Article Eight — Work Schedule and Assignments

A. Work Year and Day

1. The work year for returning Employees’ (i.e. those employees who have worked at the School during the previous school year) shall begin no earlier than August 21st of each school year. Employees shall work no more than 1.) the same number of instructional days as designated in the annual school calendar of the New York City Board of Education for high schools and 2.) eight (8) additional days that shall be designated for mandatory professional development. Employees new to the School (in their first year only), School Secretaries/Office Managers, School Assistants, and Teaching Assistants shall work two (2) days in addition to the above stated work year.
2. The School will follow the same holiday schedule as the New York City Board of Education for high schools; however, pursuant to Article 9 the School’s Calendar Committee may reconfigure the school calendar within the parameters for the work year defined above and subject to any legal requirements for public holidays.
3. The professional workday for Teachers and Guidance Counselors shall include the student day, staff meetings, professional development meetings, office hours and time needed for class preparation. The work day for full-time School Secretaries/Office Managers, Teachers Assistants and School Assistants is eight (8) hours per day with a forty (40) hour work week. Should the School employ a new title or category of employees having a community of interest with this group of employees, the professional workday defined here will also apply to this group. Teachers and Guidance Counselors are considered exempt titles for purposes of overtime; School Secretaries/Office Managers, Teachers Assistants and School Assistants are non-exempt.
4. Employees will receive a duty-free lunch period of no less than thirty (30) minutes. Each Teacher will be given at least one (1) class period per schedule cycle for preparation time. Preparation time is to be used for preparation related to teaching duties and or Union business and not for personal business or conducting personal appointments. Pursuant to Article 9, the School’s Calendar Committee may revise the amount of preparation time provided to Employees and the length of Employees’ duty-free lunch so long as all legal requirements for instructional minutes are met and it is determined that such changes do not negatively impact the School’s educational standards.
5. The School recognizes that Employees rely on their regular schedules to prepare their work and agrees that the scheduling of ad hoc meetings or other events not regularly scheduled can disrupt and interfere with teaching. Therefore, ad hoc changes that affect Employees’ daily work schedule should be minimized and, where such meetings or events are necessary, should be made with reasonable advance notice so as not to interfere with Employees’ schedules. In the event that an ad hoc meeting is scheduled outside of normal working hours without reasonable notice, and an Employee is unable to attend due to a prior commitment or personal hardship, the Employee will not be disciplined for not attending.
6. Employees who lose time from their scheduled preparation because they are required by the School to cover a class shall be additionally compensated for such extra time within the next pay period at the Employee’s pro-rated hourly pay rate.
7. Returning Employees will accrue sick days at a rate of one (1) day per work month. The School will provide new Employees, in their first year only, with ten (10) available sick days at the commencement of their service, and new Employees will not accrue additional sick days until their second year of employment. Unused sick days for all Employees, up to a limit of two hundred (200) days, will be banked for future use.  In any given year, up to three (3) sick days may be used for personal business. For an Employee’s absences of one-half (1/2) a work day or less, the School will deduct from the Employee’s accumulated days in hourly increments for every fraction of an hour the employee is absent from work. Absences of more than one-half (1/2) a work day shall be deducted as a full day of sick leave. Unit members with perfect attendance during a school year will be awarded a bonus of two (2) days pro-rata pay.
8. For any Employees on leave from the New York City Board of Education, upon proof of the Employee’s resignation from the New York City Board of Education and on verification of the Employee’s sick leave balance with the New York City Board of Education, the School will recognize as unpaid leave fifty (50) percent of the sick leave balance available on the date of resignation. Such leave will be available for use by the member as unpaid leave pursuant to Article 12.

B. Assignments

1. To facilitate adequate planning for the upcoming school year, on or before January 15th of each year the School will distribute to all Employees a notice of intent to return. On or before February 14th of each year, Employees must sign a notice of intent to return in order to assure assignment with the School for the following school year. Employees who indicate that they do not intend to return may change their election up until April 1st of each year and will be assured an assignment for the following year. An Employee may extend the April 1st deadline in a written request to the School, dated prior to April 1st, until April 15th, and such a request will not be unreasonably denied. The notice of intent to return may include a statement of preferred assignment for the following school year. The absence of such a statement shall indicate that the Employee desires to continue in his or her current assignment and, if the Employee has satisfactory evaluations pursuant to Article 11, the Employee shall be so assigned.
2. In determining assignments for the following year for Employees desiring a change of assignment within their existing academic department, the following procedure shall be followed.
   1. On or before January 15th of each year, the School shall provide each academic department with the list of classes for the following year and each Employee’s preferred assignment. Each academic department shall meet to mutually determine initial assignments for the following year. Each academic department shall present the list of initial assignments to the principal on or before April 1st of each year, including any positions remaining open.
   2. Open positions for the upcoming school year along with Summer School and “Summer Bridge” positions shall be posted by April 15th of the current school year. After the hiring of new personnel (pursuant to Article 9 in the procedures outlined for the Hiring Committee), the initial assignments may be reviewed by each academic department. Department members will consult with the goal of reaching mutual agreement on final assignments.
   3. In the event that mutual agreement on assignments is not reached in either of the preceding sections, the principal shall make the final determination on assignments using the following criteria:
      • • Legal requirements and qualifications
        • Satisfactory evaluation
        • Expertise and relevant experience

In the absence of substantial distinguishing differences in the above criteria, length of service at the School shall be the determining factor.

e. Employees shall be notified of their final assignments for the next school year on or before May 1st.