storage of the professional teaching items and personal items necessary in the scope of the teacher’s employment. ● A monthly schedule of teacher and committee meetings will be distributed on a timely basis. Meetings shall be well planned and as brief as possible. Emergency meetings will be scheduled as needed. ● During the day, when an elementary teacher has no breaks, that teacher will be given, when feasible, up to a ten minute break period, upon request. ● Each general elementary teacher shall be scheduled with a preparation period of at least forty (40) consecutive minutes each school day. This time for these general elementary teachers will be scheduled within the student day. Special teachers (e.g. art, physical education, special education, music, band, gifted and talented, library & kindergarten) shall receive forty (40) minutes of preparation time in a working day, four out of the five school days and every attempt will be made to give the preparation time on the fifth day in all elementaries. Preparation time for all other grade levels will generally be the equivalent of one class period, with a minimum of forty (40) consecutives minutes provided for preparation. ● Class Size Goal - Emphasis shall be initiated and continued to achieve class size goals that foster maximum student learning. Class size determinations will be made by the Corporation with the best teacher-student ratio as a primary goal. The Superintendent and principals will discuss class sizes as those class sizes might impact at-risk students. By May 1 of each year, the Superintendent will meet with the Association President and present staffing and class sizes as estimated for the Corporation for the upcoming school year. Kindergarten through grade three teacher–student ratios will be given priority in staffing. Health and safety considerations will be weighed. The Superintendent and the Board will attempt to have class size numbers at the best possible teacher to student ratio that will equal the financial situation of the Corporation. ● Teachers may not leave the school building during their preparation or teaming period without the permission of the principal or designee. Teachers must also sign out on the teachers’ sign-out list with date of leaving, time of leaving, and time of return. ● Preparation periods and middle school teaming periods are to be used for professional purposes that directly relate only to teaching in the Corporation.

If a satisfactory solution is not achieved by discussion with the principal or with the Association, a written request for a conference may be submitted to the Superintendent. This request should include: 1. the specific nature of the complaint and a brief statement of the facts giving rise to it; 2. the respect in which it is alleged that the complainant has been affected adversely; 3. the action which the complainant wishes taken and the reasons why it is felt that such action be taken. E. Teacher Evaluation Teachers will be evaluated each school year in accordance with the Corporation Evaluation Handbook (which may be amended from time to time) which should be consulted for details. Traveling teachers shall be evaluated by the principal of the “home” school. Other school principals who observe the teacher and would like to be involved in their evaluation may do so, by giving input to the “home” school principal. No member of the bargaining unit shall evaluate another member of the bargaining unit, nor any instructional aid or administrative assistants. A teacher shall have access to his/her personnel file kept in the central office, and shall be able to copy and respond to anything in the file. F. Mileage Reimbursement for authorized travel shall be at the IRS recognized mileage reimbursement rate. G. Association Rights The Association, as the representative employees' organization, shall have the right to use school facilities for meetings and any equipment necessary for them to represent their members. The Association, as the representative employees' organization, shall have the right to post notices of activities and matters of Association concern on teacher bulletin boards, at least one (1) of which shall be provided in each building. H. Payroll Procedures

Payroll for Teachers will be paid by direct deposit into the individual teacher’s financial institution account. The selection of the financial institution account shall be made by the teacher. Current teachers must provide to the Corporation Payroll Department a valid account number from their specified financial institution by September 1 of each school year. The Corporation Payroll Department will follow the Corporation’s originating bank requirements for direct deposit transfers. Initial direct deposit requests or changes resulting from the teacher submitting a new account number may result in a check being issued for their first payroll after the change. Payroll check stubs will be accessed “online” by the teachers. I. Chain of Command The Jay School Corporation, values effective communication and collaboration among our staff members. In order to maintain a harmonious and efficient work environment, we have established this guideline to encourage the use of the chain of command to address and resolve concerns by direct discussions, of an informal type, at the lowest level possible. By adhering to this guideline, we strive to foster a culture of accountability, trust, and cooperation within our organization. All staff members are asked to utilize the chain of command when they encounter issues or concerns related to their work, colleagues, or any organizational matter. This means that employees should first approach their immediate supervisor or manager with their concern. It is only when such informal meetings fail to resolve the differences, shall more formal procedures be employed. If the issue remains unresolved or if the supervisor is the subject of the concern, the employee should escalate the matter to the next level of management and/or to the Association through the Discussions process. In most cases this is the school principal. By adhering to this guideline, we ensure that concerns are addressed in a fair and efficient manner, and it also provides a structured framework for reporting and resolving issues within our organization. J. Unpaid Leave Principals may approve up to three unpaid leave (consecutive or nonconsecutive) days for teachers during the school year. The teacher must be out of pay status meaning they must have exhausted their sick and personal days. The teacher must submit a physician's note for unpaid days for illness or a written statement of justification for unpaid personal days. If the request cannot be submitted prior to the absence, the documentation accompanying the request must be submitted to the Principal within five school days. All requests for unpaid leaves of absence by professional staff members beyond three days, shall be presented to the Superintendent for approval by the School Board in accordance with JSC Policy 3430. Teachers are encouraged to consult with the Business Manager for application for the Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA). These Guidelines shall continue in effect until revised or rescinded.