Section 1
On or before November 1 of each year, the school's administration will supply, to the Confederation and the Office of Catholic Schools and will post in the individual elementary schools, a complete listing of all teachers in the elementary school system arranged according to system seniority and school seniority. Both listings will also include a listing of teacher area(s) of certification.

Section 2
Teachers will have until November 30 of each year to call attention, in writing, to errors or to file grievances with the local school administration concerning their positions on the seniority rosters. Any position of said roster not challenged, in writing, on or before such date, will be considered final and not subject to grievance during that school year.

Section 3: Definitions
There are two levels of seniority in the diocesan elementary schools.  The two levels are as follows:
School Building Seniority - based on length of continuous service in a particular elementary school;

OR

AND

Section 4: School Building/Diocesan Seniority
School building seniority is determined by the number of years of continuous service in the particular elementary school.

A.  If two or more teachers have identical school building seniority, their ranking is determined by the years of continuous service in the elementary schools of the Diocese of Youngstown (diocesan seniority).

B.  If two or more teachers have identical school building and diocesan seniority, their rank will be determined by their total teaching experience.

C.  If two or more teachers are tied at this point, determination will be made as follows:

1.  If the teacher was employed by a diocesan elementary school prior to the 1998-99 school year, as an elementary teacher, that date shall be used as the determining factor.

2.  Beginning with the 1998-99 school year, if a teacher was not employed previously as an elementary teacher in a diocesan elementary school, the date of the initial contract request will be the determining date.

Tenured teachers shall be placed on the seniority list first according to the criteria in Section 4, A, B, C and D.

Teachers with three-year extended contracts or limited contracts will be placed on the seniority list after tenured teachers according to the criteria in Section 4, A, B, C and D.

All teachers on the seniority list shall be assigned a position, in numerical order, with number one (1) being the teacher with the greatest amount of seniority according to the definitions in this article.

Section 5: Cluster/Diocesan Seniority

In schools that are consolidated or in schools that are reorganized into a cluster under a separate juridic person (who is the individual placed in charge of the cluster schools), school building seniority shall no longer exist. After the Bishop approves the consolidation or cluster reorganization, a cluster seniority list shall be developed. In order to establish the first cluster seniority list, teachers shall be listed according to diocesan seniority as defined in this article.

Section 6: Procedures for Obtaining Seniority
A.  Seniority will be granted to new teachers who have standard Ohio teacher certification in elementary education, grades pre-K, K-3, K-8, 1-8, K-12, 4-9 or grades 7-12 in a particular subject area (provisional, professional or permanent).

B.  Seniority rights will not be granted or accrued in an area in which a teacher is teaching with a non-tax certificate. However, he/she will continue to accrue seniority in areas that he/she holds standard Ohio teacher certification even though he/she may not be teaching in his/her certified area. Any teacher who is teaching under a non-tax certificate shall have this indicated on the seniority list. This notation will indicate that the teacher will not receive any seniority in the area he/she is teaching under a non-tax certificate.

C. When a teacher becomes properly certified as defined above, he/she will be credited with school building or cluster seniority and diocesan seniority for the time he/she was teaching with a non-tax certificate.

D. Teachers who were hired prior to the 1986-87 school year and who taught under a non-tax certificate shall be credited with seniority for the years of service from the time of hiring through the 1988-89 school year. Teachers who were hired prior to the 1986-87 school year under a non-tax certificate and who are still teaching with that non-tax certificate will not be credited for accrued seniority beginning with the 1989-90 school year in accordance with paragraphs B and C of this section.

Section 7: Minimum Teaching Days Per Academic Year
Beginning with the 1992-93 school year, teachers will be credited with seniority as follows:

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

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

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

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

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

F.  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.

Section 8: Administrator Return to Classroom Teaching
The administrators and diocesan staff personnel who return to a classroom teaching position shall be credited with school or cluster and/or system seniority that he/she accrued while teaching and administrating in the diocesan schools. Diocesan staff personnel shall be credited with system seniority for the years of service in their administrative capacities. For example, a teacher taught in school A for five (5) years. The teacher then becomes an administrator in school B for three (3) years. If the. administrator returns to classroom teaching at school A, he/she has five (5) years building seniority at school A. If the administrator returns to classroom teaching at school B, he/she has three (3) years building seniority at school B. The administrator will have a total of eight (8) years system seniority at either school upon return to classroom teaching. If an administrator or diocesan staff person, for any reason except discharge for just cause, decides to return to a classroom teaching position, he/she shall return to a school in which he/she taught or served as an administrator. If the administrator or diocesan staff person's return causes a layoff to occur, the layoff procedures shall follow the dictates of Article VI of this contract.

Section 9: Teacher Return in Good Standing
If a teacher who has taught in the Diocese of Youngstown school system and left the system in good standing is rehired, that teacher shall return with diocesan seniority previously acquired as of the date of departure provided the teacher is rehired within two years of previous service. The only exception to this provision is Section 8 above.

Section 10: Seniority Rights on Layoff
In the event of layoff, the teacher shall retain all seniority rights for a period of thirty-six (36) consecutive months without accrual or additional seniority rights over the period of layoff.
 

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