Question:  My principal has kept us till 5pm for a staff meeting? What are my rights?

Answer:  12.2.8 Beyond the regular thirty-six and one quarter hour work week (at the close of the 7.25 hour day) a maximum of ninety (90) minutes, and in the circumstances provided in section 12.2.8.1 below, one hundred twenty (120) minutes per school month may be required for faculty meetings within the context of the forty (40) hour work week.

What does that mean?  

It determines when your schools duty day ends.  For example:  If your duty day ends at 3pm then your principal violated the contract by going till 5pm.  That is 30 minutes over the monthly allowance.  Once the 90 minutes have been used up they cannot have another staff meeting without FAC approval for that month.  

Question:  My principal uses staff development then staff meetings together on the short Tuesdays.  Is that allowed?

Answer:   Yes.  The principal can have the staff meeting after the student dismissal 12.2.8.2 then have "early Tuesday" activities.   

It is up to the principal when the staff meeting is to be held and it is important that the site representative keeps track of time used.  If the principal has a staff meeting then staff development, the staff development cannot run more than 90 minutes beyond the duty day during the course of the month.  It is important that the site representatives keep track of these times and inform their principals if they have used up their staff meeting time.  

12.2.2 A duty free lunch period of no less than thirty (30) minutes per day shall be provided.  What does that mean?  Your principal cannot assign you something or set up a meeting during your thirty minute lunch unless they arrange for you to receive your 30 minute lunch afterwards.  It is your contractual right and do not let principals take it away from you!!!

Question:  Are IEP's considered adjunct duty?

Answer:    On page 75 and 76 of the CEA/CUSD contract under Article 16.2.3

16.2.3.1 Release time shall be provided for all members of the Unit required to attend IEP Team (meetings) during the instructional day.

162.3.2 Required attendance at IEP Team meetings shall be considered as adjunct duty (as defined in 12.2.4), when the time extends beyond the duty day.  

Yes, IEP's are considered adjunct duty and once you go beyond 25 hours you shall be compensated at the adjunct duty pay rate per 12.2.4.1 of the contract.  

Question:  Am I required to attend an IEP?

Answer:  Under Education Code §56431 the IEP team shall include:

A member of the IEP tem shall not be required to attend and IEP meeting, in whole or part, if the parent(s) and the local educational agency agree that the attendance of the member is not necessary because the member's area of expertise or related services is not being modified or discussed in the meeting.

Yes, you are required to attend if you are the regular ed., special ed., or support services provider of a child with an IEP.  If the IEP meeting does not modify or discuss your area of expertise you do not have to attend if you get written permission from the parent and the district.

Question:  I have exceeded my 25 hour adjunct duty due to an after school IEP team meeting.  I have filled a time card out for my adjunct duty and the site administrator or the district will not sign it or recognize the time card.  What do I do?

Answer:  IEP meetings are required by law and a site administrator must sign your time cards if you exceed 25 hours of adjunct duty.  If an IEP team meeting is scheduled before or after the duty day and you are required to attend then the district must pay you for your time.

If the district or your site administrator will not recognize or pay you for your adjunct duty hours due to an IEP please contact the CEA office immediately at 257-2122.

If you have any questions please call the CEA office at 408-257-2122.

Question:  What is my personnel file?  May I see it?

Answer:  Page 53 of the contract under Article 9 deals with personnel files.  Members have the following rights with reference to his/her official personnel file:

9.15.1.1  Each member of the Unit shall possess the right to have his/her file(s) disclosed to himself/herself provided that the request is made at the time when such member is not actually required to render services to the employer.  

9.15.1.2  ...Such review shall take place during normal business hours at the place where these records are stored.  If necessary the member of the Unit shall be released from the duty during non-instructional time for this purpose.

9.15.1.4  ... Examinations of the files shall take place in the presence of an administrator.  

During the course of your career items are placed in your personnel file which includes evaluations.  You can request to view your file by contacting the human resources department and setting up an appointment to view your file.  The request to view your file cannot be denied.  

Question:  What is in it?  Can the district put anything in my file?

Answer:  Evaluations, teaching credentials, transcripts, salary placement and such.  

9.15.1.2  Information of a derogatory nature, ... shall not be entered or filed unless or until the member of the Unit is given notice and an opportunity to review and comment thereon.  A member of the Unit shall have the right to enter and have attached to any such derogatory statement his/her own comments thereon.  

9.15.1.3  The member shall possess the right to have copies of the contents included within the file made available to him/her ...

Nothing can go into your file that is derogatory in nature without you being notified first and given a chance to comment upon the document.  

Question:  What is the school site file?

Answer:  The school site file is for materials that can be used for evaluation or documentation of incidents at the school site.  

9.15.1.4  Negative material in the supplemental file at the school not considered during a current or previous evaluation shall not be considered during a subsequent evaluation.  Only material from the current evaluation period may be retained in the site file.  

The site file should be cleaned out at the end of each school year.  

CEA recommends that you should always review your Personnel File at the district office every few years to make sure that nothing was placed in your file by mistake.  If you have any questions please call the CEA office at 408-257-2122.

Question:  Maternity Leave-- What is it? Are there different types? How do I request it?  

Answer:  Under normal circumstances the member should give the District at least sixty (60) calendar days notice.  Maternity leave is when your doctor requires you to be at home prior to delivery and/or after the birth.  The member of the Unit may use sick leave if physically disabled and unable to render service to the District as a direct result of the pregnancy.  

Once the doctor requires you to stay at home you will use any sick leave you have accrued.  Once sick leave has been exhausted and you do not have supplemental coverage you can go onto differential pay for up to 100 days.  What is differential pay?  Substitute differential pay is where you get paid your regular salary minus what it costs to have a substitute.  

Question:  Is there anything else I can get to supplement Maternity/Parental Leave?

Answer:   CTA endorses a Disability Plan that you can enroll into where maternity is covered.  The CTA Group Disability Plan requires you to use your sick days first while receiving a $25 a day allowance.  After the sick days are used up and you go onto sub-differential pay the Group Disability Plan will pay up to 75% of your salary which is coordinated with your differential pay.  You cannot apply for the plan while you are pregnant.

Example:  Your daily salary is $300 a day.  Sub pay is $150.  You would receive $150 dollars through differential pay.  If you have the Group Disability Plan your salary after differential pay would be $225. 

What you can do?  

Question:  I want to teach a supplementary lesson with materials that I have created for my class but my principal has said I cannot use them nor teach the lesson.  What can I do?

Answer:  Academic Freedom.  Article 2.6 of the CEA/CUSD contract on page 4 states that academic freedom shall be guaranteed to members in the study, investigation, presentation, and interpretation of facts and ideas concerning man, human society, the physical and biological world, and other branches of learning subject to accepted standards of professional responsibility with due regard to the maturity level of the student, district rules and policies, and the laws of the State of California.

It means to use good judgment about what you bring in the classroom for your students use.  You have the right to supplement your materials as you see fit.  If a site administrator forbids you to use materials have them put it in writing and follow that order and then contact your CEA site representative.

Question:  My phone is not working in my classroom and has not been working for some time.  What am I to do?

Answer:  According to section 8.4 (page 42) of the contract "all classrooms shall be provided with telephones consistent with the District's telecommunication plan.

The district is required to provide phone service to your classroom.  It is not just a convenience issue but a safety issue.  If your phone is not working and you have put work orders in and nothing has happened contact your CEA representative or call the CEA office at 257-2122.  

10.6.1 When a member of the Unit is required to appear before the Board or the Administration concerning any matter which could adversely affect the member of the Unit's employment, the member of the Unit's position, or the member of the Unit's salary; the member of the Unit shall be entitled to have a representative of the Association present.  Further, when a member of the Unit is required to appear before the Board, the member of the Unit will be advised in writing of the reasons for the requirement.

Question:  What are your rights in the suspension of a student?

Answer:  Education Code § 48900 and Cupertino Union School District Board Policy 5144.1

What it Says  

Ed Code 48900, 48910  A teacher may suspend any pupil from his/her class, for any acts enumerated in section 48900, for the day of the suspension and the following day.  

The teacher shall immediately report the suspension to the principal and send the pupil to the principal for appropriate action.  As soon as possible, the teacher shall ask the parent or guardian for a conference regarding the suspension.  Whenever practicable, a counselor or psychologist shall attend the conference, and an administrator shall attend if requested by the teacher, parent or guardian. 

The pupil shall not be returned to the class from which the pupil was suspended without the concurrence of the teacher and principal (48910) A teacher may also refer a pupil to the principal for consideration of a suspension for any of the acts enumerated in section 48900 (48910)

As the teacher you have the right to suspend a student due to one of the reason in section 48900 (those reasons are on the back side of this sheet).  A suspended student cannot be placed in another regular class during the period of suspension.  

 

Question:  What if the student is in Special Education?

Answer:   48900.5  Suspension shall be imposed only when other means of correction fail to bring proper conduct.  However, a pupil, including an individual with exceptional needs, as defined in Section 56026, may be suspended for any of the reasons enumerated in section 48900 upon a first offense, if the principal or superintendent of schools determines that the pupil violated subdivision (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) of Section 48900 or that the pupil's presence causes a danger to persons or property or threatens to disrupt the instructional process.

"Suspension" means removal of a pupil from instruction for adjustment purposes.  It does not mean reassignment to another class at the same school where the pupil will receive instruction.  Ed. Code § 48925. However, if the pupil poses no imminent danger to campus safety, they may be assigned to "a supervised suspension classroom," separated from other students, to complete schoolwork assigned by the pupil's regular teacher or the supervising teacher Ed. Code § 48911.1

Do not be afraid to use this clause.  If a site administrator ignores your suspension or reprimands you for invoking this Ed. Code please contact CEA at 257-2122.

a)  1)  Causing, attempting, or threatening to cause physical injury to another person

     2)  Willfully using force or violence on another person

b)  Possessing selling, or furnishing any firearm, knife, explosive or other dangerous object, unless possession is with written permission from a certificated employee concurred in by the principal.

c)  Possession of an imitation firearm...

d)  Unlawfully possessing, using, selling or furnishing or being under the influence of a controlled substance...

e)  Possessing or using tobacco

f)  Committing or attempting to commit robbery or extortion

g)  Causing or attempting to cause damage to school or private property

h)  Stealing or attempting to steal school or private property

i) Knowingly receiving stolen school or private property

j)  Disrupting school activities or willfully defying valid authority

k)  Harassing, threatening or intimidating a witness in a school disciplinary proceeding

l)  Committing an obscene act or engaging in habitual profanity.

m)  Committing a sexual assault or sexual battery

n) Committing sexual harassment, as defined (applies to grades 4-12)

o) Causing, attempting or threatening to cause, or participating in hate violence as defined (applies to grades 4-12)

p)  Intentional harassment, threat, intimidation of pupil or group of pupils that materially disrupts or ... creates a hostile education environment. Ed. Code § 48900.4

q)  Making terrorist threats, as defined, against school officials or school property

Suspension is to be the last resort after the failure of other forms of discipline. Ed. Code § 48900.5 and 48911.

Question:  What is the class size limit?

Answer:  On page 38 of the contract under Article 7 deals with class size issues.  Class size limits are broken up into different sizes according to the grade level or school site you work at.  

7.1.1.1 "For the first semester each elementary school shall be assigned one (1) classroom teacher member of the Unit for every thirty-one (31) students.  ...based on the enrollment as of "the ten day count"...

"Each middle school shall be assigned one (1) teacher member of the Unit for every twenty-five (25) students enrolled as of the end of the first school month."

"ELD classes shall be assigned one (1) teacher member of the Unit for every twenty five (25) students enrolled as of the end of the first school month.

"Special Education students carried on a separate register shall not be included in this allocation"

What does that mean?  

Class Sizes are a bargained right even those with State mandated class size reduction which is limited to 20-1.

Question:  I teach Middle School and I have a lot more students than 25 to 1.  Why is that?

Answer:   Middle Schools take the number of students divided by the number of teachers to determine the 25-1 ratio.  

What does that mean?  

Middle schools use a period system which allows teachers to take more students per period.  This period system allows teachers prep time during the course of the day.  Under section 7.1.1.4 the school cannot determine the 25-1 ratio with the following Unit members:

Counselors, Resource Specialists, Special Education Teachers, Project Directors, Special Services Personnel, Itinerant Instructional Personnel, Teachers on Special Assignment and ELD Teachers (K-6)

Question:  I teacher 5th grade and I have 34 students in my class.  Is that right?

Answer:  CEA believes that class sizes should be smaller but under the current contract the district is allowed to have more than 31 students in a classroom.

What does this mean?  

Under the contract 7.1.1.6 if a 4-6 or 4-6 combo class reaches 34 students, you are entitled to one hour of instructional assistant time per day for your class.  If you have 35 students you are entitled to be given two hours of instructional aide time per day.  You must be sure to ask and use this time.  If you are not given the aide time please call your site rep or the CEA office at 257-2122.

Question:  What is a grievance?

Answer:  10.1 of the CEA/CUSD contract page 54, "A grievance is a claim by one or more members of the unit or the association of an alleged violation, misinterpretation or inequitable application of the terms, and conditions of this Agreement(contract)."

What does that mean?  

Your Association and the district have negotiated a contract that each must follow.  If at any time you think the district, usually your site administrator, violated the contract contact your CEA representative and review the contract.  

Question:  Are grievances a bad thing?

Answer:   NO!! The district would like you to think of grievances as a bad word.  A grievance is nothing more than a formal setting to allow both sides to come together and discuss issues or problems.  It allows disagreements to be resolved.  It is nothing more than a forum to resolve complaints, issues and disagreements.  

The association and the district will at times interpret the contract in different ways.  The grievance process allows both sides to present their disagreements in a formal setting.  Any member of the unit may at any time present a grievance to the district.

Question:  Is there a time line or time limit?

Answer:  YES!  10.5.11 on page 58 of the contract states, "No grievance shall be valid unless it shall be presented at Level I ... or the informal stage... within twenty (20) days after the aggrieved knew of the act or condition and its aggrieving nature that formed the basis of the grievance, if not so presented the grievance will be considered as waived."  

What does this mean?  

If something happens and you are not sure if it was legal or contractually correct then contact your representative and we can sit down with the site administrator and resolve it and/or we can file a grievance but it must be within 20 days of the occurrence unless that occurrence is ongoing which the time line starts over every day.

When in doubt set up an informal grievance with your site administrator and your site representative or Executive Director.  

Question:  My principal is trying to run and control FAC what do I do?

Answer: Faculty Advisory Committees or FAC is a school site committee mandated by the contract on page 4 section 2.7.  It is a committee made up of school staffs, itinerant support staffs and special education staff.  This committee should meet with the principal at least once monthly during the school year.

The FAC committee meets with staff to determine what needs to be discussed and then meets with the principal.  The agenda and direction of the meeting is determinate upon by the FAC.  The principal is not a FAC member.  The FAC chairperson is in charge of the meeting and the direction it follows.    

Question:   What does FAC do?  What areas in the school can/do we cover?

Answer: According the section 2.7.1 of the contract the FAC shall be involved in the development and improvement of the instructional program.  Also, section 2.7.3 the committee shall meet ... and review and discuss local school problems, practices, and budget.  The committee shall play an active role in the revision, development or improvement of building practices and shall provide and opportunity for planning and exchanging of ideas. 

What does that mean?  

It means you as a teacher have a voice in what is going on at your school site.  It also means that the Leadership Team should be a sub-committee to FAC.  Leadership teams are directed, led and appointed by the principal.  As a professional you should stand up and participate in what is going on at your school site.  

Question:  How is FAC determined?

Answer:    FAC is composed of teachers at your school site.  Again the principal is not a member.  FAC cannot be appointed by principals.  You must hold a secret ballot at the beginning of the school year and must be composed of at least three members.  The chairperson shall be selected by the FAC members.  CEA recommends that you start the process as soon as you can as problems arise in the beginning of the school year that needs to be dealt with.  

REMEMBER: FAC is your committee and your voice so stand up and use it!!!!

Question:  I am in a meeting with a site administrator, what do I need to know?

Answer:  It depends on what the meeting is about.

What does that mean?  

Question:  During the course of a meeting with your site administrator they raise their voice at you in anger or frustration.  During the course of a meeting you feel belittled or humiliated.  What do you do?

Answer:  You are an adult and a professional.  You should ALWAYS be treated as one.  You have the right to stop the meeting.  Ask the site administrator to calm down and then reschedule the meeting and ask for your site representative to be a witness.  If you are afraid to say anything to the site administrator then just get up and leave the room. 

What does that mean?