JCPS and JCTA Reach Tentative Agreement That Puts Students First
The Jefferson County Teachers Association and the Jefferson County Board of Education have reached a tentative agreement for a new 5-year labor agreement, subject to ratification by both parties. This agreement demonstrates a collaborative commitment between the District and the Teachers Association to do everything possible to support our students, particularly those in our most challenged schools.
The JCTA Board of Directors has thoroughly reviewed the details of the tentative agreement and recommends all JCTA members vote YES to approve its ratification.
If ratified by the JCTA membership, the tentative agreement will be voted on for approval by the Jefferson County Board of Education at the board’s next regularly scheduled meeting on August 7, 2018.
Key Provisions:
This five-year contract focuses significant resources on supporting our most struggling students in our “enhanced support” (priority) schools while still providing a modest 1% raise to all employees over the first two years of the agreement, with a wage reopener for the remaining three years of the agreement in 2020.
Priority School Supports:
• Renamed and expanded the definition of priority schools to enhanced support schools to provide greater support for students and their teachers in a broader group of schools, to include Level 2 and Level 3 schools. (Level 3 schools are current Priority/Comprehensive Support schools. Level 2 schools are schools identified by JCPS as being at risk of becoming Level 3 schools. Approximately 1,700 educators work in Level 2 and Level 3 schools.)
• Added five additional paid days for professional development purposes at enhanced support (priority) schools, beginning in the 2019-2020 school year, which will expand opportunities for educators to learn new ways to help every student succeed.
• Added language specifying that the district will pay 60% of the National Board certification and recertification costs for teachers at enhanced support (priority) schools in order to further enhance their effectiveness with students. (District will continue to pay 60% of NBCT certification costs all JCPS schools.)
• Added language specifying that the district would work in collaboration with the association to explore reducing class size in enhanced support (priority) schools to provide students the one-on-one attention they need.
• Added language specifying that educators in enhanced support (priority) schools may apply for additional professional development and professional team development funding to improve their practice.
• Added language providing opportunities for teachers at enhanced support (priority) schools to provide additional compensated instruction before or after school to support enhanced support (priority) schools’ students.
• Added language specifying that the district will, in collaboration with teachers, provide additional instructional resources in enhanced support (priority) schools.
• Added language providing ongoing $1,600 stipends for all current and future teachers in enhanced support (priority) schools to recognize teachers at these schools and promote the attraction and retention of experienced teachers there. After every five additional years of service in enhanced support (priority) schools these stipends will increase by an additional $400 ($2,000/year after 5 years of service, $2,400/year after 10 years of service, etcetera).
• Added language providing one-time $1,000 stipends to recognize teachers who choose to transfer into enhanced support (priority) schools, with the goal of supporting enhanced support (priority) school students with more experienced educators.
• Added language empowering enhanced support (priority) school principals to actively recruit voluntary transfers from among eligible teachers seeking transfers, with the goal of supporting enhanced support (priority) school students with more experienced educators.
• Responded to state management audit findings by specifying that a teacher may identify up to five schools for a voluntary transfer plus up to an additional five schools if the additional schools are Level 2 or Level 3 schools in order to encourage experienced teachers to consider transferring to enhanced support (priority) schools.
• Added language specifying that the entry of assignments with grades may need to be more frequent in enhanced support (priority) schools in order to keep students and parents informed of student learning.
• Added language specifying that, for good cause and to address educational needs, the superintendent may transfer teachers who do not have the appropriate capacities to be successful in enhanced support (priority) schools to other schools.
Other Provisions:
Responded to state management audit findings by adding language assuring that the district will make available ongoing professional development related to seclusion and restraint of students, student bullying prevention, restorative practices, diversity training, and any other professional development necessary to comply with state, federal, and school board requirements.
Added language extending discrimination protections to include national origin, gender identity, gender expression, and genetic information to provide a more safe and equitable educational environment for students and educators.
Eliminated the use of the stipend rate of pay for delivery of professional development and replaced it with hourly rate of pay.
Added language guaranteeing 250 minutes of duty free preparation time each week for early childhood teachers in order to plan quality learning experiences for students.
Added language assuring that certified early childhood teachers without students on the first day of school be provide at least one-half day to prepare their rooms for their students.
Added language requiring that early childhood home visits occur only during the regular work day.
Increased compensation for department heads and grade group leaders from $100 per teacher to $125 per teacher in the group.
Added language to promote meaningful minimum amounts of contiguous planning time for special area teachers in order to make their planning time more beneficial for students.
Reduced the maximum class size for elementary general music teachers to match class sizes for other teachers at the given grade level in order to provide more personalized support for students.
Removed language prohibiting newly hired exceptional child education teachers from applying to transfer during their first three years of employment, providing equity with other teachers.
Removed language prohibiting teachers from voluntarily overstaffing themselves after four years of service with the district, helping teachers remove themselves from settings that are not a good fit.
Added language clarifying the appropriate use of memoranda of agreement, memoranda of understanding, employee resolution agreements, grievance resolution agreements, and tribunal resolution agreements.
Added language to require that special area teachers be provided PLC opportunities with other special area teachers in order to better support their professional growth.
Added language to ensure that employees with a 7.5 hour work day with a 60 minute lunch have the same hourly rate of pay as 7.0 hour employees with a 20 minute lunch.
Added language to promote meaningful minimum amounts of contiguous planning time for librarians in order to make their planning time more beneficial for students.
Changed librarians from seven extended work days to 194-day calendars, which will allow for the use of sick and personal days without the loss of pay during these additional days.
Added new language limiting capstone nursing courses at 15 students to address the special oversight needs of students in these settings.
Added language specifying that in schools with fewer than four individuals seeking a transfer to a particular position, involuntary transfer candidates can be interviewed for vacant positions as part of the transfer process in order to provide schools with greater latitude to find the best fit candidate to fill vacancies at the school.
Added language clarifying that 4/5 binding arbitration decisions apply to the seven members of the Jefferson County Board of Education.
Added successor language and language clarifying that the labor agreement continues in full force and effect during negotiations, even if negotiations extend beyond the end date of the labor agreement.
Added language setting reasonable limits on how frequently teachers can be required to report unsatisfactory student performance to parents in order to allow educators to focus on designing and implementing quality learning experiences for students.
Strengthened educator voice in district decision-making by specifying that committees with three or more subcommittees will include at least three association representatives.
Added language providing teachers with the option of initiating grievances with a district-level administrator, rather than the building principal, if the teacher prefers to do so.
Expanded employee due process and civil rights by removing language requiring grievances to be held in abeyance if employees pursue complaints using other agencies or in court.
Removed employee health data from personnel files to better protect employee privacy.
Revised language to provide principals greater latitude to approve personal leave during the last five days of school in order for extended family members to attend graduation ceremonies.
Extended maximum length of educational leave from two years to three years to assist educators in pursuing advanced degrees that enhance their capacities.
Added language assuring that teachers returning from education leave will be place in the line of seniority where they would have been had they not taken the leave.
Removed language prohibiting TRS deductions for job-sharing teachers.
Added extensive transfer process language for speech language pathologists requested by the JCTA Speech Language Pathologist Caucus in order to provide a fair and uniform transfer process.
Added language assuring that speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists will have at least two representatives on district committees charged with reviewing the requirements and bids for district logging and graphing systems in order to assure practitioner voice.
Removed/updated outdated language throughout the document.
Simplified and clarified language regarding PLC planning.
Clarified that PLC norms and guiding questions from the Educator Quality Oversight Committee are optional.
Responded to the state management audit finding requiring additional professional development time and flexibility by shifting after school faculty and other meeting time from one hour per week to five hours per calendar month with no more than 90 minutes on any given day. (Two weeks advance notice must be given for any meeting longer than one hour.)
In order to help address start-of-the-school-year staffing logistics, the transfer process is modified to place only new hires from July 15 until August 1.
Updated “the principal or school head” to “the principal/administrator or designee” throughout the document.
Added language to allow teachers who work at more than one site to make alternate arrangements to attend faculty meetings at another school to which the teacher is assigned.
Updated and clarified special education and career/technical class sizes to align with current state definitions.
Responded to the state management audit finding requiring additional professional development time and flexibility by changing one flexible in-service day in the school calendar to an inflexible in-service day, beginning in 2019-2020.
Specified that an employee who is overstaffed or returning from leave shall be notified of the need to submit a request to be placed in the proper ranking on the transfer list.
Added language specifying that transfer requests are to be submitted between February 22 and March 22.
Added language specifying that interviews for mid-year openings will occur in February and will include the interim teacher currently in the position to allow schools greater ability to find the best fit for vacant positions.
Added language clarifying that sick leave payouts upon retirement only apply to teachers who retire from current active service.
Specified that recovery of future overpayment or underpayment errors by the school district shall be limited to the preceding five years.
Added language clarifying that teachers who travel at the request of the employer will receive mileage reimbursement consistent with the approved travel reimbursement guidelines.
Added a provision to sunset the Bellarmine Literacy Project beginning with those not already committed to the program.
Clarified language providing moving incentives for new employees whose primary residence is more than 100 miles away.
Clarified that communications with a mediator during negotiations are confidential and that a mediator cannot serve as a fact-finder or arbitrator.
Removed language voided by recently passed legislation dealing with collective bargaining and union membership procedures and adjusted other language appropriately.
Updated language related to the reporting of student absences to indicate this is not required until the end of each class period.
Updated language to reflect that teachers have the option to directly enter parent contact information into district information systems.
Clarified language indicating semester grades for high school seniors are due 36 hours after the last final exam is administered.
Revised language to clarify that special area teachers working in multiple schools shall be evaluated in a collaborative effort among all the schools’ principals.
Reduced the number of observations required for teaches on intensive support from four over twelve weeks to three over ten weeks.
Clarified that intensive support can be provided by a professional staff person at the teacher’s work site.
Changed language to allow E-2 forms to be delivered by certified mail.
Revised the performance evaluation deadline for newly-hired teachers who are in their first year of employment with JCPS who are hired after December 1 from February 15 to March 15 in order to provide principals with adequate time to conduct their evaluations.
Identified specific issues that could, depending on the circumstances, lead to immediate discharge without prior discipline.
Clarified that employees cannot receive both compensation and professional development credit for the same activity.
Revised leave language to require at least ten days of service between consecutive medical leaves in order for a teacher’s position at a specific school to be preserved in order to minimize situations where these positions are staffed with long-term substitute teachers for extended periods of time.
The JCTA Board of Directors has thoroughly reviewed the details of the tentative agreement and recommends all JCTA members vote YES to approve its ratification.