ARTICLE 24 SENIORITY

Glocester School Department

A. Seniority shall be defined as the years of continuous service in a position in the Glocester School District as computed from the beginning date of employment, as determined by the School Committee resolution.

1. For those teachers employed in the Foster or Foster-Glocester School Districts and who were subsequently appointed or assigned to a teaching position in Glocester shall have such prior service computed toward seniority in Glocester.

2. For the purpose of all Articles in the Contract in which seniority is mentioned, it shall be defined as above.

3. For teachers with equal length of service, the involved teachers will draw lots in the presence of the Superintendent and the Association President.

4. Seniority is broken upon termination or suspension for cause, retirement, refuses recall and/or resignation.

B. A list will be updated in order of seniority by the Superintendent and posted by October 15 of each school year in all school buildings. If a teacher questions his/her position on the seniority list which cannot be resolved informally, the dispute shall be submitted to the grievance procedure. The seniority list shall include the teacher's name and current address, and the areas in which the teacher is certified. Teachers shall be required to update their certification status, if any, no later than September 15 of each school year. The School Committee shall not be responsible for honoring any certification update information which is not a matter of record by February 1.

1. In cases of unpaid leave of absence or when on layoff, such time shall not accrue toward seniority, but seniority shall not be broken.

2. Seniority for part-time teachers shall be prorated (i.e., computed by the amount of time specified in the teacher's individual contract).

C. Layoff

1. On or before March 1 of each year, or such other date as may be fixed by law, the School Committee shall notify all teachers who will be laid off.

2. Layoffs shall be in the reverse order of seniority of certification within the area in which the layoffs are to occur. To avoid layoff, teachers shall bump the most junior teacher in any area(s) in which they hold certification.

D. Recall

1. Any teacher laid off pursuant to this provision shall have recall rights in order of seniority.

2. The right to recall extends to any teaching vacancy in any area in which the laid -off teacher is certified.

3. In the event of a vacancy the Superintendent shall post the position in all school buildings and notify the President of the Association. Position(s) remaining unfilled after voluntary transfers shall be filled from the recall list.

4. When the School Committee intends to fill a position for which a laid-off teacher has certification, the Superintendent shall notify, by certified mail, return receipt requested, at the last known address, the teacher with the greatest seniority in the area of certification. That 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.

5. If a notified teacher refuses to accept the position offered, or fails to respond to such notification within the above time limit, such teacher will lose all rights under this provision. Should this occur, the Superintendent will then notify the teacher with the next highest seniority in the area of certification of such vacancy, and the same procedure will apply.

6. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a teacher may reject recall, without waiving future recall rights, if the position rejected is for a shorter duration than the length of his/her original appointment.

7.No teacher shall forfeit recall rights by refusing to accept recall to employment requiring a different teaching load ( that is, FTE ) than was carried during their prior employment.

8. A laid off teacher so covered by this Article shall be entitled to the rights of this Article for a period of two (2) years from the date that the lay-offbecaine effective. This right does not extend to a position in the third academic year.

RIGL 16-13-2. (Example: a teacher laid off on May 30,2015 will have recall rights through May 30, 2017.)