ARTICLE 13 TEACHER PROGRAMS

Providence School District

Effective upon the ratification of this Agreement the following Article 13 Teacher Programs provisions will be applicable. Nothing herein shall be construed to abrogate the powers and duties reserved by law and regulation to the City as provided under R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-53.1-1, et seq., nor can any provision of this Article affect or change any educational curriculum or school structure.

13-1 Programming preferences will be honored to the extent consistent with the preparation and experience of the teacher and the needs of the school system. All assignments shall be made on an educationally sound basis. Building administrators shall exercise professional judgment when making instructional assignments; however, they shall demonstrate that all decisions meet one or more of the following criteria:

 

Criteria Area

 

Elements of the Criteria Area

 

1. Prioritizing the staffing of high-need and/or specialty classrooms with highly effective and appropriately trained teachers

 

Assignment practices that match:
o Highly effective teachers to intervention classes
o Teachers with specialized and relevant training to high need and specialty classrooms
o Teachers with successful experience working with high need or specialty classrooms

 

2. Matching of teacher skills, professional experience, and training to instructional assignments Assignment practices that match:

 

o Teachers with specialized and relevant training to high need and specialty classrooms

 

3. Ensuring an appropriate, manageable, and equitable balance of course assignment between and amongst instructional staff Creation of:

 

o Teacher schedules that don't unreasonably assign large numbers of either intervention or advanced student groups to a single teacher


o Teacher schedules that distribute the number and timing of administrative and preparatory periods on the basis of student and school need

4. Consideration of teachers' programmatic preferences, as communicated through their preference sheets.

Assignment practices that:


o Take seriously the consideration teachers' professional judgment and their expertise in meeting student need as expressed through preference sheets;


o Honor preference sheets whenever such assignments are instructionally sound and coincide with student need.

 

These priority areas shall be the driving force behind instructional assignments. In no case shall principals make staffing decisions that are arbitrary, capricious, or driven by forces that are not clearly and demonstrably associated with the above criteria in their stated order. To that end, all tools and processes developed to support need-driven instructional assignments will require transparency, objectivity, and professionalism on the part of all participants. Teachers shall be given the opportunity to discuss their assignment requests with their principal and shall have the right to request a written explanation. Upon request, building administrators shall provide an adequate written explanation that clearly demonstrates the rationale resulting in their instructional assignment within five (5) days of the teacher's request. In the event of an unclear or unsatisfactory response, teachers will have the opportunity to appeal their assignment to the Teacher Program Committee.

Preference sheets to remain active must be renewed annually in writing.

Teacher assignments at the Elementary level shall be made in accordance with the above criteria for any vacancy within a school which a teacher is fully-certified to teach and for which a teacher has indicated a preference on his/her preference sheet.

Notwithstanding the above, any two Elementary teachers teaching in the same school under the same area of certification may, by mutual agreement, exchange teaching assignments effective the subsequent school year. Teachers who mutually agree to exchange positions shall indicate in writing to the principal their desire to exchange positions after needs based assignments are made but no later than the last day of the school year. All teacher exchange requests shall be reviewed and approved by the building Principal.  The Principal shall notify the teachers in writing, of the approval or denial no later than fifteen (15) days after receipt of said request.  Both the Office of Human Resources and the Union office shall be notified of all teacher exchange requests and the Principal’s decision.

13- 2 Teachers shall be provided with a list of all courses or Elementary grade levels and type of class to be offered to students for the next school year prior to the completion of preference sheets.  New courses to be offered shall be highlighted. A teacher who has designed or created new course offerings shall be given first preference to teach said course for the first year of its offering.

Preference sheets may be filed by teachers each year by the annual date as established by the District. Preference sheets shall be in effect through and inclusive of the renewal date of the following year.

13- 3 No later than ten (10) days prior to the end of the school year, teachers shall receive their program for the following year which shall include the names of the courses or grade level that the teacher will teach the following school year.

No later than fifteen (15) days prior to the beginning of the school year, teachers shall be provided with their total program for the following year, which shall include the periods and rooms where their assignments are scheduled.

If personnel or program changes occur during the summer that require a change in a teacher's program, the principal or supervisor shall provide reasonable notification to the teacher.

If personnel or program changes occur after the start of the school year that requires a change in a teacher's program, the principal shall convene the Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) to review the request for a change.

The ILT shall review and approve or reject the request for a change by a simple majority vote. If the request for a change is approved, the Teacher Program Committee shall be notified and said teacher shall be given five (5) teaching days notice. The teacher whose program has been changed or the building principal may appeal the decision of the ILT to the Teacher Program Committee within five (5) days of the decision of the ILT.  In the event of an appeal, the teacher shall retain his/her original schedule until final resolution. The Teacher Program Committee’s decisions are final and binding. The Teacher Program Committee shall convene as necessary.
The Teacher Program Committee for the Providence School system shall be comprised of three (3) persons appointed by the Superintendent of Schools and three (3) persons appointed by the President of the Providence Teachers Union. In the event the Teacher Program Committee cannot reach consensus on an appeal filed by a teacher or a building administrator, said appeal will be reviewed by the Superintendent whose decision shall be final and binding.

13-4  Teaching periods shall not exceed five (5) per day, or twenty-five (25) per week.

13-5  Program Guidelines

13-5.1 Teachers shall be programmed as to have a minimum of lesson preparations. Program requests of teachers shall be taken into consideration in determining this minimum. This policy shall be followed especially for beginning teachers and teachers having homeroom classes with maximum teaching loads.

13-5.2 Teachers shall be assigned to teach in their area of certification only.

13-5.3 The number of different rooms in which assignments occur shall not exceed three (3) in any one day.

13-5.4 Equitable standards shall be applied within each school for exemption from homerooms, building assignments and for class size distribution.