10.1  Length of Day

10.1.1        Classroom Teachers The length of duty day for teaching unit members shall be seven (7) hours and fifteen (15) minutes with the exception of elementary YRE teachers where the length of the duty day shall be seven (7) hours and thirty (30) minutes. The duty day includes a lunch which shall be of a minimum of thirty (30) minutes duration.

At each school site, attendance at more than three (3) mandatory meetings in one month shall not be required by the site administrator except as follows:

Meetings which are pursuant to state law or those required by categorically funded programs;

Meetings which address individual student discipline, complaints, or learning problems/progress (including IEP and/or Student Study Team meetings);

Meetings to address emergency situations such as student or civil unrest, criminal activity, or other serious events of the same magnitude;

Meetings resulting from duties voluntarily undertaken by the unit member.

Mandatory meetings shall not last longer than sixty (60) minutes either before or after the student day. This section shall not be applicable to non-student attendance days or shortened days. At the discretion of the site administrator, issues discussed at voluntary staff meetings shall be summarized at the next mandatory staff meeting or provided to the staff in writing.

10.1.1.1     Hours should be flexible so that if, with administrative approval, a teacher must arrive late or leave early on special occasions, such early departure is possible. Unless a substitute is provided and charged to sick leave, commensurate compensatory duty time shall be required and served within ten (10) days arranged by mutual agreement of the employee and supervisor.

10.1.1.2     The teacher duty day shall be no more than six and one-quarter (6 1/4) hours of assigned teaching time or other duties connected with classroom instruction as assigned by the principal. The above may be adjusted to meet mandates of minimum student day for apportionment purposes.

10.1.1.3     Student Contact Time Teaching unit members shall have a student instructional contact day not to exceed the following:

Kindergarten 201 minutes Grades 1-3 285 minutes Grades 4-5 306 minutes Grades 6-8 275 minutes

Grades 9-12       281 minutes

Elementary Enrichment        Teachers shall have a student instructional contact week not to exceed 1,350 minutes (27 sections at 50 minutes each per week which includes travel time).

10.1.1.4     New Teachers Teachers new to the District may work one additional day during their first year of employment if they are hired prior to the first day of required duty. The additional day of work shall be an orientation day assigned at the discretion of the District and will be compensated at each new teacher's per diem rate of pay.

10.1.2        Non-Teaching Members The length of the duty day for non-teaching unit members shall be eight (8) hours including lunch which shall be of a minimum of thirty (30) minutes duration. In the event that non-teaching members are required to attend to school business beyond their workday, commensurate compensatory time or pay shall be granted and arranged by mutual agreement of the employee and the supervisor/principal. If a non-teaching member must leave his/her work site early, unless a substitute is provided and charged to sick leave, commensurate compensatory duty time shall be required and served within ten (10) days, arranged by mutual agreement of the employee and supervisor. 

10.1.3        Duty-Day Parameters The regular duty days of members of the unit shall begin no earlier than 7:00 a.m. and not end later than 5:00 p.m. Individual work hours shall be consecutive. 

10.2 Reporting Arrival Procedures Upon arrival at their respective work sites, employees shall inform the office in a manner designated by the site administrator.  

10.3 Teaching Assignment

10.3.1        Elementary School The elementary student instructional contact day specified in Article 10, Section 10.1.3, Duty-Day Parameters, does not include recess in grades one through five (1-5). Elementary employees shall be provided a period of at least fifty (50) minutes per day to be used exclusively for professional meetings, preparation, planning and/or conferencing outside the instructional day. This period may be divided into two (2) segments and may occur before and/or after school.

10.3.1.1     Intermediate Preparation Periods Regular classroom teachers, teaching in grades four and five (4-5), shall be granted the equivalent of two (2) fifty (50)-minute periods per week to be used exclusively for professional meetings, preparation, planning, and/or conferencing during the instructional day. One (1) of these may be divided into two (2) segments. The above preparation times shall be credited to the unit member's student instructional contact day.  

10.3.1.2     Elementary Restroom Breaks It shall be the responsibility of elementary site administrators to provide for a restroom break of adequate duration for each teacher during the morning and afternoon except in emergency circumstances.

10.3.1.3     Elementary Parent Conferences In preparation for the fall elementary school parent conferences, teachers will have one (1) student-free day prior to the parent conference period. The parent conference day for elementary teachers grades one through five (1-5) shall consist of a shortened instructional day with parent/teacher conferences as arranged by the principal for the remainder of the workday. Such conference days shall be limited to no more than five (5) days for parent conferences held in the fall.

10.3.1.4     Flexible Starting Times To the extent practicable and feasible, the District may implement flexible starting times. The District shall make every attempt to rotate starting times to provide equitability among the schools.

10.3.1.5     Elementary Preparation Day The District agrees to provide two (2) additional shortened days for traditional elementary schools. These days shall be determined as part of calendar negotiations for the traditional school schedule. These days will be provided to traditional elementary school teachers for the purpose of preparing student progress reports at the end of the second and third trimesters.

10.3.1.6     Non-Classroom Supervision Non-classroom supervisory duties shall be distributed equitably to all teachers at a site and shall not exceed up to five (5) weeks of duty per year. In the event that supervisors are not available, teachers will be assigned on an emergency basis to ensure student safety. Such assignment will be equitably rotated from an established rotation list. Teachers required to perform such emergency duty will be given compensatory time commensurate with duty time served.

10.3.2        Middle School Middle School teachers shall have no more than five (5) periods of formal instructional contact, or six (6) with an extra-period assignment, per day. These teachers shall have one (1) period per day to be used exclusively for professional meetings, preparation, planning, and/or conferencing. This means that such teachers shall have no more than thirty (30) teaching/professional activity periods per week.

10.3.2.1     Conditions for Using Period Substitutes Utilization of period substitutions shall not take place when circumstances permit use of half-day or full-day substitutes. Emergency assignment of staff to period substitutions shall be systematically distributed and automatically assigned throughout the staff at each school site.

10.3.2.2     Assignment of Period Substitutes Assignment of staff to such paid period substitutions shall be systematically rotated throughout the staff at each school site. This shall not preclude voluntary paid period substitutions on the part of unit members on the principal's request.

10.3.2.3     Extra Period Assignments Teachers, who, with their consent, are assigned to an extra period shall be compensated as set forth in Appendix A-2.

10.3.3        Senior High School - 9-12 Unless otherwise agreed to between the District and unit member, the senior high school teachers shall have no more than five (5) periods of formal instructional contact per day. Flexible scheduling shall not result in loss of salary or benefits. These teachers shall have one (1) period per day to be used exclusively for professional meetings, preparation, planning, and/or conferencing. This means such teachers shall have no more than thirty (30) teaching/professional activity periods per week. No teacher shall be required to teach more than three (3) different class preparations without the consent of the teacher. Except in emergency circumstances, senior high school teachers shall not be required to render period substitutions. Period substitutions shall be compensated as set forth in Appendix A-2. Such service shall be subject to the following conditions:

10.3.3.1     Conditions for Using Period Substitutes Utilization of period substitutions shall not take place when circumstances permit use of half-day or full-day substitutes. Emergency assignment of staff to period substitutions shall be systematically distributed and automatically assigned throughout the staff at each school site.

10.3.3.2     Assignment of Period Substitutes Assignment of staff to such paid period substitutions shall be systematically rotated throughout the staff at each school site. This shall not preclude voluntary paid period substitutions on the part of unit members on the principal's request.

10.3.3.3     Extra Period Assignments Teachers, who, with their consent, are assigned to an extra period shall be compensated as set forth in Appendix A-2.

10.3.3.4     Traveling Teachers Teachers who are assigned on both campuses and must travel on a daily basis to and/or from the two high school campuses shall be compensated one-half hour per day at the certificated miscellaneous hourly rate for their travel and set-up time.

Schedules of teachers who are assigned to more than one (1) school shall be arranged so that no such teacher shall be required, without consent, to engage in inter-school travel of more than twenty-five (25) miles per day. Such teachers shall be notified of any changes in their schedules at least five (5) school days prior to the proposed change.

10.4 Lunch Periods

The lunch period shall be not less than the student lunch period and not less than thirty

(30) minutes exclusive of passing periods, regardless of inclement weather conditions absent emergency circumstances. At elementary school sites where teachers are required to have additional student contact time and supervision at lunch because of inclement weather, said employees shall be given commensurate compensatory time the same day or the following day upon approval of the site administrator.

10.5 Shortened Days On the days of Open House activities, shortened instructional days shall be provided for all K-12 teachers. A shortened day shall also be provided for all K-12 teachers for the last school day of the year on which students are present.

Shortened and/or modified days for students, other than Open House for K-12 and graduation for the 9-12 programs, do not affect the length and time-frame of unit members' regular 7.25 and 7.5 hour work days. All unit members are required to return for evening activities to complete their contract day when such shortened days as Open House and Graduation are scheduled.

10.6 After-Hour Duties Uncompensated supervisions which are outside the regular work day will be limited to two assigned events per year. Such duties shall be filled voluntarily first, with remaining duties to be equitably distributed among remaining staff members. Each assigned supervision exceeding these two assignments shall be compensated at the certificated miscellaneous hourly rate.

10.7 Emergency Supervision In the event of a campus emergency, as determined by the site administrator/designee, teachers may be required to provide uncompensated supervision during the school day.

10.8 Special Projects – Compensatory Time In the event that elementary or secondary classroom teachers are assigned duties relating to federal or state special projects which require performance beyond the workday defined herein, compensatory time shall be provided. Such compensatory time shall be utilized during non-instructional periods with the approval of the immediate supervisor. Compensatory time must be utilized by mutual agreement of the employee and supervisor prior to the end of each school year. Special projects refer to existing federal and state programs which are substantially funded by these entities. 

10.9 School Calendar The calendars are included as Appendix B of this Agreement.

10.10 RISE/Home Teacher Preparation Compensatory time will be provided to unit members when RISE or Home Teacher preparation requires the unit member to work beyond the usual working day.