Section 1: Length of School Term

A. School Term
The length of the school term within the school year shall be determined by the Diocese of Youngstown Office of Catholic Schools.  During this school term, the teacher is obligated to attend all meetings as delineated by the principal/director of the school or the diocesan superintendent, to make necessary preparation to begin the school year and to perform end-of-year activities in connection with the closing of the school.  Final salary payments shall be withheld until such time as the teacher's responsibilities, as outlined herein, have been completed to the satisfaction of the principal/director.

B. Teachers' Working Days
The teachers' working days, within the school term described above, shall be 185 days. They include 178 days teaching children, two (2) days in parent-teacher conferences and five (5) days designated by the Diocesan Board of Education and/or the local building principal/director for professional meetings, inservice education or clerical duties. The teacher shall be in attendance on all of these days, as designated, unless excused from so attending by the written consent of the principal/director. In the event the teacher fails to attend on any of such five (5) days without prior written consent having been obtained, such teacher shall receive no salary for any such day of nonattendance and it shall be noted in his/her personnel file. A day's salary shall be considered 1/185 of the annual gross salary.

After reaching mutual agreement, non-instructional days may be added as determined by the individual building principal/director, pastor and teachers. After consulting with the teachers, a stipend will be determined by the building principal/director, pastor.

If, with the approval of the Office of Catholic Schools, additional days of instruction are to be added, teachers will be paid at a per diem rate for these days. Teachers will be notified of the additional days by April 1 of the preceding school year.

C. Credit for Previous Experience
When an experienced teacher is hired, he/she will be given salary credit for up to five (5) years of teaching and/or administrative experience in other than Diocese of Youngstown schools and must be given full credit for all Diocese of Youngstown teaching and/or administrative experience for purpose of salary.

D. Partial Years of Experience for Salary Purposes--New Hires

Beginning with the 1992-93 school year, partial years of experience will be credited as follows:

1.  0 through 59 teaching days within a school year are not credited.

2. 60 through 89 teaching days in a- school year are credited with one-half (1/2) year of service.

3.  90 through 119 teaching days in a school year are credited with three-fourths (3/4) year.

4.  120 or more teaching days in a school year are credited with one (1) year of service.

5.  A school day is defined as one lasting the full duration of a regular schoolday.

6.  Teaching service for at least three (3) but less than six (6) hours per day or 2 1/2 days per week for the duration of the school year will be considered one-half (1/2) year.

7.  Teachers who have partial years experience will be placed on the salary scale as follows:

a.  Teachers who have 1/2 or more years of partial service will be moved up to the next salary step.

b.  Teachers who have less than 1/2 year of partial service shall be placed at that level years of experience; e.g., a teacher with 1 1/4 years experience will be placed on step 2.

c.  This provision will only affect teachers hired after January 1, 1993.

A.  All teachers employed by the parish school must possess a valid State of Ohio teacher certificate for the subjects and/or grade level they teach. Teachers are also bound to the norms of the catechist certification policy as established by the Office of Catholic Schools and Office of Religious Education.

B.  All certificated elementary teachers under the employ of the parish school and Diocese of Youngstown who are to be tendered contracts for the following school year should be issued written contracts by April 15, which are to be signed by the teacher and returned to the building principal/director by May 1. Failure to return the signed contract by May 1 constitutes a refusal of the contract and frees the parish school and Diocese of Youngstown to fill the vacancy.

C.  When issued, the second and following limited teacher contracts will be signed by the principal/director, pastor and superintendent and, if accepted by the teacher, will be returned with the teacher's signature.

Subsequent to the teacher's'signing, the basic job offer shall not be revoked. No change on the contract, necessitated by clerical or typographical error, will be made without the teacher's knowledge.

D. A contract will be issued to any new hire immediately upon the completion and verification of documents required by the Diocese of Youngstown and the state of Ohio.

Section 3: Nonrenewal of Limited Contract

In the event of a nonrenewal of a limited contract of a teacher, the principal/director shall notify the teacher of such nonrenewal, in writing, no later than April 15. Unless the written notification is received by the teacher on or before April 15, the teacher will be considered rehired for the next school year. (Such notice of nonrenewal shall specify the reason for nonrenewal of contract for any teacher who is serving the school for a second year or longer.) This paragraph will not apply to teachers who are not in school during the week of the 15th. In that case, it will be sufficient to send the nonrenewal notice, by registered mail, to the teacher's home address postmarked no later than April 15.

Section 4: Process to be Relieved From a Contract

A. Once having signed a contract to teach, it is expected that a teacher honor that contract. In the event that a teacher wishes to break a contract, a letter of resignation must be written to the principal/director of the contracting school. After consultation with the pastor, the principal/director will send a letter to the superintendent stating his/her recommendation along with a copy of the teacher's letter of resignation. The superintendent will send his written response to the teacher with a copy to the principal/director and pastor.

The superintendent has the right to refuse to consider the contract voided until such time as a satisfactory replacement can be hired.

B.  To determine the salary of a teacher who must leave service before the end of the contract year and has received approvals from all concerned (pastor, principal/di rector, superintendent), the total number of actual days the teacher has served must be established.

The total number of days a teacher has served would include:

1.  the number of days teaching children in the classroom;
2.  the parent-teacher conference days; and
3.  the inservice days.

That number times the daily salary rate of the teacher (total annual base salary divided by 1'85) would determine the total salary which the teacher should have received on the final day of service. The final salary check shall be the difference between the total salary and that amount of the salary which has already been paid.

Section 5: Contracts for Replacement Teachers

Replacement teachers are to be employed to take the place of a regular teacher who is on leave.  A person employed as a replacement teacher must possess the proper certification whenever possible. However, if it is known that the replacement will be for 60 or more teaching days, a teacher is to be employed under a limited contract not to exceed one (1) year. In assigning the salary, first the base salary must be determined according to the teacher's academic preparation and experience (B, B+15, M, etc.). Then the daily rate must be determined by dividing the total annual salary by 185. Once the daily rate has been established, the next step is to establish the number of days the teacher will actually serve:

1.  in the classroom teaching children;
2.  in parent-teacher conferences; and
3.  in inservice activities.

The foregoing procedure must be followed except in situations in which a teacher has been hired to replace a teacher who has a grievance in process which might result in the grieving teacher's being reinstated in his/her position. In that case, the teacher must continue to be paid the substitute salary. When the grievance is resolved with the voiding of the original teacher's contract, a permanent teacher will be selected by the administration and given a full-time contract as stipulated in this section.

Section 6: Termination of a Teacher's Contract

A.  Termination applies to all teachers on limited, three-year extended or continuing contract. Termination may come at any time during the contract.

B.  The pastor, in consultation with the superintendent and principal/director, has the right to terminate any teacher's contract for serious and repeated deficiencies in his/her teaching performance which have been documented and which have not been corrected with previous warnings and/or lesser sanctions.

C.  A teacher may also be terminated for immorality, serious inefficiency, persistent violations of the school's faculty handbook, the Basic Contract, regulations of the Office of Catholic Schools, for good and just cause, or any other reasons deemed appropriate by the pastor in consultation with the superintendent at any time during the contract term.

D.  Termination of a teacher's contract may occur without warning due to:

1.  flagrant or scandalous actions;
2.  action openly hostile to the Catholic faith;
3.  explicitly teaching or taking a position contrary to Catholic doctrine; or
4.  entering a marriage not recognized as valid by the Catholic Church.

F.  Teachers being so notified of,termination from employment shall be given an opportunity to file a grievance under Article III, Grievance Procedure.

G.  Teachers being so notified of termination from employment shall be given the opportunity to resign.

H.  The teacher is expected to teach and adhere to the official teachings of the Catholic Church and to the educational philosophy of the Diocese of Youngstown and of the school in which he/she serves.
 

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