ASSIGNMENT AND SCHEDULES

ASSIGNMENT AND SCHEDULES	DK (R)
DUTY SCHEDULES	The working hours of all personnel assigned to a campus shall be determined by the principal. Teachers shall remain at their schools a minimum of seven hours and forty-five minutes. Included in this time shall be a minimum of 450 minutes within each two-week period for instructional preparation including parent-teacher conferences, evaluating students’ homework, and planning. A planning and preparation period may not be less than 45 minutes within the instructional day. Campus principals may require teachers to attend special meetings, staff development or other activities as long as this does not interfere with granting the teachers a minimum of 450 minutes of planning and preparation time within each two-week period. Teachers shall spend such time after school as may be necessary to complete the days work and to make suitable preparations for the next day of school. Principals may, on occasion, assign duties to teachers which shall require their presence for a reasonable length of time after the close of the school day. Each classroom teacher or full-time librarian is entitled to at least a 30 minute duty-free lunch period.
SECOND TEACHING FOR FIELDS ELECTIVE TEACHERS	All elective teachers should have a second teaching field. The primary reasons this has become a critical issue are as follows: 1. Statutory and SBOE requirements 2. Number of students enrolled in electives 3. Scheduling problems 4. Budgetary concerns If enrollments do not warrant full-time assignments and teachers do not have a second teaching field, they may be placed on a part-time assignment to meet the needs of the District.
NON-PREPARATORY DUTY	Career and Technology teacher/coordinators who have two classes of coop or a combination of one coop and a one-hour lab may be assigned one non-preparatory duty such as study hall. This duty must not interfere with coordination responsibilities; i.e., in school duties shall be completed by noon. Coop teachers who teach three classes of coop or any combination of coop and pre-employment lab which extends through three periods may not be given other duty assignments. Coop/combination teachers shall be given a minimum of one conference and two coordination periods during the school day. Career and Technology pre-employment laboratory teachers may be assigned additional duties, but these must not interfere with regular teaching assignments.
REASSIGNMENT	All personnel are employed subject to assignment and reassignment by the Superintendent or an officially designated representative at any time.
PROCEDURES FOR TEACHER REASSIGNMENT	The following guidelines have been established to regulate the process of reassigning teachers when the number of staff on a campus must be reduced.
ELEMENTARY	The following guidelines for reassignment of elementary teachers shall be applied to regular classroom positions only and shall not affect the areas of Bilingual Education, Music, Physical Education, Special Education, Extended Learning, Reading Specialist, Chapter I, Counselor, or Librarian. In the case of a teacher who volunteers to transfer from a school that faces a reduction in staff, the following criteria shall be waived and the volunteer shall take the place of the person who would have been reassigned. Principals shall utilize the transfer request cards and shall meet a specific deadline of May 1, or as soon thereafter as possible, in identifying and informing those teachers who may have to be reassigned using the following criteria: 1. Considering (1) Pre-Kinder, (2) Kinder, (3) First and Second Grades, (4) Third, Fourth and Fifth Grades as separate entities or grade clusters, teachers in the appropriate cluster with the least amount of total District experience will be eligible for reassignment. 2. Should the District experience be the same, teachers with the least amount of District experience in the appropriate cluster will be considered for reassignment. 3. Should the combination of the first and second criteria not solve the particular situation, teachers with the least amount of District cluster experience in the school will be considered for reassignment. The principal shall forward the recommendation to the Human Resources Department for review. 4. After a teacher has been reassigned twice within two years, that teacher will be exempt from the reassignment procedure for the next two school years from August to August.
EXEMPTION POLICY	The teacher to be transferred in accordance with the four-step procedure above may be exempted from the transfer process if that teacher's transfer would: 1. violate the terms of the teacher's contract, 2. leave the school without any other certified or endorsed teacher on staff who could be assigned to a course required by District policy or the Texas Education Code, 3. or harm any school program which, in the judgment of the principal, would be inconsistent with the goals and objectives of the school. IN SUCH A CASE, IT IS RECOMMENDED THE PRINCIPAL SEEK THE ADVICE OF THE CAMPUS IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE (CIC) BEFORE IMPLEMENTING THE EXEMPTION. SHOULD A VACANCY EXIST IN ANOTHER GRADE LEVEL AT THE SCHOOL ASSIGNED, THE TEACHER WHO HAS BEEN DECLARED SURPLUS WILL BE GIVEN FIRST PRIORITY FOR THAT VACANCY. In all instances where it is found that two or more teachers have the same seniority based on uninterrupted service (least number of years experience thereby qualifying those teachers for transfer or reassignment), the date of the contract acceptance by or the date of the recommendation for hiring of the teachers involved shall become a primary factor in the decision as to who shall be reassigned or transferred. A teacher shall have the option to return to the school if a vacancy occurs before the class lists are posted in August. Priority for filling any vacancy shall be given to the teacher based on seniority with the District.
BEGINNING OF SCHOOL YEAR	When it becomes necessary to reassign a teacher(s) after the beginning of a school year, the teacher(s) with the least amount of District experience at the affected grade level will be reassigned.
SECONDARY AND CAREER AND TECHNOLOGY	The Principal of the school, Executive Director of School Improvement, Executive Director of Human Resources, and the Executive Staff shall confer to determine the teaching field(s) to be affected when it becomes necessary to reduce the teaching staff within a school. The primary consideration shall be the preservation of the best possible educational program. Volunteers shall be sought when the reassignment need arises, and reasonable efforts to communicate vacancies to teachers shall be made. No teacher shall be involuntarily reassigned to another school unless the immediate supervisor has notified the teacher in person and a conference has been held with the teacher. After the conference, the appropriate teacher(s) shall be officially notified promptly by registered or certified mail. This procedure shall be applicable only to teachers whose assignments are currently in the designated reduction subject(s). However, if a position in an alternate teaching field(s) other than the one(s) being taught is vacant, the teacher may choose that alternative. Principals shall utilize the transfer request cards and shall meet a specific deadline of May 1, or as soon thereafter as possible, in identifying and informing those teachers who may have to be reassigned. The following procedures shall be used in reassignment due to decreases in student projections or failure to reach enrollment projections: 1. Determine if there are teachers in the subject area affected who desire to be transferred or reassigned. If there are no volunteers, proceed to 2. 2. Determine the teacher on the campus affected who has the least seniority in the District based on uninterrupted service and whose teaching assignment is in the subject area affected. If two or more teachers are equal in seniority, proceed to 3. 3. Determine the teacher on the campus affected who has the least seniority on that campus based on uninterrupted service and whose teaching assignment is in the subject area affected. If two or more teachers are equal in seniority, proceed to 4. 4. Determine the teacher on the campus affected who has the least seniority based on uninterrupted service in the subject area affected. In all instances where it is found that two or more teachers have the same seniority based on uninterrupted service (least number of years of experience thereby qualifying those teachers for transfer or reassignment), the date of the contract acceptance by or date of recommendation for hiring of the teachers involved shall become a primary factor in the decision as to who shall be reassigned or transferred. A teacher shall have the option to return when a vacancy occurs in any of that teacher's areas of certification, prior to the first contract day of the school year. This option remains open twelve (12) months from August to August. Priority for filling any vacancy shall be given to the teacher based on seniority with the District. After a teacher has been reassigned twice within two years, that teacher shall be exempt from the reassignment procedure for the next two school years from August to August.
EXEMPTION POLICY	The teacher to be transferred in accordance with the four-step procedures above may be exempted from the transfer process if that teacher's transfer would: 1. Violate the terms of the teacher's contract, 2. leave the school without any other certified or endorsed teacher on staff who could be assigned to a course required by District policy or the Texas Education Code, 3. or harm any school program which, in the judgment of the principal, would be inconsistent with the goals and objectives of the school. IN SUCH A CASE, IT IS RECOMMENDED THE PRINCIPAL SEEK THE ADVICE OF THE CAMPUS IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE (CIC) BEFORE IMPLEMENTING THE EXEMPTION.
BILINGUAL ELEMENTARY	The Principal of the school, Executive Director of School Improvement, Executive Director of Human Resources, and Executive Staff shall confer to determine the schools, clusters, and grades to be affected when it becomes necessary to change the teaching staff within schools. The primary consideration shall be the preservation of the best possible educational program. In the case of a teacher who volunteers to transfer from a school that faces a reduction in staff, the following criteria shall be waived and the volunteer shall take the place of the person who would have been reassigned. In the situation where a specialist teacher, such as a Librarian, P.E. Teacher, Music teacher, LLD teacher, ELP teacher, Speech therapist, etc. is also bilingually endorsed, professional administrative judgment must dictate where these professionals may better serve the needs of youngsters. Principals shall utilize the transfer request cards and shall meet a specific deadline of May 1, or as soon thereafter as possible, in identifying and informing those teachers who may have to be reassigned using the following criteria: 1. Considering (1) Pre-Kinder, (2) Kinder, (3) First and Second Grades, (4) Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grades as separate entities or grade clusters, teachers in the appropriate cluster with the least amount of total District experience shall be eligible for reassignment to a cluster of like nature. 2. Should the District experience be the same, teachers with the least amount of District experience in the appropriate cluster shall be considered for reassignment to a cluster of like nature. 3. Should the combination of the first and second criteria not solve the particular situation, teachers with the least amount of District cluster experience in the school shall be considered or reassignment to a cluster of like nature. The principal shall forward the recommendation to the Human Resources Department for review. 4. After a teacher has been reassigned twice within two years, that teacher shall be exempt from the reassignment procedure for the next two school years from August to August.
EXEMPTION POLICY	The teacher to be transferred in accordance with the four-step procedure above may be exempted from the transfer process if that teacher's transfer would: 1. violate the terms of the teacher's contract, 2. leave the school without any other certified or endorsed teacher on staff who could be assigned to a course required by District policy or the Texas Education Code, 3. or harm any school program which, in the judgment of the Principal, would be inconsistent with the goals and objectives of the school. IN SUCH A CASE, IT IS RECOMMENDED THE PRINCIPAL SEEK THE ADVICE OF THE CAMPUS IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE (CIC) BEFORE IMPLEMENTING THE EXEMPTION. SHOULD A VACANCY EXIST IN ANOTHER GRADE LEVEL AT THE SCHOOL ASSIGNED, THE TEACHER WHO HAS BEEN DECLARED SURPLUS WILL BE GIVEN FIRST PRIORITY FOR THAT VACANCY. In all instances where it is found that two or more teachers have the same seniority based on uninterrupted service (least number of years experience thereby qualifying those teachers for transfer or reassignment), the date of the contract acceptance by or the date recommended for hiring of the teachers involved shall become a primary factor in the decisions as to who shall be reassigned or transferred. A teacher shall have the option to return to the school if a vacancy occurs before the class lists are posted in August. Priority for filling any vacancy shall be given to the teacher based on seniority with the District.
TEACHER REQUESTED TRANSFERS	Teachers may request a transfer to another campus if their performance evaluation is at least "Proficient." Requests for transfers are to be made to the Human Resources Department between March 1 and May 31. Transfer requests must be submitted on an electronic Transfer Request Form accessed from the Human Resources electronic page on the Intranet. As a professional courtesy, teachers should inform their principal that a transfer request has been submitted.
STAFFING REQUESTS	All personnel staffing requests should be directed to the Associate Superintendent of Business Services/CFO and/or Executive Director of Human Resources. These will be reviewed and acted upon by the Executive Staff.
OPENING NEW SCHOOLS	The following general guidelines for "OPENING NEW SCHOOLS –" have been approved by Executive Staff and are to be implemented through the Human Resources Department. Limits shall be placed on the number of personnel gaining approval for transfer to a new school in order to maintain instructional stability and the integrity of traditions for children in already existing schools. The focus shall continue to be one of flexibility, whether we deal with the challenge of opening one campus or multiple campuses in one school year. Ultimately, all decisions will be made with the needs of the total district and its students in mind. Any and all exceptions to these guidelines must be reviewed by members of the Executive Staff on an individual case-by-case basis. With the opening of a new school(s), student enrollment at impacted campuses will decrease, resulting in reduced teacher allocations. This reduction will produce a specific number of teachers at each impacted campus who will be identified for transfer. Executive Staff will provide principals with this data, based on recommendations from Research and Information Technologies, with approved boundary changes and estimated grandfather request approvals as a basis for this data. This number of teachers to be transferred is subject to approval by the Executive Staff. General Guidelines: When one or more schools open at any one time, the Executive Director of Human Resources will study the overall impact of personnel transfers from existing schools and will make recommendations to the Executive Staff regarding any change(s) to these general guidelines. In cases where changes in boundary lines have recently occurred, the Executive Director of Human Resources will study fluctuations in school staffing as a result of changing enrollments. This study will include an evaluation of the number of personnel qualifying for the general surplus pool, in addition to the specific number of teachers at the impacted campuses who will be subject to transfer due to the loss in student enrollment at existing schools. Specific Guidelines for: A: New Campus(es) Transfer of teachers from the impacted school(s) to the new campus(es) will take staffing priority. Once the names of displaced teachers from the impacted school(s) have been identified, new school principal(s) will coordinate placement of these teachers with the Human Resources Department. Placement of these teachers shall be on a proportionate basis, reflecting the percentage of total students impacted by boundary changes due to new school(s) opening. The Principal(s) of new school(s) will extend offers of employment for reassignment purposes to all displaced teachers. Displaced teachers are expected to accept the first offer of assignment extended by a new school principal. Once all identified teachers from the impacted school(s) have been placed at the new school(s), the new school principal(s) may proceed with staffing remaining positions by considering: hired/unassigned teachers in critical needs areas teachers who request transfer consideration from other schools, and new teacher applicants in the general pool. The new school principal is to keep a minimum of ten percent (10%) of the campus’s total teacher allocation open until further notice from the Human Resources Department. This will allow the HR Department to analyze the need for placement at new schools of any remaining surplus teachers, hired/unassigned teachers in critical needs areas, or other teachers designated for reassignment at the direction of the Superintendent. After consultation with Executive Directors and Program Coordinators in the affected curriculum areas (i.e., Bilingual/ESL/GT/Special Education), the sending principal and receiving new school principal will work to insure that no one grade level or specialty area is severely impacted. In identifying teachers to be transferred, the sending principal will protect the integrity of grade level staffing and specialty teachers such as Bilingual/ESL/GT/Special Education based on the unique talents, skills and certification of teachers and the needs of the students at the campus. B: Impacted Campuses No teacher will be approved for transfer unless the teacher has at least proficient ratings under the PDAS appraisal system. Teachers who are on growth plans are not eligible for transfer. In identifying the specific number of teachers to be transferred, the principal of the impacted campus will first give consideration to volunteers. Teachers wishing to volunteer should submit requests in writing to principals, and should include an updated resume with their request. If the number of volunteers is higher than the total number of teachers by which the impacted school is to be reduced, the principal will determine the specific teachers to be transferred by giving priority to those volunteer teachers with the most total years of uninterrupted district experience. The Principal(s) should use these criteria in rank-ordering those who volunteer to determine priority: 1) Most years of total uninterrupted service in district 2) If ties, most years of total uninterrupted service at campus. 3) If ties, consider date of contract acceptance or date of recommendation for hire. Where the total number of volunteers is less than the number by which the impacted campus is to be reduced, or in the absence of volunteers, the principal(s) of the impacted school(s) will identify the remaining teachers who should be transferred. The total regular education allocation of teachers and the total special education allocation of teachers will be considered separately. The principal(s) should rank order the remaining regular education teachers and determine which teachers to designate for transfer by identifying those teachers with the least amount of uninterrupted district experience. If the Special Ed teaching allocation is to be reduced, the principal(s) shall rank order all the special ed teachers and determine which teachers to designate for transfer by identifying those with the least amount of uninterrupted district experience. Should there be ties among two or more teachers at this level, the principal(s) shall consider the date of contract acceptance or date of recommendation for hire in order to determine which teachers to designate for transfer. Once teachers at the impacted campuses have been identified, their names will be made available to the new school principal(s). The new school principal(s) shall contact and interview those teachers designated for placement at the new schools. The new school principal(s) will coordinate placement of these teachers with the Human Resources Department. The number of teachers to be placed will be proportionate to the percentage of total students reassigned to the new schools due to boundary changes. After surplus teachers have been placed, it is still possible for remaining employees at the impacted campuses to request consideration for transfer through the regular transfer process. The new school principal(s) may not recommend any more than three (3) total employees from any categories other than "teacher" from any impacted school, whether professional or paraprofessional (i.e. Assistant Principal, Counselor, Librarian, Secretary, Clerk, Head Custodian, Cafeteria Manager, etc.) C: Non-Impacted Campus(es) In staffing new schools, the principal(s) may take no more than 15% of any one department and/or campus’s total teaching staff. This total at new school(s) excludes all other professional, paraprofessional and auxiliary staff, including Assistant Principal, Counselor, Librarian, Nurse, Head Custodian and Cafeteria Manager. However, no more than three total employees in all categories other than "teacher" may be taken from an existing school. Percentages are based on the existing school’s total staffing allocation for the current school year prior to the year of the new school opening. In special circumstances such as reduction of student enrollment, resulting in displacement of additional teachers, Human Resources may override the 15% number. After consultation with the Director of Maintenance and the principal(s) of the non-impacted existing campus(es), the principal(s) of a new school(s may recommend transfer of the Head Custodian(s) from an existing school to a new school(s). After consultation with the Executive Director of Nutritional Services and the principal(s) of the non-impacted existing campus(es), the principal(s) of a new schools may recommend transfer of the Cafeteria Manager(s) from an existing school(s) to the new school(s). Transfers of key personnel (i.e., Assistant Principal, Principal’s Secretary, Counselor, Librarian, Data Processor) will not be made until the sending Principal(s), new school Principal(s), and the Executive Director of Human Resources determine that the timing of the move will not be detrimental to the existing school. Employees at a non-impacted existing school interested in transfer consideration to the new school(s) must follow established procedures in order to be considered. Such employees must respond to job postings by established deadlines by submitting a letter of intent/resume to the Human Resources Department. Principal(s) may interview those candidates in whom they have an interest at their discretion. Any and all exceptions to these general staffing guidelines must be submitted in writing to Executive Staff for review on an individual case-by-case basis.

DATE ISSUED: 08/24/98

REVISED: 02/06/06