ORANGE COUNTY Officials of Orange County Public Schools and Orange County Classroom Teachers Association made a joint announcement May 26 that they had reached a tentative agreement on contract terms after a daylong meeting May 25.
According to the announcement, all teachers will receive salary bumps, and the evaluation process will improve.
The Orange County School Board will vote on this settlement before July 1, and the union will offer mail ballots regarding ratification after Memorial Day weekend.
The announcement included the following:
Highlights of the School Board’s current 2016-17 salary offer for teachers:
- $500 across the board increase in base salary for all teachers paid after ratification.
- $1,500 base salary increase for all teachers who received a rating of “Effective” (Includes the $500 across the board + $1,000 for performance) paid upon receipt of 2015-16 final summative scores.
- $1,850 base salary increase for teachers who received a rating of “Highly Effective” (Includes the $500 across the board + $1,350 for performance) paid upon receipt of 2015-16 final summative scores.
- Beginning teachers’ salary will increase from $39,000 to $39,500
- Per current contract language, a 1.28% increase will be added to all advanced degree supplements
- Employee must be in an active employment status as of the date of payout
Contractual Language Proposals
Instructional Evaluation System
- An overall decrease in the number of required evaluative observations based on teacher category (1, 2A, 2B, 3)
- Category 1 and 2B: two formal, four informal observations
- Category 2A: one formal, two informal observations
- Category 3: no changes
- Modification of ranges for ratings:
- Highly Effective: 3.3 – 4.0
- Effective: 2.4 – 3.2
- Needs Improvement: 1.5 – 2.3
- Unsatisfactory: 1.0 – 1.4
- Creates non-evaluative "Coaching Observations" that can be performed anytime by trained observers and will not be reflected as part of the evaluation (Administrators indicate when these are taking place).
- Requires completion of Deliberate Practice (DP) Plan before the DP is scored. The DP shall be completed and scored by April 15.
- Any evaluation appeal granted for a “procedural error” for a teacher with a rating of:
- 2.9 or less will result in a 3.0 Effective rating;
- 3.0 or higher will result in a 3.3 Highly Effective
- Student Learning Growth (SLG) beginning in 2015-16
o Reduction of student learning growth score portion from 40% or 50% of the final summative evaluation to 33.3% of the evaluation
o Offered cut points that provided a lower percentage of ratings below Effective than cut points required by the state
o The district proposed three options for a district calculated SLG model
Standardized Testing
· Students who are not testing shall not be in the same room as testing students.
Teacher Rights and Responsibilities
· A teacher can make arrangements with another teacher to cover classes in situations where the teacher will be out less than 2 hours, with approval from the administrator.
· Teachers shall not be held responsible for paying for instructional materials that a student has lost, destroyed or damaged.
· Placement review committee language revised to align with statute.
Digital Training
- LaunchEd 1:1 Digital Learning Program sites will offer professional development during the school year and optional training during the summer as funds allow.
Duty Day
- Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC) and the school administrator may discuss and provide a ballot for a faculty to vote on scheduling arrangements to include student contact time, planning time, duty time, use of substitutes, end of course testing schedules, etc. The ballot must be approved by a majority vote.
- A waiver for VPK teachers to have 30 hours of student contact per week.
Other TA’s previously reached that will be included in the proposed settlement include:
- Targeted Schools Supplement
- Telemedicine benefit
- Evaluation procedures manual
- Evaluation procedural error corrections
Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].
