BASD work rules show how much has changed in past year
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff writer
When Act 10 stripped public unions of the ability to bargain for anything except wages, school districts around the state found themselves – for the first time in decades – looking at significant change in how they do business.
“What we had prior to June 30, 2011, is we had very well-defined master contracts with all of our employee groups,” said Burlington Area School District Superintendent Peter Smet. “These very well-defined contracts were very specific, in terms of wages, benefits and working conditions.
“When the contracts ended for us, all of our defined work rules over the last 45 years had been, in effect, eliminated.”
What the district did then is what every other school district has had to do: create an employee handbook that, in essence, recreated those rules. Instead of a contract, district employees now have a 103-page handbook that outlines everything from dress code to discrimination to work day hours to potential reduction of staff.
Those changes have been in effect for the school year, and that last part – reduction of staff – defined how layoffs would be determined in light of declining enrollment and a needed reduction in staff.
In order to set up the handbook, Smet said the district purchased a template from the Wisconsin Association of School Boards and worked from there.
The first half of the handbook is pretty standard – parts that relate to all the staff in the district.
It covers general expectations, employee laws, confidentiality, worker’s compensation, sick leave, jury leave, bereavement leave and just about any other leaves, absences or general benefits.
That part, Smet said, is reasonably standard.
“Many of these pages are standard information that you would find in any employee handbook,” he explained.
But the next part, labeled “Staff With Individual Contracts Under Wis. Statutes 118.22 and Professional/Exempt Non-supervisory Employees” defines everything teachers were worried about losing in negotiations through Act 10.
Rules for everything from vacancy postings to assignments within the school district to employee resignations are covered, as are vacations, holidays and short-term disability.
But perhaps the biggest item is Section 6 – Reduction in Force, Positions and Hours. It outlines the steps used for reduction of staff, starting with attrition and then outlining steps for the selection of teachers for layoff or reduction.
For example, all teachers in grades K-6 will be considered from all buildings, not just the building in which the nonrenewal is necessary. In middle school and high school, the nonrenewal will take place within the department.
The second part outlines the four steps for consideration, in order, for determining who will not be renewed: educational needs of the district; qualifications as established by the School Board; qualifications of the remaining employees in the grade, department or certification area; and, finally, performance.
As a result, Smet said he felt the district had worked hard to come up with something that was fair, but also able to be adjusted if needed and that worked toward the goal of improving student achievement.
“The first thing we want to do is work with people,” Smet said. “The vast majority of people in any employment setting want to do the right thing. And that’s the case here.”
One other major point: the School Board can tweak the handbook anytime it deems fit.
“If we find a practice or procedure that is not helping us improve student achievement, we have a chance to change the handbook,” he said.
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