Common use of Length of School Year and Day Clause in Contracts

Length of School Year and Day. A. Each teacher shall have a minimum of 200 minutes of preparation time per week. The Board of Education will minimally schedule each full-time elementary teacher (K-6) with thirty (30) consecutive minutes of planning time each day. For full-time classroom teachers in grades 7-12, the planning time shall consist of five (5) periods per week, each period to be no shorter than a regular class period. A teacher's duty-free lunch period shall not count as planning time. The Building Administrator shall have the ability to unilaterally adjust the school day schedule when necessary to satisfy the requirements of this section. 1. Planning time shall be utilized to perform professional duties, including but not necessarily limited to development of lesson plans, grading papers, assisting pupils, conferences with parents and/or individual conferences with administrators, evaluation conferences, and intervention meetings. Up to six (6) times per year, a bargaining unit member’s planning time may be utilized for Grade Level/Department Meetings, as referenced in Section 12.05, unless release time is given to the bargaining unit member. 2. Any bargaining unit member leaving school district premises during lunch shall notify the office prior to leaving and upon their return. A bargaining unit member leaving school during his/her planning period shall have prior approval from the principal. B. Each teacher shall have thirty (30) minutes of each day of duty-free lunch period. This time shall be consecutive in nature. C. The total length of each school day for teachers, inclusive of lunch, will be seven (7) hours and ten (10) minutes. The specific contract hours will be determined by the Superintendent annually, with notification to the Association President by August 1. The pupil day will be the same length for both High School and Elementary buildings. D. The length of the school year will be 182 days including two (2) parent-teacher conference days, one (1) in-service day and one (1) preparation day prior to the first student day. Compensation will be figured on 182 school days. Effective with the 2002-2003 school year, the school calendar shall also include two (2) days of professional development in-service for which teachers shall be compensated at their regular per diem rate of pay (1/182 of their annual salary). Teachers must be in attendance on the professional development days in order to receive compensation for those days. E. Open House shall be scheduled in conjunction with half of a preparation day. Any additional time commitments to fulfill length of day requirements may be utilized by the administration on this day. The remaining half of a preparation day shall be combined with the in-service day. The starting and ending times of the half of a preparation day shall be adjusted by the administration to accommodate the scheduling of the Open House and meeting the requirements of length of school day. The Open House/half preparation day shall begin at twelve o’clock noon. F. Teachers new to the district shall be required to attend an additional orientation day prior to the first teacher workday. G. As has been past practice, members do not have to make-up the first five (5) calamity days. In the event that the number of cancelled school days exceeds five (5) and the District decides those hours must be made-up, the following procedure will be used to make-up those missed hours: 1. The first three (3) days beyond the first five (5) missed will be made up through the use of “blizzard bags.” The protocol for the “blizzard bags” must be agreed upon by the Association and the Board and distributed to all members by August 31 of the given school year. 2. The remaining make-up days will be made up as specified in the school calendar.

Length of School Year and Day. A. Each teacher shall have a minimum of 200 minutes of preparation time per week. The Board of Education will minimally schedule each full-time elementary teacher (K-6) with thirty (30) consecutive minutes of planning time each day. For full-time classroom teachers in grades 7-12, the planning time shall consist of five (5) periods per week, each period to be no shorter than a regular class period. A teacher's duty-free lunch period shall not count as planning time. The Building Administrator shall have the ability to unilaterally adjust the school day schedule when necessary to satisfy the requirements of this section. 1. Planning time shall be utilized to perform professional duties, including but not necessarily limited to development of lesson plans, grading papers, assisting pupils, conferences with parents and/or individual conferences with administrators, evaluation conferences, and intervention meetings. Up to six (6) times per year, a bargaining unit member’s planning time may be utilized for Grade Level/Department Meetings, as referenced in Section 12.05, unless release time is given to the bargaining unit member. 2. Any bargaining unit member leaving school district premises during lunch shall notify the office prior to leaving and upon their return. A bargaining unit member leaving school during his/her planning period shall have prior approval from the principal. B. Each teacher shall have thirty (30) minutes of each day of duty-free lunch period. This time shall be consecutive in nature. C. The total length of each school day for teachers, inclusive of lunch, will be seven (7) hours and ten (10) minutes. The specific contract hours will be determined by the Superintendent annually, with notification to the Association President by August 1. The pupil day will be the same length for both High School and Elementary buildings. D. The Effective the 2022-2023 contractual year, the length of the school year will be 182 184 days including two (2) parent-teacher conference days, two (2) district-directed professional development days, one (1) in-service day and one (1) preparation day prior to the first student day. Compensation will be figured on 182 184 school days. Effective with the 2002-2003 school year, the school calendar shall also include two (2) days of professional development in-service for which teachers shall be compensated at their regular per diem rate of pay (1/182 of their annual salary). Teachers must be in attendance on the professional development days in order to receive compensation for those days. E. Open House shall be scheduled in conjunction with half of a preparation day. Any additional time commitments to fulfill length of day requirements may be utilized by the administration on this day. The remaining half of a preparation day shall be combined with the in-service day. The starting and ending times of the half of a preparation day shall be adjusted by the administration to accommodate the scheduling of the Open House and meeting the requirements of length of school day. The Open House/half preparation day shall begin at twelve o’clock noon. F. Teachers new to the district shall be required to attend an additional orientation day prior to the first teacher workday. G. As has been past practice, members do not have to make-up the first five (5) calamity days. In the event that the number of cancelled school days exceeds five (5) and the District decides those hours must be made-up, the following procedure will be used to make-up those missed hours: 1. The first three (3) days beyond the first five (5) missed will be made up through the use of “blizzard bags.” The protocol for the “blizzard bags” must be agreed upon by the Association and the Board and distributed to all members by August 31 of the given school year. 2. The remaining make-up days will be made up as specified in the school calendar.