ARTICLE 17 SENIORITY, LAYOFF AND RECALL

Bristol Warren School District

If there are no vacancies for educators whose positions have been eliminated due to declining enrollment or programmatic elimination/redesign, educators will be placed on a recall list according to their Certification alignment as defined in Article 19 Section A and Experience and Evaluation Score from the Matrix.

Experience and Evaluation Matrix

1. If two or more educators receive the same Experience and Evaluation Score, the educator with the most district experience will be recalled. In the case of a tie, the educator with the most district experience will be recalled.

2. In the event that the RIDE evaluation process is eliminated, replaced, or modified in any way, (including, but not limited to the elimination of the domains, a change in the criteria of the domains, a change in the ratings used in the RIDE evaluation model etc.), the parties agree to reopen negotiations to address any impact.

A. Seniority. The placement of teachers employed before July 1, 1993 on the seniority list was determined using the following guidelines:

1. Date of appointment by official action of the Committee to a permanent position or Leave of Absence with no break in service.

2. In the event of a tie, the starting date of service shall determine seniority.

3. Starting date shall be defined as the first day of employment in a permanent position or leave of Absence with no break in service to which the individual has been appointed by official action of the Committee.

4. In the event that seniority cannot be determined as above, a lottery shall be employed to determine seniority. The lottery must be conducted by the Superintendent or his or her designee, a representative of the Association, the teachers affected, unless they waive their right to be present in writing, and a neutral witness.

The seniority of any teacher hired on or after July 1, 1993, shall be determined by the date of appointment by official action of the Committee to a permanent position (a true vacancy).

Time in service for the purpose of determining seniority will include any time the individual was appointed to a position held by a teacher on an officially granted leave of absence, provided that there is no break in service between said time and appointment to a permanent position by official action of the Committee.

In the event that seniority cannot be determined, the lottery procedure outlined above will be followed.

On or before November 15th of each year, the Committee shall publish a system wide seniority roster which will be posted in each school. The seniority list shall include: the teachers complete name, the date of entering service, and the date of appointment by the School Committee. If a teacher questions his or her position on the roster and it cannot be resolved informally, the dispute shall be referred to the grievance procedure.

Seniority shall accrue during active employment and during all authorized leaves of absence and periods of layoff.

Seniority shall terminate upon:

a. Resignation.

b. Discharge for cause.

c. Failure to return to work upon expiration of a leave of absence.

d. Refusal to accept recall pursuant to Paragraph C of this section.

e. Failure to be recalled within a period of thirty-six calendar months from layoff.

B. Recall

1. Any teacher laid off shall retain recall rights to twenty four (24) calendar months

The right to recall extends to a teaching vacancy in any area in which the laid off teacher is certified at the effective date of layoff. No new teacher may be hired for any vacancy until all teachers on layoff who have the right to such vacancy have been offered recall according to their Certification alignment as defined in Article 19 Section A and Experience and Evaluation Score from the Matrix.

2. When the School Committee intends to fill a position for which a laid off teacher is eligible, the Superintendent shall notify said teacher by certified mail, return receipt requested, at his or her last known address. The teacher will notify the Superintendent in writing of his or her intent to accept or reject the position within a period of fourteen (14) calendar days after receipt of notification. Any teacher who is on the recall list is responsible to keep a current address on file with the Superintendent's Office. Copies of all recall notices will be sent to the Association President.

5. Teachers shall not forfeit seniority standing by acceptance or refusal to accept a position of lesser or greater employment.

6. A teacher may elect or reject recall to a position if the position which he or she is offered is for a shorter duration than the length of his or her original appointment.

7. The provisions of this Article shall apply to part-time teachers as well as full-time teachers.