Master Agreement

MASTER AGREEMENT

This agreement is made and entered into the _11th_ day of _ June_ , 2007 , by and between the Board of Education of Unified School District No. 429 of Doniphan County, Kansas, and the Troy Education Association of Troy hereinafter referred to as the Association,

WITNESSETH:

WHEREAS, K.S.A. 72-5413, et sep., provides a procedure for professional employees of Boards of Education to organize and select representatives for the purposes of conducting professional negotiations, and the majority of the employees within the Unified School District No. 429 of Doniphan County, Kansas, have designated the Association as their representative for professional negotiations. and:

WHEREAS, The Board and its designated representatives have met with the representatives of the Association and have considered, discussed, and negotiated terms and conditions of professional service:

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS AGREED BY THE PARTIES AS FOLLOWS:

1. This agreement shall constitute a part of individual professional employee contracts of the professional employees of the Board, with the same force and effect as though fully set forth in each individual contract "Professional employee" is defined as a professional teaching employee engaged in academic instruction.

2. The Association recognizes that it has the right to negotiate any and all terms and conditions of professional services as set forth in K.S.A. 72-5413(1) and judicial interpretations thereof. The Association expressly agrees that the Board and administration have the exclusive right to control and change such terms and conditions which have not been negotiated by policy, rule, procedure, regulation, or decision during the term of this agreement.

3. This Agreement shall cover the period of time commencing July 1, 2007 and shall terminate June 30, 2009.

4. The Board retains all powers expressly granted to it by the statute, including those necessarily implied. The Board shall have the right to make changes in professional service terms and conditions except as specifically limited by any provision of this Agreement, and the Board retains all of the powers and rights conferred upon it by law, including but not limited to the following:

a. The exclusive right to manage and control school district and board property within the district; b. The right to prescribe rules for student discipline and discipline control; c. The right to recruit, select or hire and staff all newly created or vacant positions; d. The right to fix and describe the duties to be performed by all persons in the public school service within the district; e. The right to maintain schools and classes as provided by law; f. The right to prescribe rules not inconsistent with law and within the rules and regulations prescribed by the Kansas State Board of Education; g. The right to assign, transfer or make job assignments to persons employed within the school district; h. The right to establish and require promotional examinations and the evaluation of certificated personnel employed within the school district; i. The right to make final approval of curriculum and textbook selections; j. The right to establish pupil discipline policy; k. The right to determine matters that may effect the welfare of the students; l. The right to terminate professional service contract in accordance with the provisions of the law; m. The right to establish the school calendar and hours; n. The right to determine the starting and quitting time and the number of hours to be worked by employees of the board; o. The right to expend the school funds and to determine priorities for expenditures; p. The right to determine all matters relating to the definition of educational objectives; q. The right to determine the content of the courses and curricula and other aspects of the instructional program to the extent such matters are within the discretion of the board. It is agreed that the foregoing provisions contained in this paragraph shall be construed as limited by any other provisions of this agreement which are in conflict with such provisions of the paragraph. The forgoing enumeration of board rights and responsibilities is not intended to exclude other rights not enumerated herein. The only limitations on the rights, duties and powers of the board shall be by law or by the express limitations of the specific provisions of the agreement.

5. Professional employees having grievances concerning matters of their employment shall communicate on such grievances to the appropriate principal within ten (10) days of the incident precipitating the grievance. If the professional employee does not achieve satisfaction of the grievance within fifteen (15) days after communication with the principal, such professional employee shall have the right to state the grievance, in writing and in person, to the superintendent of schools. If satisfaction shall not have been obtained by presentation of the grievance to the superintendent, the professional employee shall have the right to present the grievance to the board within thirty-five (35) days of the presentation to the superintendent.

6. The provisions of this paragraph shall apply to all professional employees who are employed for one hundred ninety (190) days of school for the 2007-2008/2008-2009 school year. In the event that employment should exceed one-hundred ninety (190) days, then professional employee shall receive additional compensation based upon the fraction one, one hundred ninety (1/190) of the annual salary for each additional day of employment. Exemptions to this provision include compensation at rate of $12.00 per hour for summer committee work and summer school teaching.

7. Teachers will be contracted for one hundred ninety (190) days which shall consist of teaching and non-teaching professional days as determined by the Board of Education. Three (3) workdays to work in rooms to include: One (1) day at the beginning of the year One-half (1/2) day at the end of the first and third quarters One (1/2) day at the end of the first semester One (1/2) day at the end of the school year

8. Professional employees assigned to the secondary and middle school shall be entitled to the equivalent of one planning period per day if possible. It is understood that such time may not necessarily be in one segment or block and may be on a weekly basis, but every effort will be made to provide a daily planning period. Professional employees assigned to the elementary school shall use the time that his or her students are out of the classroom for activities such as music and physical education for planning time. All teachers who teach at least half-time shall be allotted a duty-free planning period proportional to the number of hours for which that teacher is employed daily. The building principal shall be responsible for the attendance and control of all professional employees assigned to his or her respective buildings. No professional employee shall leave or absent himself or herself from the assigned school building during the regular hours of pupil attendance of his or her planning period without first having given notice to the building principals and obtained approval therefrom. Professional employees and building principals may mutually establish other assignments during planning periods. If a professional employee is requested by

2 the administration to substitute for another teacher during their planning period, they will be paid $10 per hour.

9. Sick and Bereavement Leave

Each full time certified employee shall be granted ten (10) days leave per year of employment accumulative to seventy-five (75) days. Maximum leave that may be used in any year is 85 days. Leave shall be without loss of pay with the district paying the substitute. Certified employees employed part-time shall be granted leave on a pro-rated basis.

Leave may be used for: 1. Personal illness and/or illness in the employee's immediate family. Immediate family shall be interpreted to include husband, wife, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, father, mother, father-in- law, mother-in law, brother-in law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandparents, grandchildren, or other relative or individual who resides in the home of the employee. 2. Death within the employee's immediate family. 3. Death of a close friend or relative outside immediate family in accordance with the following guidelines: a. Requests must secure prior approval from building principal and Superintendent or their designee. b. Except for exceptional circumstances, leave shall be for a maximum of one day. Exceptional circumstances that would require absence in excess of a single day will be considered on a case-by case basis by the building principal and Superintendent.

Upon retirement or completion of a teacher's fourth year of employment, to apply when the teacher leaves the district, payment will be make for one-half of the per day substitute teacher pay, maximum being $650. Payment will be made for unused sick leave accumulated above the maximum carryover of seventy-five (75) days at the end of each school year. The teacher must have accumulated the maximum number of days allowed (seventy-five (75)) in order to be eligible for payment for unused current year sick leave days. Payment for the unused days over the seventy-five (75) will be pursuant to the following schedule:

8-10 unused days paid at $50.00 per day 5.7 unused days paid at $35.00 per day 1-4 unused days paid at $10.00 per day.

Personal Leave

Each full-time certified employee may be granted three (3) days of Personal Leave per year. Certified employee employed part-time will be granted leave on a prorated basis. Personal Leave is to be used at the discretion of the employee. Prior approval is to be obtained from the building principal and the Superintendent or their designee. Personal leave shall be deducted from sick leave. Personal Leave may be requested and granted in half-day increments. When requesting Personal Leave, five (5) working days advanced notice shall be given to the district office. No more than two (2) members of the certified staff will be granted Personal Leave on any contract day. Personal Leave will not be granted on the day before or after a vacation, within the first five (5) days of classes, during the last two weeks of school, on days of parent-teacher conference, in service days or work days.

3 Sick Leave Bank The purpose of the sick-leave bank is to provide additional sick leave for a teacher who had exhausted all of his/her sick leave and has a continuing illness or a qualifying use of sick leave that prevents the teacher from performing his/her duties.

The allocation of sick leave bank days shall be determined by a sick leave bank committee consisting of the superintendent and one teacher from each building appointed by the Troy Education Association upon written request of the teacher. No more than 10 days may be requested or granted per year per teacher. Requests for additional days may be granted and will be considered by committee and the board of education on a case by case basis. Sick leave bank leave days will not be available during any period that the teacher receives benefits from workers’ compensation or KPERS’ disability. Days may be granted in one-half day or full-day increments. Sick leave bank days that are unused by the employee will be returned to the sick leave bank at the end of the school year.

To participate in the sick leave bank, a teacher shall contribute one day of the teacher’s sick leave to the bank. Teachers are limited to contributing one day of their current sick leave per year. Teachers may not contribute any of their accumulated leave.

The number of days in the sick leave bank shall not exceed sixty (60). The number of days in the bank shall accumulate and carry forward until the maximum of sixty (60) days has been accumulated. If new teachers desire to participate in the sick leave bank, their contribution shall be allowed and the aggregate number of sick leave bank days may be increased above sixty (60) to accommodate the new teachers’ participation.

Emergency Leave

Absence because of unforeseen events that require the immediate action of response by a certified employee will be classified as Emergency Leave.

Within five (5) days of the return from an Emergency Leave, the employee shall submit a written statement, attached to the proper Request for Leave form, for consideration by the Superintendent, which describes the nature of the emergency. The employee will be notified in writing within five (5) days whether the Emergency Leave is to be granted or not.

Emergency Leave, when granted, will be deducted from accumulated Sick Leave at the rate of one day of Sick Leave for each day of Emergency Leave granted. In extreme circumstances, the employee may request leave in excess of their total accumulated Sick Leave days. Should the leave be denied, the employee's salary will be deducted at the rate of 1/work year days per day denied.

10. Board of Education Agenda and Minutes An agenda will be sent to each of the three school buildings before each board meeting and a copy of the minutes of each board meeting will be posted in each of the three school buildings after each meeting.

11. Pay for Night Activities Guideline for payment of night activities are listed on the extra duty schedule with the exception if an administrator requires the presence of the teacher, the teacher will be paid unless the meeting requires the presence of the teacher to function, such as Open House, P.E. Program, Christmas and Music Programs.

12. Building Keys Each teacher will have a key to his/her school building unless security becomes a problem. If a key is lost, that teacher will pay for the key and lock tumbler if necessary.

4 13. Class Budgets The policy will be set administratively.

14. NEA Meetings Two (2) teachers from each building will be allowed to attend the NEA Professional meetings. The first day will be charged as a personal day with the second being counted as a professional day, paying for their own substitute. The right to go will be on a first-come/first-serve basis.

15. Holidays The superintendent will invite input from the teachers through the staff advisory council before the school calendar is approved by the board of education.

16. Lunch Duty Certificated employees shall have a lunch of at least twenty-five (25) minutes free of assigned responsibilities. Certificated employees who choose to accept lunch time student supervision will receive a meal supplied by the Board of Education. This will be reported in compliance with I.R.S. requirements.

17. Salary Schedule The total yearly compensation for teachers is established. Four hundred ($400) per month may be allowed to be used for benefits under the Section 125 Cafeteria Plan. The school district shall pay for a single health insurance premium or in the alternative shall pay up to an equavalent of a single health premium towards a family plan to be applied to the District health care plan in 2007-2008/2008-2009.

The salary schedule will have seven columns as follows: Col. I BA Degree Col. II BA +9 hours Col. III BA +18 hours Col. IV BA +27 hours Col. V Masters Degree Col. VI M+9 hours Col. VII M+18 hours(continuous steps) *The Board of Education will make each step down $375.

The Board of Education may, at its discretion, pay salaries above the schedule to staff members.

18. Released from Contract Teachers desiring release from their contract shall notify the Board of Education in writing on or before May 15. All requests for release after May 15 will be granted subject to the availability of a suitable replacement and in accordance with the remittance of the following liquidated damages: May 15 - June 1 $1000.00; June 2 - July 1 $2000.00; July 2 - August 1 $3000.00. The Board of Education shall have the right to waive any or all of said payment.

19. Reduction in Force In the event the Board determines the size of the professional staff shall be reduced the following guidelines shall be observed in reducing the number of teaching positions: 1) The greatest possible reduction in teaching staff shall be accomplished through attrition. 2) Employees who are on disciplinary probation shall be released next. 3) Employees who, by state certification standards, are only provisionally certified in their assigned teaching positions. 4) Employees who are part-time. 5) For the remaining employees within the specified group, termination will be determined using the following criteria in this order: a) evaluation b) administrative recommendation c) length of service 20. Contracted Days

5 All teachers are expected to be on duty in their respective buildings twenty-five minutes before school starting time and twenty minutes after school ending time unless a special schedule is in effect. One day per week the teacher will be expected to be on duty at 7:30 a.m. for a faculty meeting when needed. On Fridays, the teacher will be able to leave 10 minutes after school is out.

21. Teacher Aides Aides will be based upon need as determined by administration.

22. Faculty Meetings Faculty meetings shall be scheduled by Administration as conditions warrant.

23. Conference Attendance Staff Inservice, conference attendance, and/or professional staff meetings shall be available to certified employees of U.S.D. 429. Any Inservice Plan for recertification shall confirm to the guidelines established by the Kansas Department of Education for state approved Inservice Plans.

Professional Travel: a) Furnish school car if one is available. b) Pay mileage at state rate if no school car is available. c) Pay a total of $300 per school year per teacher to be applied to registration, lodging, and meals, and substitute teacher costs. d) Provide substitute teacher e) Each professional employee will have three (3) days of professional leave per year. These three (3) days are not part of the ten (10) sick days. These days will be used to attend educational conferences, workshops, clinics, or other schools.

Requests to attend conferences will be evaluated regarding their alignment with the goals of the district and a cost/benefit basis regarding probable value of the conference as it relates to classroom teaching, classroom activities and teaching materials.

24. Staff Participation Each teacher performing professional development work (school improvement committee work, staffing detention centers or organized extra help sessions scheduled for after school) be remunerated at the rate of $12.00 per hour. All reimbursed committee work must be approved by the Superintendent and must by designed to address a facet of school improvement. A list will be made available at the beginning of the year of the committees that will be compensated. If committees are formed during the year, it will be made known at that time if it will be a compensated committee. Each committee will be evaluated annually to determine if it will continue to exist. Every staff member may not be assigned to a committee.

25. Teacher Files Certified employee’s official files shall be located in the U.S.D. 429 administrative office. Credentials and related papers from teacher placement bureaus, which by their own regulation are labeled as closed credentials, will not be available for inspection. No material relating to the certificated employee’s conduct, service, or personality shall be placed in the employee’s file until the employee has had an opportunity to review, sign, and date the material.

26. PDC Points

6 A teacher will receive credit for PDC in-service points only at the time of recertification. Time of recertification shall mean the date the teacher’s application for recertification is filed with the Kansas Department of Education. Application for movement on the salary schedule must be filed on or before August 25 next following the date the application for recertification is submitted to KSDE. If application for movement is not filed on August 25 next following the date the teacher submits his/her application for recertification with KSDE, the teacher shall no longer be eligible to move across the salary schedule based upon the PDC points accrued to the point of application for recertification. A teacher will be able to use these points to move across the salary schedule. The maximum you can use on a Bachelors degree is 80 points and the maximum you can use on a Masters degree is 120 points. The ratio is 20-1.

WITNESS our hands the day and date first above written.

TNEA BOARD OF EDUCATION USD OF TROY, KANSAS 429 DONIPHAN COUNTY, KANSAS

BY______BY______REPRESENTATIVE PRESIDENT

BY______BY______REPRESENTATIVE MEMBER

BY______MEMBER

______CLERK OF THE BOARD