Both the District and the Association agree all employees shall be regularly evaluated in order that the District and the individual teacher shall have an accurate, constructive, and timely appraisal of the teacher's performance. The following policy shall govern all teacher observation and evaluation:
A. General education classroom evaluations of the work performance of a teacher will be conducted openly, with full knowledge of the teacher. Situations may arise when it is necessary for an administrator to record performance information which does not allow for prior notification to the teacher. In such cases, the teacher will be notified when the material or information is recorded.
B. The District and the Association recognize that in some situations assistance may be required to achieve improved performance on the part of the teacher, whether suggested by the teacher or administrator, and encourage the rendering and acceptance of such assistance. Subsequent written evaluation shall reflect the impact, if any, of such assistance.
C. When an observation is completed, the evaluating administrator shall not submit the written evaluation report until three (3) days thereafter during which period the teacher shall have the opportunity to meet with the administrator in order to more fully review/discuss the circumstances which prevailed at the time of the observation.
D. Participation in extracurricular activities shall not be a valid consideration for evaluating teacher classroom performance but shall be considered in the evaluation of total job performance.
E. Teachers will be given a copy of any written class visit or evaluation report prepared by their principal and/or supervisor. No performance appraisal report shall be submitted to central administration, placed in a teacher's file, or otherwise acted upon, without a copy to the teacher.
F. A probationary teacher will be informed of the Superintendent's decision not to recommend tenure at least forty-five (45) days prior to the expiration of the probationary period, and shall be notified in writing of the final action of the Board regarding the granting or denial of tenure within thirty days of the meeting at which Board action is taken. If a probationary teacher has not resigned, or been notified in writing the Superintendent does not intend to recommend him/her for tenure within forty-five (45) days prior to the expiration of his/her probationary period, he/she shall be granted tenure.
G. Each teacher will have the right, in accordance with procedures established by the Personnel Division and in the presence of the Director of Personnel or his/her designee, to review and copy the contents of the complete personnel file, with the exception of confidential recommendations. The teacher will be entitled to have a representative of the Association present during such review.
H. A teacher shall have the right to request removal of an evaluation or item of correspondence from his/her personnel folder if the item refers to an isolated incident or situation that is no longer germane to the teacher's performance or employment. Such request may be made in writing to the Superintendent four (4) years from the date of entry and shall, subject to the Superintendent's approval, serve to remove the original entry and any rebuttals related thereto. The decision of the Superintendent shall be final and binding and not subject to the provisions of Article 25, Grievance Procedure.
I. With the exception of confidential employment recommendations, a teacher shall receive a copy of all entries made in his/her personnel folder. In any instance where an entry is made in a personnel folder with which the teacher disagrees, or takes exception, the teacher shall have the right to file a written statement in his/her behalf, with copies to all parties concerned. Such statement shall become an attachment to said entry and a permanent part of the personnel record of the teacher.
J. Intent to Dismiss
When a notice of intent to dismiss is received by a tenured teacher from the Superintendent of Schools, the teacher may proceed pursuant to section 1 below. Should the teacher choose not to resign, section 2 will be implemented within five (5) working days.
1. Resignation
A teacher may submit a letter of resignation effective one (1) year from the date of this letter of intent to dismiss. The teacher shall be placed on leave with pay for this year, plus receive a stipend for an approved program of retraining or mid-career counseling. The amount of the stipend will be based on the number of unused sick days times the dollar amount equal to that paid retirees for unused accumulated sick days. A joint Association-District committee shall be established to review and approve the program for retraining or mid-career counseling.
2. Binding Arbitration
a. If this section is implemented, a teacher will be suspended from duty. Such suspension shall be with pay for a period not to exceed one hundred twenty (120) calendar days. If the suspension continues beyond one hundred twenty (120) calendar days it may, in the sole discretion of the Board of Education, be without pay.
b. The teacher may proceed personally or through the Association. In cases where a teacher chooses to proceed personally, the Association shall not be responsible for payment of any expenses related to the arbitration proceeding(s).
c. Within ten (10) school days after such suspension of the teacher, the Superintendent or his/her designee and the Association will agree upon a mutually acceptable arbitrator selected from a list provided by the Syracuse Office of the American Arbitration Association, and will obtain a commitment from said arbitrator to serve. In the event that the Superintendent, or his/her designee, and the Association or individual, as the case may be, cannot agree on an arbitrator on the first list submitted by the American Arbitration Association, a second list shall be requested. In the event the Superintendent or his/her designee and the Association cannot agree on an arbitrator selected from the second list, the American Arbitration Association shall then be empowered to designate the arbitrator, and this decision shall be binding on all parties.
d. The selected arbitrator shall hear the matter promptly and shall issue his/her decision in accordance with the then operating rules of the American Arbitration Association. The arbitrator's decision shall be in writing and shall set forth his/her findings of fact, opinion, and the conclusions on the issue(s) submitted. The arbitrator shall limit his/her decision strictly to the application and interpretation of the provision of this Agreement; he/she shall be without power or authority to make any decision which may:
(1) Be contrary to, or inconsistent with, or modifying or varying in any way, the terms of this Agreement or of applicable law or rules and regulations having the force and effect of law.
(2) Involve Board discretion or Board policy under the provisions of this Agreement, under Board bylaws or under applicable law, except that he/she may decide in a particular case based on a provision of this Agreement involving Board discretion or Board policy, whether the Board applied such discretion or policy in a manner which is arbitrarily or capriciously inconsistent with the general practice followed throughout the District in similar circumstances.
(3) Limiting or interfering in any way with the powers, duties and responsibilities of the Board under its bylaws, applicable law, and rules and regulations having the force and effect of law.
e. The decision of the arbitrator, made in accordance with his/her jurisdiction and authority under this agreement, will be accepted as final by the parties to the dispute, and both will abide by it.
f. All costs arising out of the administration of this provision shall be shared equally by the Association and the Board, except as noted in subsection J.2.b. above.
g. The formal rules of evidence shall not apply in the administration of this provision. The decision as to the nature of the record kept at the arbitration stage shall be at the discretion of the arbitrator.
h. The time limits specified herein shall commence at the normal hour for the opening of business on the business day next following the event or occurrence which caused the time period to begin.
i. Only cases involving the intent to dismiss a teacher for failing to meet the evaluation criteria, as set forth in the Model for Practitioner Evaluation (formerly Model for Teacher Evaluation) shall be subject to the procedures and provisions contained herein. Disciplinary action taken by the District against a teacher for reasons other than the aforementioned shall be pursued according to existing statute or regulations, i.e., § 3020-a of the New York State Education Law.
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