Common use of Conference and Planning Time Clause in Contracts

Conference and Planning Time. The schedule of an individual teaching more than half-time shall provide for a minimum of two hundred (200) minutes conference/planning time per week, with at least one hundred eighty (180) minutes to be scheduled within the student day. At least five (5) conference/planning periods per week of not less than thirty (30) minutes shall be scheduled at the elementary level. Part-time teachers will receive no less planning time than the percentage of time taught multiplied by the 200 minutes. There shall be five (5) minutes between the end of one class and the beginning of another class for special area teachers, whenever practical. At grades 4-12, consecutive time of less than forty (40) minutes shall not count toward the two hundred (200) minute minimum. Times when students are under the direct supervision of a unit member shall not count. Travel time shall not count as part of a unit member’s planning period or lunch. Travel time between buildings, from the end of one class to the start of another, will be no less than thirty (30) minutes when the distance between buildings is four (4) miles or more, and twenty (20) minutes when the distance between buildings is three (3) miles or less. Consideration will be given when scheduling to allow time for itinerant teachers who must pack up/clean up materials and equipment before leaving one building, transport materials, and set up materials/equipment in the next building. Planning time will normally be used for the professional activities of an individual teacher. These professional activities will be at the discretion of the individual teacher. The equivalent of one-fifth (1/5) of a teacher’s planning periods per week may be used for other activities which provide for direct services to students.