TVDSB has just announced that the newly negotiated additional PD Day will take place on April 15, 2016. LTOs will attend school and the morning will focus on Numeracy while the afternoon will be dedicated to Health and Safety.
Assignments and Inclement Weather:
Winter has finally taken hold of the region and with the onset of inclement weather comes the possibility of bus delays and school closures, though the Board has undertaken to keep sites open even if buses are cancelled this winter.
Please note that your OT Collective Agreement provides:
10.08: A Long-Term Occasional Teacher or Short-Term Occasional Teacher who is delayed by local weather conditions but arrives at school as soon as possible during the regular school hours of that day will not have a salary deduction made. "Local" means within the geographic area between the Occasional Teachers' home address and the school or worksite of said Occasional Teacher.
9.05: A Long-Term Occasional Teacher who is unavoidable absent due to a local act of nature over which no one has control may be granted up to 3 school days leave per school year with deduction of sick leave credit(s). Should the Long-Term Occasional Teacher be working less than a full day in the assignment, school day shall mean that Long-Term Occasional Teachers' work day on the day of the absence. A LTO may apply in writing to HR for an increase in the maximum allowable days under this section.
16.05: (a) The Board shall give a minimum of 2 hours notice of cancellation of any pre-arranged assignment. ... (b) In the event of inclement weather, Occasional Teachers will receive information on the status of school closures or delays in openings by the normal Board communication process. Notice of closure due to inclement weather will be deemed to meet the minimum notice requirements of 16.05 (a)
The Local reminds Occasional Teachers that no job is worth risking your safety so please exercise caution when deciding what course of action to take on such days.
Pay and Seniority for Partial Days:
Many of the Teachers we replace have partial FTE or part-time contracts. Our Collective Agreement provides OTs will not be paid for anything less than a half day but after that the assignment will be pro-rated depending on how many minutes passed 150 (which defines .5 of a day), we teach. This same fraction is added to your accumulated experience for the OT Roster which is why there are 2 decimal places on the rankings.
Report Cards and Professional Judgement:
ETFO Provincial has issued a Bulletin reminding LTOs and Teachers to use their professional judgement when completing report cards and the negotiated expectations in this process. This is a provision negotiated at the Central Table and we refer you to the attached document for further details -
http://www.etfo.ca/
