Swati Gadhvi

Education 1100-Net01
Collective Bargaining and Unions
Complete the following questions using the Collective Bargaining Agreement from the school
district you are observing. Please cite the page number you located each answer.
1. What school district did you research? Provide the exact web address or link to the
collective bargaining agreement.
Batavia Public School District 101. <http://www.bps101.net/depts/financebusiness/collective-bargaining/>
2. What is a collective bargaining agreement? What people/groups of people are involved in
the collective bargaining process?
A collective bargaining agreement outlines the details of the contracts teachers
have with the school district. In this particular case, we are looking at the
bargaining agreements outlined between the Board of Education, Batavia
Education Association, and Batavia Education Support Professional Association.
3. What are the teachers contracted hours and days (hours/days teachers have to be in the
school building)?
Section 8.05.01 states that a regular work day for a teacher will begin 20 minutes
before and end 20 minutes after the student attendance times, except on days
when a teacher has a supervisory assignment, a professional responsibility, or
Professional Learning Community meeting days. Elementary school teachers
are required to meet at 8am one day each week for intentional collaboration
activities, and Middle and high school teachers are required to attend those
meetings two days each month. (BESPA 2014-18)
4. How much planning a preparation time do teachers in this district get each week (this
may be different at each grade level)? Is any of the time designated for certain activities
(i.e. common grade level plan time, data discussions, etc.)
Full-time teachers receive 270 minutes of planning time scheduled in daily
increments no less than 30 minutes during the regular student day. (BEA, 201417)
5. What is the current evaluation process for teachers?
In the BESPA Negotiated Agreement section 7.9 it states that each employee, after
a probationary period of ninety days, is to be evaluated at least one time during
the year. Annual evaluations are to be completed by May 15. These evaluations
are to include recommendations for improvement, and are to be written down
with one copy given to the employee at a post evaluation conference which is held
within fifteen days of the observation. Employees can respond to the evaluation
within ten days of the conference. (BESPA 2014-18)
6. What does the document say about class size? Is there a limit? What happens if that limit
is exceeded?
The BEA Negotiated Agreement goes over class size in section 8.05.12 and has
the following guidelines for class size:
Grades PreK-2: 22 Pupils/Teacher

Swati Gadhvi
Education 1100-Net01
Grades 3-5: 26 Pupils/Teacher
Grades 6-12: 30 Pupils/Teacher
Physical Education 40 Pupils/Teacher on average per building
It is also stated that if the limit is exceeded the teacher will work with the
Building Principal and BEA building representatives to request relief including
release time, stipend classroom aide, relief from extra duties. Clerical support,
change of class composition. (BEA 2014-17)
7. What type of mentoring program or training do new teachers go through?
In article 8.05.03 there is information that states that there is a District New
Teacher Induction Program. It also mentions a New Teacher Induction Workshop
that new teachers can participate in. (BEA 2014-17)
8. Are teachers allotted sick and personal days? If so, how many?
Full time employees that have been working for 12 months are entitled to 12 paid
sick days. Full time employees who have worked for 9 or 10 months receive 10
paid sick days. Full time employees, as well as part time employees who have
worked for 12 months are also allotted 2 personal leave days per year. Sick days
and personal days can be accumulated with a maximum of 180 days for
employees employed for 9 or 10 months and 240 days for those employed for 12
months. (BESPA 2014-18)
9. What is a grievance and how is the process carried out?
Article 7.01 states that a grievance is defined as a written claim by the
Association, a teacher, or a group of teachers that there has been a violation,
misinterpretation or misapplication of a specific provision of the Agreement.
(BEA 2014-17) Additionally, article 7.10 outlines a four step process for resolving
problems through free and informal discussion.
Step 1 states that the grievant is to file their grievance in writing within twenty
days of the occurrence, then the Building Principal is to then hold a conference
within five days of the filed grievance, and finally a written decision is to be
submitted and rendered within five days of that conference.
Step 2 states that if a grievance isnt resolved with step one the grievant can write
a written appeal to the Superintendent within ten days of the decision, the
Superintendent then holds a conference within ten days after that, and finally
there is a decision rendered by the Superintendent within five days of the
conference.
Step 3 states that if step two still does not resolve the grievance, the grievant may
present another appeal to the Board of education within five days of the decision,
and can request an oral hearing. The Board of Education has fifteen days to
consider the grievance and if the hearing is granted they will hold a hearing and
will render a decision in writing to the Association within five days.
If steps 1-3 fail, then there is a final step 4 which states that the grievance may be
submitted to binding arbitration within ten days of receipt of the Boards answer
at step three. The two parties are to attempt to agree upon an arbitrator within ten
days, and if they are unable to agree on one the American Arbitration Association

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Education 1100-Net01
will select one. The arbitrator then makes a decision based on interpretation of
the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. (BEA, 2014-17)
10. How are teachers compensated in this district? Please provide the salary of a first year
teacher that holds a Bachelors degree for the 2014-2015 school year? What is the salary
of a teacher with a Masters degree and 15 years experience for the 2014-2015 school
year? Based on the number of days per year required and hours per day required calculate
the hourly rate for both scenarios. Take the number of days multiplied by hours worked
(i.e. 180 days X 7 hours a day = 1,260 hours). Divide the salary by the total hours (i.e.
$48,000 / 1,260 = $38.10/hour).
The salary schedule chart that was provided is a little bit difficult to understand
for me, however I believe that the salary for teachers is as follows:
Salary of a first year teacher that holds a Bachelors degree: $41,860
Salary of a teacher with a Masters degree and 15 years experience: $73,955
I could not find any guidelines in the agreement that specify how many hours a
School day is. It only states that teachers are required to be there 20 minutes
before and 20 minutes after students arrive and leave so Im not sure how
to calculate an hourly rate. (BESPA Salary Rates, 2014-18)
How are extra duties (coaching, clubs, lunch duty etc.) compensated?
Appendix B states that licensed staff members who accept Special Duty Positions
outside of the normal school day will receive an hourly rate of $22. There is also
a chart with the average number of hours developed for certain positions. (BEA
2014-17)