Warwick - Article VI Assignment and Transfer

ARTICLE VI ASSIGNMENT AND TRANSFER

Warwick School District

6-1 TRANSFERS

6-1.1 Upon request, a list shall be provided to the Union of known vacancies presently being filled by substitute teachers, known new positions which are to be filled in September, and positions for which resignations have been received as of the date of the letter of request.

6-1.2 By the first week in June unless the date is changed by agreement of the parties, an up-to-date list of all known vacancies, new positions and positions of suspended teachers who have not been recalled will be posted.

6-1.3 JOB FAIR

Between the end of the school year and June 30 (or within one week of the end of school, whichever occurs later, unless changed by agreement of the parties, the parties will convene a Job Fair for: teachers who may be interested in a possible transfer, teachers who have been notified of an involuntary transfer, teachers returning from a leave of absence of one year or more, except as provided in 9-2.2 (Sabbatical) and 9-12.6 (Job Sharing) and/or those teachers who have no permanent assignment.

(A) The parties agree that each year, the President of the Union and the Director of Human Resources shall meet annually on or before May 1st to discuss and agree to the date, rules, and procedure for the Job Fair.

(B)

(1) Teachers who wish to transfer to another position in the bargaining unit in September shall submit a request in writing to attend the Job Fair. The written request will be made to the Director of Human Resources by June 15 unless the date is changed by agreement of the parties. The Superintendent may deny a teacher the right to transfer (6-1.3) if that teacher has had two (2) successive annual evaluations which have been deemed unsatisfactory within the previous two (2) years. The Superintendent shall notify those teachers so affected on or before June 1st.

(2) Any teacher who may wish to voluntarily transfer via the Job Fair to a position which is of another area of certification and/or of a change in grade level, elementary (K-6) or secondary (7-12), shall submit a letter of intent to the Superintendent of schools between April 1 and April 15 stating that he or she may wish to effectuate such a transfer at the upcoming Job Fair. All letters must be submitted electronically, which will result in the submission being time-stamped, with a copy to be given to the teacher and a copy sent to the Union. The Superintendent will compile a list of all the applicants by their seniority date and accept the one hundred (100) most senior teachers.

If the Superintendent wishes to question this proposed transfer than he/she shall notify the teacher(s) and convene a meeting with the teacher(s) and Union President within five (5) business days.

Absent any request/notification to the teacher(s) to meet with the Superintendent, said proposed transfer shall be considered approved to transfer subject to the Job Fair.

If after meeting with the teacher(s) and the Union president, the Superintendent decides to deny the proposed transfer, it shall be for an articulable overriding educational concern. The denial and all the reason(s) shall be set forth in writing and sent to the teacher within three (3) business days of the meeting. The Superintendent shall also identify the steps that the teacher could take to remediate any alleged deficiencies or shortcomings. Once the teacher has completed the Superintendent’s recommended remediation steps, the Superintendent shall review and approve the transfer, subject to the Job Fair.

This procedure shall only be applicable to teachers seeking a voluntary transfer.

The Union may appeal within five (5) business days the Superintendent’s decision to expedited arbitration as follows:

1. Annually the Union and the School Committee shall select one arbitrator per year to hear all such appeals. The hearing shall be held between May 1 and May 15;

2. The Arbitrator shall render his/her decision within twenty (20) calendar days;

3. The arbitrator may sustain the Superintendent or sustain the teacher and or may modify any proposed remediation plan;

4. If the teacher’s request is sustained, he/she may participate in the Job Fair and exercise his/her right to transfer;

5. If the teacher’s request is denied, he/she may reapply next year; however, he or she still may participate in the Job Fair if a position does not involve a change in grade level and certification.

If the parties agree, a second job fair will be held during the second week of August. If there is to be such an August Job Fair, the teachers shall be notified fifteen (15) days prior to the Job Fair. For those teachers who may wish to participate, they shall notify the Director of Human Resources no later than seven (7) days prior to the Job Fair. Teachers who have
previously submitted a request pursuant to 6-1.3(b) shall be exempt from the notification requirement. Teachers who wish to transfer to a different area of certification who have been previously approved by the Superintendent or Arbitrator shall be eligible for the August Job Fair without additional review by the Superintendent. The invitation to the June job fair will suffice as an invitation to the August job fair. For two (2) business days after the membership receives notification of the August Job Fair, those not requesting an invitation to the June Job Fair will be allowed to apply for the August Job Fair.

(C) A letter of acknowledgement shall be forwarded to the teacher upon receipt of the request to attend the Job Fair. (D) A list of teachers who have requested to attend the Job Fair shall be maintained by the administration and made available to the Union upon request.

(E) Information pertaining to the transfer of teachers which took place at the Job Fair shall be made available to the Union on request by the Director of Human Resources.

(F) Each teacher attending the Job Fair will be given a card indicating his/her seniority date which shall be used throughout the bidding process for each vacancy at the Job Fair, unless the Job Fair is virtual.

(G) Placement of involuntarily transferred teachers, teachers with no assignments (those who were hired for positions which became available after the previous year's Job Fair and therefore must bid on a permanent assignment at the next Job Fair), and teachers returning from a leave of absence, may necessitate restricted bidding in some subject areas at the Job Fair. If bidding is restricted, only those teachers who currently hold a teaching assignment in the area of the restricted bidding are eligible to bid on the vacant position.

(H) When a vacancy is to be filled at the Job Fair, the successful bidder will be the teacher with the greatest seniority who holds the requisite teaching certificate. Exceptions are: situations involving restricted bidding or the allowance of an involuntarily transferred teacher to return to their department/school if a vacancy becomes available through the bidding process. In cases where a common seniority date prevails, a draw lot will be held at the time of the Job Fair to determine the successful bidder.

(1) At the time of the awarding of the position to the senior bidder, the successful bidder (or proxy delegate) must present a copy of the valid certificate pertinent to the vacant position. If the teacher's certification is scheduled to expire before his/her new assignment begins, any award of a position is contingent upon that teacher successfully renewing his/her certification before his/her new assignment begins at the start of the school year. The Warwick Public Schools will not be responsible for providing copies of certificates on the day of the Job Fair. If a teacher fails to produce the requisite valid certificate at that time, the position will then be awarded to the teacher with the next greatest seniority who produces a valid teaching certificate for the position.

(J) As teachers successfully bid on vacant positions at the Job Fair, the positions from which they are transferring shall be available for bidding and filled in the same manner.

(K) All known vacancies and newly created vacancies are to be posted for bidding at the Job Fair. Said vacancies shall not be filled permanently with newly hired teachers unless no other member of the bargaining unit has chosen to bid on said vacancies at the Job Fair.

(L) If a position is vacated after the Job Fair, and if the position is not one which can be filled by a suspended (laid off) teacher, the vacancy shall be filled by a permanent teacher on a temporary basis until the next Job Fair unless the vacancy has been posted system-wide. A newly created position which occurs after the Job Fair shall likewise be filled on a temporary basis.

(M) Teachers arriving late at the Job Fair will be given the opportunity to bid on any subsequent positions offered for bid after their arrival. However, no later bids will be accepted for positions offered for bid prior to arrival.

(N) Each teacher who has been awarded a position at the Job Fair shall receive written verification which memorializes in writing his/her new teaching assignment. Once a teacher has successfully bid on a position at the Job Fair, he/she may not bid on any subsequent positions at that Job Fair. In addition, the successful bidder may not reverse his/her bid after being awarded the assignment.

(O) If a teacher is unable to attend the Job Fair in person, he/she may, upon completion of the Job Fair Proxy Form incorporated herein by reference, delegate an individual to serve as his/her personal representative with full responsibility to act on his/her behalf at the Job Fair.

6-1.4 Under no circumstances may a teacher be involuntarily transferred arbitrarily or for unsubstantiated disciplinary reasons. In cases where involuntary transfers are made necessary by changing conditions, such involuntary transfers shall be arranged on a fair basis in the following manner:

(A) In elementary schools where an involuntary transfer is made necessary, the teacher with the least seniority in the subject area in which the transfer is being made will be involuntarily transferred.

(B) In secondary schools in a department where an involuntary transfer is made necessary, the teacher with the least seniority will be involuntarily transferred to another building. In a case where members of a particular department may be
required to have multiple certifications, the person with the least seniority in the particular area of certification where the position is being eliminated will be involuntarily transferred.

(C) In special programs where an involuntary transfer is made necessary, the person in the particular program with the least seniority will be involuntarily transferred to another building within a program. If a position or particular schedule is being eliminated, then the person in that schedule or position will be transferred to whatever position in the program is open.

(D) In cases where the involuntary transfer of the least senior person will result in a layoff of that person and where that layoff would otherwise be avoidable, then the next most senior teacher will be involuntarily transferred.

6-1.5 Notice shall be given to the teacher as soon as possible after it has been determined that an involuntary transfer has been made necessary due to changing conditions. All teachers who are to be involuntarily transferred will be notified prior to June 15 unless the date is changed by agreement of the parties.

6-1.6 If a teacher has been notified that he/she is being involuntarily transferred from his/her permanent position and, as a result, bids into another position at the Job Fair, and his/her permanent position or other positions within the same school/department subsequently become available after the Job Fair but before the start of school in that year, then he or she may transfer back into his or her original permanent position. His or her position taken at the Job Fair will then be placed at the following year's Job Fair for bidding.

6-1.7 Teachers assigned to a particular school shall be allowed to indicate their preference for a vacancy which occurs in that school for the next school year, and for which they are certified. Where two or more teachers wish to be assigned to the vacant position, seniority in the school system shall prevail.

The school principal shall inquire among teachers whether they are interested in being assigned to a vacancy which has occurred in the school for the next school year. Reassigmnent within the school shall be made by the school principal.

If a teacher in a particular school wishes to move from a regular classroom assignment to a Special Education position, or a position in the Special Areas (Itinerants) which requires a different certificate, or if a teacher in the Special Area (Itinerants) and/or Special Education wishes to move to a vacancy in a regular classroom, he/she must apply for such transfer by means of the Job Fair. The same applies to elementary teachers who wish to transfer to an elementary science or elementary gifted position.

6-1.8 The following positions shall have additional requirements:

Science Teacher- Marine Environmental Sciences- U.S. Coast Guard Captain license and registry of Motor Vehicles Chauffeur's License;

Elementary Guidance Counselor- the ability to administer the WISC.

The successful bidder for these positions shall have one year from beginning the assignment to secure the aforementioned job requirements.

6-1.9 The parties have established and agreed upon a document, dated May 2024, that delineates the procedure for in-house and/or departmental transfers. The established procedure for in-house and/or departmental transfers shall be followed.

6-1.10 All in-house transfers shall take place before the Job Fair including without limitation the in-house transfers for K- 12 reading specialists/consultants.

6-2 JOB OPPORTUNITIES

6-2.1 All job openings for which additional compensation is provided, including, but not limited to, coaching positions, positions in the school’s athletic and recreational programs; teaching after school classes; teaching in the extended school programs; and all federally funded programs shall be posted in every school of the appropriate level, i.e. elementary or secondary. A copy of each posting shall be sent to the Union at the same time that it is sent to the schools. At the same time that postings are forwarded to the schools for posting, the School Committee will have the postings posted on the School Department's website.

6-2.2 All teachers regularly assigned to teach in the school system who have filed written application, shall be given preference for jobs for which additional compensation is provided including but not limited to positions in the school’s athletic programs, and federally funded programs, over department heads and other personnel from within or without the school system, based on qualifications and seniority. Coaches are excluded from this section; see Article 12-36.

6-2.3 All teachers who are members of this bargaining unit shall be given preference in appointments to, but not limited to, such paying extracurricular activities as driver education and yearbook advisor, based on qualifications and seniority.

6-2.4 Where other qualifications for the positions mentioned above are equal, selection shall be made on the basis of seniority.

6-2.5 Persons not appointed to a position they have applied for shall be given a written notice.

6-2.6 A list of all teachers appointed to the above positions shall be made available to the Union when requested sufficiently in advance.

6-3 SENIORITY

6-3.1 The Human Resource Office shall prepare a chronological list of teachers in the bargaining unit which will indicate the date on which members were hired. The list shall be made available when requested sufficiently in advance.

6-3.2 Seniority shall be defined as follows:

(A) Seniority shall be defined as follows: The length of continuous service in a permanent position in the Warwick Public Schools. (Note: Teachers permanently hired prior to 9/1/83 shall continue to receive credit for all days worked prior to their permanent appointment, provided such service is continuous.)

Seniority includes retroactive seniority if a substitute becomes entitled to retroactive seniority pursuant to section 5-3.1 provided that service is continuous.

(B) Provided continuous teaching service is of equal length, seniority within a particular area will be the determining factor. Where there is no distinction in length of continuous service or service in a particular area, decisions will be made by lot.

(C) Administrators returning to the bargaining unit involuntarily, shall be considered to have continuous service for the total number of years the individual served in the Warwick Public Schools both in the bargaining unit and as an administrator .

(D) Beginning September 1, 1979, if a teacher has had part-time, continuous service in the Warwick Public Schools, such service shall be prorated in determining seniority for transfer purposes.

6-4 JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

6-4.1 No teacher shall be responsible to more than one immediate supervisor except itinerant elementary teachers who are responsible to their department head and or subject matter supervisor. In the event that there is no department head or subject matter supervisor, said teachers will be responsible to the principal or administrative designee certified in the content area.

6-5 JOB SHARING

(A) If two permanent teachers share a job sharing assignment, a job sharing substitute teacher will be hired to fill the vacancy created by the job sharing partnership. The school system will require a one-half leave to be taken by the job sharing teachers, thereby making them eligible for retirement credits.

(B) In all job sharing situations, the Administration will determine the school/subject area assignment. The Administration may deny any job sharing requests.

(C) The rights of a full-time teacher permanently assigned to a position to return to his/her permanent position are governed by section 9-12.6.

(D) If at any point the School Department chooses not to continue a specific job sharing position, the School Department may terminate the arrangement and return people to their regular full-time assignments. Teachers should notify the Human Resource Office by April 1st if they are interested in participating in a Job Sharing Program or, if already involved, whether they wish to continue as a participant in the Job Sharing Program.

(E) Participation in the Job Sharing Program does not affect seniority status in relation to layoffs. The date of hire still prevails in this case.

(F) Participation in job sharing reduces seniority status in relation to transfer rights by one-half year, or the pro-rated percentage of their assignment.

(G) Benefits and sick days are prorated according to the percentage of participation.

(H) Retirement benefits are reduced by a prorated percentage of participation though the teacher may choose to purchase the other prorated difference. This is allowed because the School Department requires that job sharing participants will be on leave for the percentage of time they are not teaching.

(1) For short-term absences where a substitute is not available, the other job sharing partner will assume teaching responsibilities at one-half the substitute rate.

(J) If due to extenuating circumstances a permanent teacher asks to return to full-time employment after the initial approval by the Administration to participate in the program, the request may be considered on an individual basis after discussion with the appropriate administrative personnel. If approved, the return to full-time employment will be based on placement in an available vacancy for which the teacher is certified to teach. However, there is no guarantee that when the individual returns to full-time employment he/she will reassume the position he/she was previously assigned to until the start of the following school year (see section 9-12.6).