ARTICLE
XII: LAYOFF AND RECALL
SECTION A: Conditions Necessary for Layoff
1.
The SPS has the
legal responsibility to establish the educational programs, services and staff
in accordance with the SPS's basic educational goals and program continuity
consistent with the financial resources available. The SPS has the authority to make necessary
adjustments in the SPS's staff to be consistent with financial resources
available and the programs and services which it determines to provide, subject
to the provisions of this Agreement.
2.
Adverse
developments which can necessitate layoffs include:
a.
Failure of a
special levy election;
b.
Large
insufficiencies in State funding; or,
c.
Large reductions
in categorical funds or projects.
3. In such cases where large-scale layoffs are necessary, the
SPS shall minimize the number of employees to be laid off by reducing cash
reserves in a prudent manner to replace depleted revenues and by reducing
expenditures in a prudent manner in areas of capital outlay, travel,
contractual services, books and supplies. The SPS may reduce the levels of
employees as necessary to remain within reasonably secure revenues for the
following fiscal year, but in so doing, shall give priority to those programs
and services which relate to instruction and welfare of the students.
4. In the
event of layoffs determined for other reasons such as declining enrollment,
changes in programs and priorities within and among programs, adoptions of a
different manner of providing services, and non-large funding losses and
insufficiencies, the SPS shall provide the SEA with a listing which includes
the names, teaching categories, and seniority of all employees to be laid off
prior to the employees' receipt of layoff notification. Except in unusual circumstances,
the notice shall be provided at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the
employees' receipt of lay-off notices.
The SPS and the SEA will immediately meet to reviewthe changes.
5. The
performance ratings (evaluation) of employees shall not be a factor in
determining the order of layoff under this Section.
6. Vacancies
created by retirements, resignations, leaves and discharges will be taken into
consideration in determining the number of available certificated positions
prior to the following school year.
7. The
SPS will provide the SEA with a master copy of the Bargaining Unit seniority
list and two (2) copies of the building seniority list given each
principal/program manager prior to the beginning of the staff adjustment
process.
1.
Seniority is the
length of regular contract service an employee has with the SPS and includes
length of service transferred from other
a.
Service from
another
b.
A year of
service is earned by fulfilling the number of days specified in the Contract.
c.
Seniority for
any employees who are contracted following the beginning of the school year
will be computed by dividing the number of days worked by the number of days specified
in the Contract. For purposes of
computing seniority, a day consists of working one-half (.5) day or more. For employees working less than one-half (.5)
day, seniority will be computed on the basis of full-time equivalency.
d.
A day of
seniority is based upon a day for which pay is received. Therefore, the following are excluded:
1) Absences
for other causes; and,
2) All
unpaid leaves except Military Leave which interrupt an employee's service.
2. Seniority
includes
substitute service.
3. It is
the intention of the parties that this Article be consistent with the SPS Affirmative
Action
efforts in hiring.
4. Employee
Categories
Funding and staffing needs may change in
schools, resulting in layoffs or displacement of some staff. Non-supervisory
certificated staff are retained or displaced from schools or identified for
layoff (
In order to meet the Federal Government’s
No Child Left Behind definition of Highly Qualified Teacher, District
categories are aligned with the NCLB subject area requirements. To request new categories, teachers must
provide information proving they meet the NCLB Highly Qualified criteria in
addition to holding the appropriate endorsement. For teachers working in areas outside of the
NCLB Subject Areas, endorsements, experience and credits will be considered in
granting new categories.
The NCLB Subject Areas include:
Science
Math
English
Language
Arts
World
Languages
Music
Visual
Arts
Theatre
Arts
Dance
History
Economics
Civics/Government
Geography
A teacher is automatically considered Highly Qualified when
he/she proves that he/she has:
Passed the Praxis II in the Content Area
Academic Major in Content Area
National Board Certification in Content
Area
45 Credits in Content Area
If
not highly qualified by the above criteria, a teacher may qualify by using the
HOUSSE (Highly
For teachers working in areas outside of
the NCLB Subject Areas, endorsements, experience and credits will be considered
in granting new categories. Any new
categories or changes in categories must meet the following criteria:
a An over-arching
endorsement that covers the category.
For example the elementary endorsement for elementary math category, or
Standard certificate for all categories, and then;
b. A major in the category; or,
c. A minor in that category within the last
six (6) years; or,
d. One (1) year of
experience (minimum .8 FTE in the chosen category within the last six (6) years
to accumulate to a minimum of .8 FTE.
Employment categories are established to
ensure the qualifications of employees assigned to retained positions and include
both Career and Technical and Non-Career/Technical Categories. Career and Technical categories are
determined by specific endorsements issued by the State, and
Non-Career/Technical Categories include:
BILINGUAL CATEGORIES
BE -English As A
Second Language - Elementary
BS-English As A
Second Language - Secondary
GE-Bilingual
Generalist – Elementary
GS-Bilingual
Generalist – Secondary
SPECIAL EDUCATION CATEGORIES
XA-Audiologist*
XB-Behavior
Disability, Self-Contained/Agency
XC-Special Education
Career Consultant
XD-Speech/Language
Pathologist*
XE-Early Childhood
Special Education
XF-Orientation and
Mobility Specialist
XG-Special Education
Generalist
XH-Hearing Impaired
XL-Deaf/Blind
XM-Mentally
Handicapped, Self-Contained
XO-Orthopedically
Handicapped
XP-Adaptive P.E.
XS-Severe/Profound
XT-Autism
XV-Visually Impaired
XX-Hospital
Instruction
XY-Occupational
Therapist*
XZ-Physical
Therapist*
* Requires ESA
certificate
SUPPORT SERVICES
AJ-Academic
Intervention Specialist
DA-Drug/Alcohol
Intervention Specialist
ZA-Guidance
Specialist*
ZE-Counselor,
Elementary*
ZN-Nurse*
ZP-Psychologist*
ZS-Counselor,
Secondary*
ZW- Social Worker*
*Requires ESA
Certificate
ELEMENTARY CATEGORIES
AE-Alternative,
Elementary
AM-Montessori
E3-Multi-age
E4-Kindergarten
E5-Grades 1-3
E6-Grades 4-5
EA-Art Specialist
EB-Language Immersion
ED-Distar
EF-Foreign language
EG-Gifted Specialist
EI-Music
Specialist,Instr.
EL-Librarian
EM-Elementary Math
EP-Phys.Ed.
ER-Elementary
ES-Science Specialist
EU-Multi Arts Gen.
(Art, Drama, Music & Dance)
EV-Music Specialist,
Vocal
E2-Computer
Specialist
IS –Itinerant
Elementary Instrumental Music Specialist
RS-Reading Specialist
ARTS
AG-Visual Arts
AD-Dance
LD-Theatre Arts
AC-Corrections/Educ.
Specialist
COMPUTER EDUCATION
M2-Computer
Educ./Programming
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
FC-Chinese - Han Yu
(Mandarin)
FE-Secondary Language
Emersion
FF-French
FG-German
FJ-Japanese
FL-Latin
FN-Norwegian
FP-Philipino
(Tagalog)
FR Russian
FS-Spanish
FW-Swedish
HEALTH EDUCATION
HE-Health Education,
General
LANGUAGE ARTS
LA-Language Arts,
General
LJ-Journalism
LR-Reading
MATHEMATICS
MA-Integrated Math
MC-Pre-Calculus
MG-Mathematics,
General
MIDDLE SCHOOL
H7-Middle School
History
L7-Middle School
Language Arts
M7-Middle School Math
R7-Middle School
S7-Middle School
Science
MUSIC
MI-Music,
Instrumental
MV-Music,
Vocal
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
PE-Physical
Education, General
PS-Physical
Education, Swimming
SCIENCE
SB-Biology
SC-Chemistry
SG-Science, General
SM-Marine Biology
SP-Physics
SECONDARY SPECIALIST
ZG -Gifted
Specialist, Secondary
ZL-Librarian,
Secondary
SOCIAL STUDIES
SE-Economics
SH-History
SI-Geography
SO-Government
TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION – Middle School
IM-Tech.Educ.-Graphics
FM-Family&Consumer Science
TRAFFIC EDUCATION
ZT-Traffic Education
5. Seniority
credit for purposes of displacement, transfer and layoff and recall when transferring
from classified unit to certificated unit:
In
January of the first year of certificated service, the employee will be credited
with seniority equal to their years of accrued SPS classified seniority.
6. Seniority
credit for non-supervisory certificated employees hired after September 1, 1991
will include credit for certificated substitute service in the
a. Only
b. Seniority
credit for substitute service will be computed on the basis of total full-time
equivalent certificated substitute days, divided by 180 days.
SECTION C: Displacement and Layoff Guidelines
Guidelines for displacement
and layoff shall be as follows:
1.
Displacement of staff
from buildings, layoff, and recall shall be by seniority, within categories,
subject matter areas, or departments.
2.
Employees are
designated “displaced” if they are involuntarily removed from a building
because the number of staff with continuing contracts in that category at the
building exceeds the building’s requirements for the following year but the
number of staff the SPS will require in that category the following year is
sufficient to warrant retention of the employee in a “displaced pool” eligible
to seek vacant positions under the terms of Article VIII, Staffing. Displaced employees retain the rights and
protections described in Article VIII, Staffing. Seniority within categories determines
whether an employee is “displaced” or “laid off”.
3.
Employees are
designated “laid off” if they are involuntarily removed from a building because
the number of staff with continuing contracts in that category in the SPS
exceeds the SPS’s requirements in that category for the following year and the
employee does not have sufficient seniority to be retained in the “displacement
pool”.
4.
The SPS shall
comply with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the 1972
Amendment, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act when implementing layoffs.
SECTION
D: Certificated Employee Layoffs
Retentions
and layoffs shall be determined as follows:
1. Certification: Possession of any valid
the position(s) under consideration shall be a
requisite for retention.
2. Selection
Within Employment Categories:
Certificated employees shall be considered for
retention in available positions within the
categories or specialties which they have designated
as preferences in accordance with Article XII,B,4 of
this Agreement.
3. Length
of service of certificated employees shall be the basis for retention within
the
employment categories.
4. Employees
who do not meet the seniority requirement for the first preference listed will
be considered, on a seniority basis, for their other listed preferences.
SECTION E: Recall from Layoff: PROVISIONS for
reemployment of laid off
employees
1.
All employees
laid off as a result of program or staff adjustments will be placed in an
employment pool from which they will have priority for reemployment.
2.
The SPS shall
maintain a roster of certificated employees who were laid off from
positions. Persons on the list will be
ranked in order of seniority within categories.
The SPS shall make every reasonable effort to recall laid off employees
to employment at the earliest possible date after determination that an
appropriate vacancy exists.
3.
If a position
becomes vacant and if no qualified internal candidate accepts the position (see
Article VIII, Staffing), the most senior person holding that category is
recalled. Internal candidates include
anyone eligible to participate in internal open hiring (as described in Article
VIII). The exceptions are that:
a.
To the extent
that the employee’s immediately previous assignment is available, the employee
shall automatically be placed in his/her immediately previous assignment.
b.
The employee
shall have the right to return to his/her immediately previous work location
whenever a position is available, but no later than the second week of school.
4.
Recall shall be
determined as follows:
a.
Certification: Possession of any valid Washington State
Certification which may be required for the position(s) under consideration
shall be a requisite for reemployment.
b.
Each individual
shall be considered for reemployment in any of the categories the employee
indicated as preferences.
c.
Reemployment
will be made on a seniority basis, within categories.
d.
The employee
shall have the right to refuse the first and second offer of employment. Refusing the third offer shall result in the
individual’s name being placed on the bottom of the rehire list.
e.
Employees
reemployed to a position in a 30% or more ethnic minority populated school
shall have training and/or experience with multi-ethnic or multi-cultural
situations. If such employees are not
available within the pool and no person will or can take the training and/or
experience prior to the opening of school, other persons will be selected with
consideration of appropriate in-service training and/or orientation.
5.
It shall be the
responsibility of each individual placed in the reemployment pool to notify
Human Resources in writing between June 1 and June 30 if the individual wishes
to remain in the reemployment pool for the second year. If the notification is
not received, the name of the individual(s) shall be dropped from the
employment pool.
6.
Individuals not
re-employed before the start of the fall school term, upon application, shall
be placed on the substitute roster and will be considered senior substitutes as
outlined in Article V. Laid off
employees may renew annually their position within the substitute roster.
7.
It is recognized
that certificated employees of the SPS holding administrative or supervisory
positions and not included in the bargaining unit covered by this Agreement may
be eligible, under applicable Board policy and administrative procedures, for
retention in one or more of the employment categories.
8.
Any laid off
individual shall, upon reemployment, retain full seniority rights and all other
rights as though his/her employment relationship with the SPS had not been
broken.
SECTION
F: Employment Notification
1.
All laid off
employees shall be responsible for notifying Human Resources of a telephone
number through which they can be reached.
2.
Any laid off
employee may assign his/her power of attorney to the SEA who will thereby be
authorized to accept or reject an assignment on the employee's behalf.
3.
Laid off
employees will be contacted by telephone to be offered re-employment and shall
respond within twenty-four (24) hours following receipt of the offer.
4.
Employees may
authorize Human Resources to accept or reject an assignment on their behalf.
SECTION
G: Recall from Layoff and Seniority
1.
All employees
recalled from layoff shall receive full seniority credit retroactive to the
first date of the semester if recalled prior to October 31.
2.
The recall
period for laid-off employees shall be renewable on an annual basis by the
former employee for a two (2) year length of time.