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ARTICLE VI - TRANSFERS AND ASSIGNMENT |
| A. Voluntary Transfers |
| 1. |
a. |
District teachers will be given first consideration on the basis of their experience, employment history, qualifications and length of service with the District to transfer to any teacher position within the District which at the end of the school year is vacant for the next school year. |
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b. |
District teachers who have applications or
transfers on file with the District shall automatically receive
consideration for transfer to a position that becomes vacant during the
school year if at least one-half the school year remains, and be so
advised. |
| 2. |
a. |
In anticipation of positions coming vacant,
teachers desiring transfers may leave a written application stating this
at the District Office prior to openings becoming available and such
teachers will be considered automatically without further action on their
part. |
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b. |
The District shall post notice of vacancies or
new position announcements as they become known for the last half of the
current year and for the subsequent school year at each site. |
| 3. |
A
teacher who leaves such written application at the District Office
pursuant to paragraph 2 above, shall be required to inform the District
that he/she wishes to withdraw such written application.
If the District accepts the teacher’s request for voluntary
transfer based upon an application submitted pursuant to paragraph 2
above, prior to receiving written notice of the withdrawal of said
application, such transfer shall be effected and shall be deemed
“voluntary.” |
| 4. |
In the event that more than one teacher applies
for a vacancy under the provisions of this Section A-1a, consideration for
the vacancy will be given to District applicants in the order of their
length of service with the District.
If District applicant(s) is (are) rejected for the vacancy and the
District employs a new teacher, each District applicant shall be notified
in writing of the reason or reasons he/she was not selected with reference
specifically to the criteria of consideration set forth in Section A-1a
above. |
| 5. |
In the exercise of its discretion to select from
among applicants for a vacancy, the District shall do so by a consistent
and non-discriminatory application of the criteria of consideration set
forth in Section A-1a above. |
| B. Involuntary Transfers |
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1. |
District Initiated
Transfers for Program or Enrollment Reason
The
Association recognizes that the fulfillment of the Board’s legal
responsibilities and duties may necessitate involuntary transfers.
However, the District shall not arbitrarily or capriciously invoke
an involuntary transfer. |
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2 |
District Initiated Transfers During the School Year for Community Generated Reasons The Association recognizes that on occasion situations develop in a community whereby the effectiveness of a teacher is severely impaired as a result of animosity between the teacher(s) and a member(s) of the community. In such situations, after good faith efforts to resolve the disputes have failed, the teacher may be involuntarily transferred to another site. |
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3. |
Conditions Applying to Involuntary Transfers |
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a. |
Notice of an involuntary transfer shall normally be given no later than April 15. However, that date may be exceeded only in the event of unforeseen circumstances for which there is no reasonable alternative. Provided, however, that the teacher must advise the Superintendent of any reasonable alternative of which he/she is aware. |
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b. |
An involuntary transfer will be made by the District only after a consultation has occurred between the teacher and the Superintendent. The teacher shall receive written reasons for the transfer. |
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c. |
All reasonable moving expenses related to the involuntary transfer shall be borne by the District. |
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d. |
No teacher couple shall be separated through an involuntary transfer. |
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e. |
If a teacher is involuntarily transferred, he/she may terminate his/her individual contract without penalty or liability with two (2) weeks of the written notification of any such involuntary transfer or the teacher may elect to be placed on a one-year leave of absence. If the written notification given pursuant to paragraph 3.a. above does not set forth a school location, the two (2) weeks shall not begin to run until the teacher is given written notification of the new school location. |
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f. |
In place of the Article XIX grievance procedure, the following expedited grievance procedure shall be used if an involuntary transfer is grieved. A written grievance must be delivered to the Superintendent within three (3) working days of receipt of the notice of an involuntary transfer. The Superintendent shall hold the equivalent of a Level II grievance hearing within five (5) working days of receipt of the written grievance. The Superintendent shall issue a written decision no later than three (3) days after the end of the hearing.
If the Superintendent decides to uphold the involuntary transfer/deny the grievance, expedited binding arbitration will take place provided the grievant notifies the Superintendent in writing of an appeal to arbitration within three (3) days after receiving the written decision of the Superintendent.
Representatives of the District and the
Association will meet in January of each year and agree to a list of
arbitrators. Each arbitrator
on the list must agree to hold a hearing, if necessary, in Bethel prior to
May 9th and to issue a decision within six (6) days after the end of the
hearing. The parties will
select an arbitrator from the list by either mutual agreement or by the
strike method. Unless delays
in the process are attributable to the district, the involuntary transfer
shall occur even if an arbitrators decision has not been rendered prior to
the effective date of the involuntary transfer. |
| C. Issuance of Individual Teacher Contracts |
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1. |
Individual teacher contracts for tenured teachers shall be issued by the Board on or before March 30. Individual teacher contracts for non-tenured teachers shall be issued by the Board on or before the last day of the school term. |
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2. |
Individual teacher contracts shall be returned to the Superintendent within thirty (30) days of receipt of such contract or the offer of employment shall be null and void. If the teacher contract is returned by mail, it must be postmarked within the thirty (30) day period set forth above. |
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3. |
Individual teacher contracts shall include all provisions required by Alaska Statutes and Department of Education Regulations. |
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4. |
a |
The individual teacher contracts will provide for
school location, and in Bethel, school name. |
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b. |
For an individual teacher contract to be issued with the location left open the provisions of Section B of this Article must be followed, the teacher must be returning from a long term leave of absence, or the teacher is a new hire. |
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5. |
A teacher may resign without prejudice or penalty
if such resignation occurs prior to April 1. |
| D. Transfer of Districts |
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1. |
In the event a District
site(s) withdraws from the District to form an independent school district, the teachers assigned to the site shall, upon request and consistent with
A.S. 14.20.147, be given consideration for any vacant position with the District in accordance with the voluntary transfer provisions of this Article. Such a right shall extend from the date of the withdrawal of the site from the District to the first day of the first school year that the withdrawn
site(s) operates independently of the District. Also, this provision shall apply to any
teacher(s) RIF'ed by the withdrawing district during its first year of operation. |
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2. |
Teachers assigned to the withdrawing site will not be involuntarily transferred by the District from that site between the date of the election to withdraw and the date the new district begins operation (effective date of the withdrawal). A teacher who is assigned to a withdrawing site for fifty (50) percent or more of his/her contract time shall be considered at that site for purposes of Section D.
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