ARTICLE XIV:
Teacher Protection
Section
A: Personnel File
1. An
official personnel file on each employee shall exist at the district personnel
office. Such file may include
transcripts, credentials, evaluations, health records, employment data, letters
of commendation and/or reprimand, payroll records, special reports on specific
incidents, and any other documents which are deemed to be necessary for
legitimate administrative purposes.
All materials placed in the employee's file and originating within the
school district shall be available to the employee at his/her request for
inspection in the presence of the person(s) responsible for keeping the
files. Furthermore, with the
written authorization of the employee, an Association representative or other
person may inspect the file.
2. The
employee will be provided a copy of any derogatory material which is based on
his/her conduct, service, character or personality, when such material is to be
added to his/her file. The copy of
the material shall be marked "INCLUDED IN OFFICIAL PERSONNEL FILE ON
_______________(Date)." The
date shall be filled in only after the employee has affixed his/her signature
on the actual copy to be filed, acknowledging that he/she has read the
material. Said signature does not
necessarily indicate agreement with the content of such material.
3. Only
those documents included in the official personnel file may be used in any
action against an employee.
4. If
a report relating to a specific incident is to be used against an employee, it
must be placed in the official personnel file within thirty (30) calendar days
after the administrator becomes aware of the incident.
5. The
employee shall have the right to respond, in writing, to all materials
contained in said file. Such
response shall become part of the file.
The teacher and/or his/her representative, with written authorization
from the teacher, shall have the right to receive copies of any of the contents
of his/her file.
6. Material
originating outside the district before employment by USD 470 shall be placed
in the official personnel file in a sealed envelope marked "PRE-EMPLOYMENT
DOCUMENTS-RESTRICTED ACCESS ONLY", and shall not be used against the
employee.
7. The
employee retains the right to place documents into his/her official personnel
file which pertain to his/her competence and/or performance.
8. Any
document deleted from the employee's official personnel file must be
surrendered to him/her at the time of deletion.
9. An
employee may petition the superintendent to remove any derogatory document(s)
from his/her official personnel file after five (5) years from the date of
inclusion.
10. An official log sheet shall be created and
maintained to keep a record of any person(s), except authorized USD 470 Central
Office administrators or clerical employees, viewing any of the contents of an
employee's official personnel file and the date of viewing. The log sheet will become a part of the
file.
11. In addition to the official personnel file, each
immediate supervisor may maintain a working file on each employee under his/her
supervision. The working file
shall be confidential with access only to the immediate supervisor and the
employee involved. Other access
shall be permissible only with the specific authorization of the employee. Working files shall be used to store
those documents which the immediate supervisor is using in working with an
employee to improve his/her performance.
With the exception of evaluations, documents in the working file shall
not be carried over to a succeeding year unless previously transmitted to the
official personnel file.
Section B: Selection Procedure for Additional
Responsibility
1. The
Board of Education (Curriculum Director), during March of every year, shall
actively solicit for the following year, written applications for the positions
of Building Department Chair, Grade Level Coordinator, Head Teacher, and any
other positions which may in the future be determined to be of a similar
nature.
2. Eligibility
- For an applicant to be considered he/she shall be:
a. a
teacher in U.S.D. 470, except for the Special Education Department Head.
i. First
priority given to tenured teachers.
ii. Second
priority given to full-time teachers.
b. assigned
to teach on-site for the entire instructional day, if a head teacher.
3. Application
- Application shall be made on a form provided by the district
administration. Said form shall
allow enough flexibility to enable the applicant to fully state his/her qualifications
and/or goals relative to the position sought. Candidates may also be nominated by their building
administrators.
4. Selection
of Head Teacher - Selection shall be made by the Superintendent's Cabinet on or
before May 15. Successful
applicants shall be notified, in writing, in a timely manner.
5. Building Department Chair and Grade Level Coordinator may be appointed.
6. District
Department Head(s) may be appointed.
Section
C: Notification of Teacher
Assignment
1. All
teachers, newly hired and returning, shall be provided with written
descriptions of their tentative teaching and building assignments by June 15 of
each calendar year.
2. Late
Change - Any change of teaching or building assignment after June 15, shall be
immediately accompanied by written notification to any and all affected
teachers.
ARTICLE XV:
Teachers' Basic Contract
The
teachers' basic contract language has been duly negotiated by the parties and
this Master Agreement is incorporated into the teachers' basic contract.
NOTE: Teachers' basic contract, contract
addendum to teachers' basic contract, and supplemental contract are included
with this agreement.
ARTICLE XVI:
Liquidated Damages on Contract Termination
Purpose: The Board of Education and the teachers
agree that when a teacher resigns or otherwise fails to honor his/her contract
after execution of the contract or after the applicable date under the Kansas
Continuing Contract Law, the damages to the school district are not easily
ascertainable. The elements of
damages may include, but not be limited to, the loss of recruiting time to find
the best possible replacement, adjustments and changes in class scheduling,
reassignments of teaching duties and class loads, reassignments of extra
curricular duties, interview teams must be scheduled during vacation times, a
large number of the possible replacements may already be under contract with
other school districts, the board will incur increased advertising costs to
contact possible teachers not under contract, and if class assignments and
coaching assignments are changed, it may not allow sufficient time for teachers
and coaches to prepare for the next year's teaching loads. The monetary value of the above damages
is difficult, if not impossible, to determine.
1. It
is therefore agreed that a teacher
currently under contract shall be
declared under contract for the next teaching year unless a resignation is submitted on or before May 15, of
the current school year
according
to the Continuing Contract Law of the State of Kansas. New teachers coming into the district
shall be declared under contract when their contract has been approved by the
Board of Education.
2. In
the event any teacher resigns or fails to honor the terms of his/her contract
after the effective date set out above, the Board and teachers agree that the
teacher shall pay to the board liquidated damages as follows:
2.1 If the
teacher resigns after May 15, and before the next June 15, the parties agree
that liquidated damages shall be in the amount of $500.00; if the resignation
is between June 16 and July 15, the liquidated damages will be in the amount of
$1,000.00.
2.2 If the
teacher resigns or fails to fulfill his/her
contract after the following July
15, the parties agree that liquidated damages shall be $100.00 for each full or
any part of a month remaining on his/her contract up to a maximum of $1,000.00.
3. It
is agreed that the amount of agreed liquidated damages shall be paid by the
teacher to the Board of Education prior to the board accepting the resignation
of the teacher and releasing the teacher from his/her contract.
4. It
is further agreed that in the event the board owes the teacher additional
salary amounts after the teacher resigns or fails to honor his/her contract,
the board may deduct the amount of agreed liquidated damages from the amount
owed to the teacher, and the teacher consents and agrees to the deduction of
the amount of the liquidated damages from the amount to the teacher by the
board.
5. It
is further agreed that the Superintendent of Schools shall notify, in writing,
any teacher who has resigned a valid contract, after May 15, of the agreed
obligation to pay appropriate liquidated damages. The Superintendent of Schools shall provide the President of
ACTA a copy of the notification within fifteen (15) days of notice that a
teacher has resigned and that specified liquidated damages are due to the
district.
6. All liquidated damage provisions will be waived under
the following circumstances: (1) a
suitable replacement is found, contract offered and signed by the candidate
within 15 days of the boardÕs acceptance of the resignation and approved by the
board at the next regularly scheduled board meeting; (2) the ill health of self
or a family member or (3) at any other time at the discretion of the board.
The following procedures will be used for violations of Board Policy, the Negotiated Agreement and Teacher Handbooks.
1. Upon the first occurrence, a documented verbal warning will be given to the employee within five (5) days of the infraction.
Note: In the event of four unrelated documented verbal warnings during one contract year, a written reprimand will be placed in the employeeÕs personnel file at the District Office. Any subsequent infractions would result in the employee being placed on a plan of assistance (appendix form 3).
2. Upon the second occurrence of a similar nature, a
written warning will be placed in the employeeÕs working file.
3. Upon the third occurrence of a similar nature, a
written reprimand will be placed in the employeeÕs personnel file in the
District Office and an action plan (form G) will be developed by the principal
and employee to correct the problem and placed in the employeeÕs working file.
4. Upon the fourth occurrence of similar nature, the
employee will be placed on a plan of assistance. If the employee does not successfully complete the plan of
assistance, the employee may be suspended or terminated.
NOTE: None of this excludes the possible
involvement of law enforcement if local, state or federal laws are broken. Nothing in this article shall prevent
the Superintendent from acting with authority to immediately suspend an
employee until the suspension is resolved by board action at the next regular
or special meeting of the Board.