1. Staffing Cycle Workshop
Delfina Traxler
D16 T/OT Chief Negotiator/Staffing Officer
March 2017
Disclaimer:
Bear in mind that there could be disagreements over decisions that are made at the school level. We don’t always agree with the Board at the senior level either.
When in doubt, call the District Office for the D16 position, knowing your Principal will be calling the Superintendent for the Board position.

2. Staffing Cycle Workshop
Role of the In-school Staffing Committee
L.D.1.4.2
to assist the principal ... in collecting and verifying all in- school data and materials pertaining to the staffing of the school for that school year and the following school year.
Additionally, the In-School Staffing Committee shall assist the principal in monitoring staffing allocations and the teacher’s workload.
Assisting the principal is not a decision making position.
Your main purpose is to assist, support and monitor the Principal’s decisions to ensure fairness, transparency and integrity.
Your role is to ask questions, clarify the rationale for decisions, and advocate for members.
BUT ISC discussions are CONFIDENTIAL!
The responsibility for staffing decisions rests with the Principal.
This includes both Teacher assignments and schedules.
You must leave your other roles at the door – ex: if you are a Subject Head you still must advocate for every member!

3. Staffing Cycle Workshop
L.D
The ISC is entitled to receive the following information in the course of performing its duties:
Completed teacher tracking template – including teachers on leave with return dates, etc
student enrolment data confirmation sheets
student course selections
staff allocation sheets
surplus declarations
principal requests for extra staffing
initial and subsequent section allocations by subject groupings
teacher timetables
If you are not getting
this information
CALL ME
You should be getting updates on the Master Schedule and teacher assignment information until the end of June, so that you can ask questions and understand the rationale behind every decision.
If this information is not being shared with you, CALL ME.

4. Staffing Cycle Workshop
Preparation for the Staffing Cycle
Be aware of timelines,
ensure that teachers are also aware.
Know your school profile.
Who’s going to be in the building?
→ Refer to the Teacher Tracking sheet
Secondary Staffing Timelines are posted on our website under the PINK Staffing Cycle News button.
The school allo is determined using system projections, school projections, principal requests, and school trend data
System Projections – Enrolment Data based on feeder schools and planning – for example the opening of Grade 9 and 10 at the new Bill Hogarth SS will affect enrolment at other schools in the vicinity.
School Projections – course selections, student transfers
Administrators have already received their allo sheet and should have met with the ISC to determine whether they will be in a surplus or vacancy position.
The teacher Tracking sheet is essential at this point. We will look at several scenarios to determine how teachers going on leave or returning from leave should be “counted” in the teacher tracking form.

5. Staffing Cycle Workshop
Seniority
L.D
For teachers hired on or after September 1, 2003 as secondary teachers, seniority shall be the length of continuous teaching service with the Board as a Bargaining Unit member from the first day worked after being hired.
L.D Explain difference in seniority based on Sept. 1, 2003
Key concepts:
“continuous service” – means as long as you were an employee of the Board, and did not retire or resign
“first day worked” – Since we have various schools with different start dates, D16 and the Board have agreed to deem the first day worked for everyone as the first scheduled day on the school year calendar for the majority of schools.
This means that there is no “seniority advantage” to being a new hire at Bill Crothers S.S. or early start schools.
The first day worked this year was Sep Last year it was Sep 3, 2015.

6. Staffing Cycle Workshop
L.D
For the purpose of establishing seniority, part-time teachers shall be treated as full-time teachers.
L.D
For the purpose of establishing seniority, any approved absence shall not be considered an interruption of continuous service.
(L.D ) FTE status irrelevant to Seniority
(L.D ) “approved leave of absence shall not be considered an interruption of continuous service” - P/PL, personal study leave, DSP...

7. Staffing Cycle Workshop
The Seniority List
Members’ seniority listed by school
Most Senior to Least Senior
CAUTION: Alphabetical order
Tie Breakers (next slide)
Check for Errors (ex: ETFO-YR)
Caution:
teacher in 2 schools over 2 semesters
Interim POR at another school returning
List is distributed by school and is senior to junior based on first day worked
Within set of those with the same first day worked, the list is alphabetical; for most this won’t be an issue, for the least senior it may be (Use sample list as an example.)
Errors in the calculation of the list must be brought to Board’s attention within 30 work days of posting (D ); therefore, members (especially junior members) should check the list.
All teachers appear on their Sem 2 school seniority list. If a teacher came to your school in Sem 2 through this year’s pilot Mid-year Transfer process, then the teacher belongs to the Sem 2 school. If the teacher came in Sem 2 after the start of Sem 2, the the teacher still belongs to the Sem 1 school – very few of these, only where there were new administrators who left their teaching position or retirement during the semester – this must be corrected at both schools, especially the Sem 1 school.

8. Staffing Cycle Workshop
Tie Breakers
Principal’s signature date on ‘Recommendation to Hire’ notice, if both teachers have one. (CEC)
If after (a) there is still a tie, the tie breaker will be the total years of teaching experience with the Board including LTO experience. (HRS)
… total years of teaching experience in Ontario including LTO experience as per Article L.D.7.2.3
Lot - conducted by the Board and T/OT President (valid for the current staffing cycle).
Review tie breakers: 1. Principal’s (not Superintendent’s) recommendation to hire notice date only, not time; 2. total years with Board (elementary, LTO); 3. total years ion Ontario (elementary, LTO); 4. drawing lots.
It is strongly suggested that schools use the tie breakers in L.D and L.D as soon as possible so everyone knows where they stand.

9. Staffing Cycle Workshop
Staffing Process
Understand your Staffing Allocation sheets
Compare Allo to Teacher Tracking form
Three stages in staffing the school:
distributing sections among Subject Groups - Heads are usually asked to participate
assigning teachers to subject groups - Heads are not supposed to play any part
building teacher timetables - Heads may suggest
School Surplus declaration by Seniority
Qualifications – OCT/ Reg 298/ Reg 176
→ May affect surplus
At the Staffing Rollout Meeting, schools received instructions for the use of their Staffing Allocation.
(HANDOUT The sample school Allo sheet is from this year: “dedicated”, “non-CA”, etc)
School Profile affects the allocation – for example, two schools may both have 900 students, but one may have a greater proportion of students in PAE, ESL, learning strategies, or community classes, all of which have lower class sizes and require “richer” staffing. Likewise FI and IB affect ‘empty seats’.
Meet with the Principal to review the Allo sheet and determine whether there are any errors (ex: forgot a Community Class)
Compare the total number of sections in the building (from Teacher Tracking form) with the total number of sections allocated. This tells you whether the school will have surplus or vacancies.
NOTE: FINAL STAFFING DECISIONS SHOULD BE MADE ON FTE NOT SECTIONS – there may be a difference in rounding.
Step 1: Section Assignment – Subject Groups will be provided with sections based on school decisions. When it comes to trimming sections to make things fit the allocation, the role of the ISC is to monitor/query administration’s decisions.
Step 2: Teacher Subject Assignments Heads are asked for input in the distribution of sections to various subjects, but should NEVER discuss individual teachers.
(Yes and No examples)
Step 3: After the Master timetable is constructed
Heads do not decide teacher timetables, though they may be asked for suggestions.
Qualifications – OCT/ Reg 298/ Reg 176, as in Teacher Assignment in Ontario Schools (Mar 2011)
Who’s in the building? Most administrators print off copies of the staff’s OCT Certificates of Qualifications. This could become very important when deciding surplus declarations.

10. Staffing Cycle Workshop
Deciding Who is Surplus
L.D.7.1.3
A “Surplus Teacher” is a Bargaining Unit member who has been identified first by seniority and secondly by qualifications as being in excess of the staffing requirements of a particular school for the ensuing year.
Review the definition in L.D “first by seniority and secondly by qualifications”:
This means that if there is no one else in the building qualified to teach sections in a restricted subject, the least senior teacher may be protected – restricted subjects are Tech, Special Education and French only.
(Music example)

11. Staffing Cycle Workshop
L.D Surplus to School Declarations
The least senior teacher, as determined by Section L.D.7.2, shall be declared surplus provided that the teacher’s assignment, in the opinion of the Principal and the Superintendent of Education, can be filled satisfactorily by another qualified teacher at the school.
L.D.7.4.5
PORs are protected from being declared surplus; Interim and Acting PORs are not.
L.D “provided that the teacher’s assignment, in the opinion of the Principal and the SO, can be filled satisfactorily by another qualified teacher at the school.” discuss
L.D PORs are protected from being declared surplus, provided the section count still supports the POR (provide a No example). Interim or Acting PORs are not protected from surplus as they do not extend from one school year into the next (provide a No example).

12. Staffing Cycle Workshop
Declared Surplus – Next Steps
(L.D L.D )
Surplus declaration: April 18
Applying for vacancies
Being retained
The Surplus Placement Meeting - May 16th
Staying at your current percentage
Teachers will be informed if they are School Surplus on Tuesday April 18th, 2017, by 4 pm, in person by the Principal – preferably with BP in attendance.
Principals must call members on leave at home.
May 15th absolute deadline for surplus declaration (L.D.7.4.3) – very rare – if there are unexpected changes in the school.
Options regarding surplus; other schools/part time same school (L.D – L.D )
Surplus teachers apply for positions listed on the first three vacancy lists: April 24th, May 1st, May 8th, 2017.
Understand that you can be retained (taken off of the school surplus list) if someone more senior leaves the school.
Explain the Surplus Placement Meeting will be May 16th, 2017 – before then, additional information collected; that day, teachers contacted in their school with one, two or three options – as available. There is often only one option. If there are two or three, the decision must be made over the phone.

13. Staffing Cycle Workshop
Declared Surplus – I Want to Stay!
(or L.D )
If a suitable position arises within two (2) years in the school from which the teacher has been declared surplus, that teacher shall be offered the position provided that:
the teacher indicates in writing interest in such a position (do it immediately after declaration)
“Suitable position” - based on Reg 278
One time offer (if at all)
Does not apply to teacher retained during the current staffing cycle.
If a vacancy occurs before the end of the staffing cycle June 13th and the teacher is retained, then teacher is no longer considered surplus, but if a vacancy occurs after deadline then it’s too late for this year;
Example: Joe was declared surplus from Pony High School, where he’s been teaching Math. He found a Math position at Emerald High School, but would like to return to Pony High. If a vacancy opens up during the current staffing cycle at Pony High, the admin must offer to retain Joe, and try to rearrange the vacancy to match his teachables – as if he had never been declared surplus, on a par with every other teacher at Pony High. If Joe does not accept to be retained during this staffing cycle, then he is considered to have transferred, and is no longer considered Surplus – his Recall Letter is no longer valid.
If a vacancy comes up after the Transfer Process is closed, then it will not be offered to Joe, because it is too late for this year.
If there is any vacancy in next year’s staffing cycle it should be offered to Joe first, and Joe will have only one such offer, regardless of subject/qualifications.

14. Staffing Cycle Workshop
Declared Surplus – I Want to Stay!
(or L.D )
Surplus Right of Recall Letter:
 (Date)
(Principal’s name)
(School) 
Dear (Principal’s Name),
As per article D of the secondary Collective Agreement, I wish to be considered for recall should a suitable position arise within the next two (2) years.
 Thank you,
(Teacher’s name)
 cc. (Branch President)
Clayton LaTouche, Superintendent of Human Resource Services – Operations
Those declared surplus can write a letter to the principal asking to return should a suitable position arise.
Recall Letter is good for two years; voided if offer is declined.
Offers in future staffing cycles should be based on seniority, not qualifications.

15. Staffing Cycle Workshop
Got Vacancies ? The Sequence for Filling Them
Until May 12th:
Right of Return (L.D ) – 2015 &2016 recall letters
Surplus or Transfer Teachers at current FTE
After Surplus Placement:
Right of Return (L.D )
Part Time FTE increase within school (L.D.5.3.2)
Transfers from other schools, including FTE increase
After end of Transfer Process (mid June to early July):
New Contract Hires from LTO List, in compliance with Reg 274.
New vacancies in summer?
Part Time FTE increase within school in August/September
Recall: check who left letters in 2016 and 2015.
For Part Time to Full Time:
Offers should be made to ALL Part-time teachers who gave written notice that they want an
FTE increase, in seniority order – offers based on seniority, not qualifications. Then the principal should explore assignment changes to better match the teacher’s qualifications and preferences, if possible – with ISC input.
Example: not enough senior Math teachers – currently have two vacant sections for Calculus and Vectors. Next most senior part-time teacher is Geography and HPE qualified. P and ISC explore switching the 12U math for gr 9 Locally Developed, or for 11 or 12 workplace math.

16. Staffing Cycle Workshop
Filling Vacancies – The Ongoing Discussion
Ask about positions being posted: rationale.
Ask about FTE for sections being posted.
Monitor speed with which ‘conversations’ are occurring.
Ensure the sequence is being followed.
Principal provides ISC frequent updates
Postings appear every week; everyone is eligible to apply for transfer
Encourage members to pursue vacancies that may be partially in their teachable if there appears another % in their other teachable
Balancing act between the changing needs of the school as people leave/arrive and the need for consistency when posting
It’s not enough to only monitor the surplus procedure, the ISC need to have an ongoing dialogue about posting vacancies as well. For example, if there are 2 vacancies at the school: 7 sections (1.17 FTE) vacant in English, 2 sections (.33) in History and 3 sections (.50) in Business, will the posting be 1.0 FTE comprised of 4 English/2 History and 3 English/3 Business or 1 full-time English and one position with the remainder.
ISC should ask why one way and not the other.
ISC should have up-to-date information on Teacher Assignments.

17. Staffing Cycle Workshop
When in doubt, call the District Office!
Transparency for Members:
It is imperative that the surplus procedure is transparent for all those involved. Members should clearly understand why they were declared surplus and what their rights are under the CA.
Part of the role of the ISC is to advocate for members who have concerns about their assignment or timetable.
At the same time ISC discussions are Confidential!