The teachers' contract,
explained.

The contract says it is the Board's intent to keep classes at or below a set number for each grade. It also sets the point at which the district is to give the teacher relief.

Split-grade classes have their own limits of 27 or 28. The contract lists a higher "alternative" maximum for years when finances, classroom space, or staffing keep the district from meeting its intended numbers. The union president is to be told before that happens.

Middle and high school teachers are also limited to 160 student contacts a day, with exceptions for physical education, middle school modern language, and study hall. Science lab classes are sized by the lab space available. Co-taught classes are to strive for 25 students, with relief at 29.

What "relief" means

When a class goes over, the contract lists the options: adjust assignments, balance sections, create a multiage section, add an aide, hire another teacher, or pay the teacher. The pay is $420 per student over the limit for a semester or trimester, or $5.50 per student per day for shorter stretches.

The contract sets how much of a teacher's day is teaching and how much is protected for planning.

• Middle and high school: no more than five academic periods a day, and at least one preparation period the length of a class period.
• Elementary: 270 minutes of planning time a week. A teacher who does not get the full amount is paid a $3,000 stipend for the year.
• Lunch: at least 40 minutes duty free at every level. A teacher who has to give it up for a meeting or student duty is paid $28.
• Covering another class: a teacher who gives up a planning period to substitute is paid $40. It is supposed to be voluntary unless no one else is available.
• Workday: no more than 6 hours 20 minutes of teaching and preparation time, and 7 hours in total including lunch.
• Course preparations: no more than three different courses at a time for a middle or high school teacher, and no more than six in a year.
• Faculty meetings: no more than 20 hours a year.

Conferences

The contract also sets the conference schedule parents see. Elementary schools hold two afternoon and two evening blocks in the fall and one afternoon and two evening blocks in the spring, with no more than 26 conferences per teacher. Middle schools hold two evening blocks in the fall and spring plus one fall afternoon. High schools hold one evening of conferences in each of the first three quarters and one curriculum night in the fall.

The contract says the Board "recognizes its responsibility to give all reasonable support and assistance to teachers with respect to the maintenance of control and discipline of their students."

• When one student keeps a class from learning: if a student's severe discipline problems are impeding the education of the rest of the class, the Board is to take reasonable steps to help the teacher resolve it.
• When a teacher is overruled: if a teacher's recommended discipline is overruled, the teacher is to be consulted on the final outcome. That includes the chance to offer alternatives and to be given specific reasons if they are rejected.
• The teacher's side: teachers must be fair and consistent in how they apply discipline.
• Each building: the Faculty Advisory Committee in each school takes up discipline and suspension procedures and makes recommendations to the principal. Each building is to have a procedure for telling students, parents, and teachers what its discipline policies are.

The contract covers what is to happen when a teacher is physically attacked or verbally threatened by a student while doing their job.

• Reporting and legal help: an assault is to be reported promptly. The Board provides legal counsel to advise the teacher and assists with law enforcement.
• Removal: the student may be immediately removed from the teacher's classroom or caseload.
• Threat assessment: the district should immediately review the threat. The teacher should have the chance to be interviewed and to give input.
• If the student stays: the district shall work with the teacher and the union on a safety, intervention, or restorative plan, with detailed procedures for the teacher's safety. If the student has an IEP, the IEP team is convened immediately.
• Lost time: time a teacher misses because of an incident is not charged against their leave.

Teachers are rated "effective," "developing," or "needing support" at the end of the year. A teacher rated developing or needing support gets an individualized development plan.

• What the rating is built from: 80 percent comes from an evaluation rubric and 20 percent from student growth data or student learning objectives.
• Whose data counts: the student data must be attributable to that teacher's own teaching. By agreement with the evaluator, a teacher can leave out data from students with excessive absences or who were in the class for only part of the year.
• Observations: at least two classroom observations of 20 minutes or more in a year the teacher is evaluated, and three for a first-year teacher.
• How often: a tenured teacher rated effective three years in a row is evaluated every third year.
• Pacing guides: a teacher is expected to teach the district curriculum, but whether they keep to the pacing guide may not be considered in their evaluation.
• Complaints: a complaint against a teacher can be used in an evaluation only if it is substantiated.

The contract has rules for how students with IEPs and 504 plans are placed and supported in general education classes.

• Before the course starts: a general education teacher is to be given information about the students in their class with IEPs, 504 plans, and medical accommodations.
• Placement: a student's placement is decided by the IEP team. Whenever possible, students with IEPs are to be distributed evenly across general education classrooms.
• 504 plans: the teacher meets with building administration before or during the plan's start, and current teachers are asked for input on accommodations before the end of the year.
• Asking for help: any teacher can ask for a team review of a student's program, or for a support team to help deliver instruction.
• Caseloads: a speech and language pathologist's caseload should be no more than 55 students.

• Just cause: a teacher cannot be disciplined, reprimanded, or reduced in rank or pay without just cause. Discipline is progressive, starting with a written warning, though a serious offense can skip steps.
• Representation: a teacher is entitled to have a union representative present when being disciplined.
• Layoffs: if positions are cut, the order is set by years of experience in the district, then certification, evaluation rating, and discipline record, then service and training. Seniority is the final tie-breaker.
• Citizenship: the contract says teachers "shall be entitled to full rights of citizenship," and that a teacher's religious or political activities are not grounds for discipline.
• Grievances: a teacher who believes the contract has been violated can file a grievance. It goes to the building administration first, then the Superintendent, then an outside arbitrator.