A. School Year

a. The length of the school year shall be one hundred eighty (180) instructional days for students. Each year there shall be one (1) day for orientation within three (3) days prior to the first instructional day of school.

b. There will be three (3) professional development days planned and scheduled by the district.

c. A professional development day shall not exceed six (6) hours. Said hours shall be scheduled before the last instructional day and not during vacation periods. The hours shall be devoted to professional development activities and shall be a non-teaching, non-student time.

B. The length of the teaching day shall be seven (7) consecutive hours.

C. Teachers shall not be required either to report earlier than fifteen (15) minutes before the start of the students' school day or to remain any later. In case of emergency or unforeseen situations, and if no teacher volunteers, the principal or his designee may require a teacher or teachers to report not more than thirty (30) minutes before or to remain not more than thirty (30) minutes after school in lieu of the aforementioned fifteen (15) minute period. Teachers may also be required to attend meetings authorized by paragraph D, Article V. The school day may be adjusted for any bargaining unit member when mutually agreed upon by the District, represented by the administration or their designee and the Union, represented by the executive board or their designee. However, the total day for such personnel shall not exceed the specified time.

D. Teachers may be required to attend the following meetings:

a. Eleven (11) hours of meetings per year called by the Superintendent or by the Building Principal. These meetings shall begin no later than fifteen (15) minutes after the students' dismissal. Meetings may be less than 1 hour but shall last no longer than (1.5) consecutive hours and one (1) meeting shall last no longer than two (2) hours. Teachers taking academic course work shall be excused from attendance at the meetings called under this paragraph if attendance at the meetings will interfere with attendance at such course. In this situation, it is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure they obtain, understand, and follow through on all presented information. Except in emergencies, one (1) weeks’ notice of meeting date and duration will be given. Scheduled meeting time is counted as actual meeting time – cannot bank unused minutes.

b. One (1) day each month for departmental meetings. These meetings shall begin no later than fifteen (15) minutes following the students' dismissal and shall last no longer than one (1) consecutive hour.

c. One (1) evening meeting each year which shall begin not earlier than 5:30 P.M. and end at a reasonable time.
Teachers shall be required to attend two (2) meetings each year for parent conferences. One (1) afternoon and one (1) evening conference session shall be scheduled. Each session shall not exceed three (3) hours. There will be a minimum of two (2) hours between the afternoon session end time and the evening session start time.

Middle and secondary schools’ conferences shall be held between 11:30 a.m. – 2:30p.m. and between 5:30 p.m. -8:30 p.m. Elementary school conferences shall be held between 12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Parent conference dates will be scheduled by the Principals and approved by the Superintendent or his/her designee.

d. Personnel in their first year of teaching and personnel in their first year of service in the school district may be required to attend up to four (4) additional orientation sessions and participate in monthly mentoring sessions.

e. Attendance at any other meetings or functions beyond the regular school day shall be at the option of the individual teacher.

E. It is expected that teachers shall give thirty (30) calendar days’ notice of resignation, but the Superintendent may accept notice with less than thirty (30) calendar days’ notice at his/her discretion. Teachers are encouraged to follow acknowledged professional courtesy and give as much advance notice of any impending intent to resign.

Any teacher that is eligible for retirement and notifies the Superintendent by December 15th in writing of their intent to retire at the end of the current school year will be paid for their remaining sick days at the rate of twenty-five dollars ($25) per day, not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000.) Any teacher that is eligible for retirement and notifies the Superintendent by December 15th, in writing, of their intent to retire at the end of the next school year will be paid for their remaining sick days at the rate of twenty-five dollars ($25) per day, not to exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000.) This will be paid in the employee’s last paycheck.

F. All teachers as professionals dedicate themselves to the complete development of their students. To this end, all teachers shall provide appropriate assistance to their students. This assistance will be given by the teacher before and/or after the school day.

G. School Counselors may be required to work up to four (4) days during the summer vacation period for grading and scheduling purposes for which they shall receive paid time at their per diem rate.