At the 10am Board Meeting this morning, the DeKalb Schools administration will request that the Board of Education approve the following 2020-2021 calendar.
As a Strategic Waiver School System, the DeKalb County School District has flexibility from identified state statutes and associated rules. The District may depart from the strict interpretations of the definition of school year, school month, and school day; therefore, the Calendar Committee reconvened to consider the following calendar attributes:
• 179 days of instruction for the year – 91 number of instructional days in first semester and 88 second semester
• 185 contract days for teachers – 88 number of instructional days in first semester and 97 second semester
• First day of school for students – Monday, August 17, 2020
• All teacher pre planning and learning institute / professional development days will be virtual
• Last day of school for students – Friday, May 28, 2021
• Adjustment to the school calendar of 5 days for 10-month employees that includes one evening workday comprised of four conference nights during the year (This is an official work schedule reduction in contracted days.)
• 4-Day Professional Development Institute (August 5-7, 2020 and January 15, 2021)
Notes
1. The school district will pay for 185 work days. The Learning Institute is paying for 4 days. That makes for 1 furlough day and a total of 189 teacher work days.
Learning Institute
Teachers will get paid a stipend on the 4 learning institute professional development days. The stipend amount hasn’t been determined, but the administration hopes it will be equivalent to their regular salary day. This learning institute professional development will be virtual. The district has been putting this together since April. It will be funded with Title I, Title II, CARES, unused travel/pro development and various other reclaimed budget line items.
Calendars
2019-2020 Calendar
2018-2019 Calendar
2017-2018 Calendar
2016-2017 Calendar
2015-2016 Calendar
“Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
Thanks for posting! I’m not sure why the first 2 days of school are early release days. What does that mean for digital? We see half of our high school kids one day, the other half the next day?
Stan,
I am a bit confused. You said 185 days but the calendar states 189.
I appreciate Columbus Day and President’s Day. I also hope that Early release continues into the future, especially for High School at the end of each semester.
I realize we want the Fund at 100 million, but we can spend 4 on that to buy back that final pay cut day. It will not make all that much of a difference.
@Smoke and Mirrors
The extra 4 days are not “contract days”. They are Institute days to cover four of the furlough days
I do not see furlough days listed on the calendar. Will there be any?
Gevertz said, “Instructional Support Specialists will be shifted, though not necessarily to teaching positions.”
Why?
What could be so necessary, ISS not filling vacancies in teaching, but paid for with furloughs?
Good Question @Smoke and Mirros. I need to seek clarity on why the details say 185 days and the graphic says 189 days. Communication from the Superintendent earlier this week indicated there would be 5 furlough days and a fund balance of $100 million by the end of the year.
So, how many furlough days are we having? When are they?
I am disappointed. They didn’t have to cut out our breaks. They chose to do so. They didn’t have to take money from the teachers. They chose to do so. Why are the teachers having to pay for their mistakes? The money they need should have come from somewhere else, not the teachers.
Some will say we need to be grateful that it’s only 5 days instead of 9 or more. You’re still taking a week of pay that we’ve earned and that is unfair. You’re still taking my breaks and that is unfair.
You’re going to lose a lot of teachers next year. Other districts are doing 1 furlough day or no furlough days and their teachers kept their breaks. I don’t understand why they couldn’t have done more to keep breaks and teacher salaries. I’m sure they will say that they worked hard to do this.
Are there still raises for Regional Supers in this budget? There should be NO RAISES for anyone. Did they cut the travel expenses out entirely? No one should be going anywhere, so no need for travel expenses.
For some whose salary amount of hasn’t changed since 2009, furlough days are Kick in the behind it’s so sad that I’ve worked my behind off for 25 years to reap ZERO benefits!! Life in DeKalb schools are like living in turmoil! I would never refer anyone to Dekalb Schools for a job.
No furlough days. No other county did this. There’s supposed to be another stimulus pack coming from the federal government, so you will get your money. Not happy with this new super. We deserve better. I hope the board does not approve this. Not how you treat the people who actually do all the work during the school year.
@Annie blue, Dekalb must not know that teachers spread the word around town about where to work and where not to work. So not only will they be dealing with teachers leaving, many will not be applying. Their loss!
The DeKalb boe will finally push DeKalb teachers too far. First they revise our contracts and now they’re going to take another week’s pay? These are precarious choices by a boe that already finds itself short on teachers. What will the district do if teachers walk out? Enough is enough.
@We can’t make this up, Where do you see regional superintendents getting raises across the board at the beginning of FY2021? –Stan
I have so many questions about this Learning Institute for teachers. Are we hiring someone to do this, or will this be another responsibility of technologically adept teachers? Will this training be subject-specific? Will it cover all platforms, or are we aiming to streamline which platforms are used? Do we still have autonomy to choose our own platforms? Should I stop planning until this Institute when maybe these questions will be answered?
HELP,
Where are the furlough days? Furlough days were easily visible. I feel like they are trying t pull a fast one on us.
Stan,
Will this four-day institute be paid as our regular salaried days, or will this be some daily rate that is different?
OK. The school district is paying for 185 work days. The Learning Institute is paying for 4 days. So, there are a total of 189 teacher work days.
Stan,
One more question. Our superintendent said the one furlough day we will have is the four conference nights that equal one day. So have central office and other staff who don’t have anything to do with conferences received a day’s pay for nothing?
Stan please try to find out the pay rate for teachers for those institute days. We usually get paid $25 or $35 per hour instead of our daily rate. Not to be greedy or anything, but there is still a difference in pay.
@ConfusedTeacher
I take notes during board meetings and one of mine is to review the calendars side-by-side because I’m confused too.
Pay rate for the learning institute days … will do
Do I understand this correctly? Do teachers have to pay for the mistakes and Unpreparedness of the board? That is unfair, if true. The first payment due is $27.5 mil. The money you’re taking from the teachers is $30 mil. So you’re making the teacher pay for mistakes that they didn’t make. Great way to show that you support teachers.
Are teachers still having furlough days? Also, due to CoV-19 numbers still high in DeKalb County; will the first semester still be virtual learning for students and teachers? I am asking because I did not see this indicated on the 2020-2021 school calendar.
@ Another DeKalb teacher
You are right to confirm daily rate, for institute days. No surprises.
The money is there for that last furlough day, lets do this.
Will the learning institute days be virtual?
Title 1 pays paras and teachers. They mentioned doing something for “front line”. Does that mean local school admins, 12 month secretaries will still have 6 furlough days
@Think. Central Office employees will have 5 furlough days. School based employees will have 1 furlough day.
@clarity, well…it’s not safe to meet in person so I hope so. Can you imagine if one sick person infected every teacher in the school? Masks are not 100% preventative. Social isolation is the only way to prevent the virus 100%.
The answer to a LOT of these questions is through “that Learning Institute.” Can we please get more details on what the learning institute actually is? Who is providing it? Who will be required to attend?
I can deal with 1 furlough day for teachers. Thanks Stan for speaking up for teachers in DeKalb Schools System.
Stan I am watching this but really need clarification! Bookkeepers and Registrars in the school house are 12 month employees. We have worked this whole time. Where do we fall on furlough days?! Are we doing these Institute training days?!
Thank Stan, I didn’t hear that clearly.
So will schools that have properly functioning effective ISS get to keep that support? Or will all be reassigned?
I agree we do need to know what is the “Learning Institute,and its purpose? Are teachers apart of the “Learning Institute or only people who has been hired to supervise the program? Also, earlier, I read that there would be a freeze on positions; does this decision still stands?
Thanks for asking Stan!
This is a big deal. Goal not fact. Sneaky way to act as if we teachers were listened to.
Why do we have to lose our breaks?! Can you ask the board this question.
Stan,
First of all thank you for this blog and especially your service the last few years!
Second, has the district looked at asking parents if they want to opt out of getting a Chromebook? Strictly as a way to save money for the district. Between my wife and 2 kids we have 8 laptops/tablets in our house. My kids don’t need brand new Chromebooks! I understand others do and that’s fine to get them one. My guess is there are many others out there in the same situation. Treat it like bus service or discounted lunches…..it’s available if your kids need it, but if they don’t then opt out.
This could save the district million$!
Do they have a list of requirements for what the teachers will do each day? week?
So as usual, things at DCSD are clear as mud. I have to ask – as I am curious – exactly how will teachers handle virtual learning? Especially if some kids go virtual and some do not. Last spring, I chatted with parents who essentially said their child was given worksheets that had to be scanned and sent back to the teacher, which was considered ‘virtual learning’. That is very low tech for this day and age. Is the DCSD virtual school prepared for what lies ahead? I see this as a massive mess. Especially for parents with special needs children. How on earth can they be virtually schooled or get their services? And they are likely of the population most at risk for the virus. One of my friends (who is currently out of work) has been paying a private tutor to come to their house and work with her special needs child. This should be a service of the school district, not something she must pay from her (soon to be empty) own pockets. I suspect the details have not been seriously addressed whatsoever – and the devil is always in the details.
Stan,
It seems that these professional institute days are optional days for which we may earn an allotment of money yet to be determined. Much different from paid salary days and not the same thing as saying these are no longer furlough days.
We still have 5 furlough days with the option to earn a stipend for four of them.
Don’t see how the district can require people to attend these, since they don’t affect sick days or retirement, so hard to see how this is legitimate training.
@ dekalbteacher
You called it,
Learning Institute days replace the calendar reduction days.
Compensation TBD is a bait and switch.
The illusion of providing these days then fail to fully compensate at the normal daily rate.
Dishonest.
Stan,
It will be nice to have our semi? regular pay for the Institute days. However, those of us near our retirement may be hurt on our retirement by not paying into the TRS for those four days.
All teacher pre planning and learning institute / professional development days will be virtual
Learning Institute
Teachers will get paid a stipend on the 4 learning institute professional development days. The stipend amount hasn’t been determined, but the administration hopes it will be equivalent to their regular salary day. This learning institute professional development will be virtual. The district has been putting this together since April. It will be funded with Title I, Title II, CARES, unused travel/pro development and various other reclaimed budget line items.
Mr. Jester, thank you for the questions regarding pay for “institute” days and learning schedules. How soon can teachers see the specifics of the schedule?
After watching this board meeting, I’ve decided 2020-2021 will be my last year in DeKalb (and if I thought they’d let me out of my contract, I’d go now). I turned down offers from other districts in the Spring, and regret it now.
Stan, thank you for your incredible service to this district! DeKalb will miss your voice, and the transparency you provide. Thanks to you, and Board members like you, I hope to one day stand up as a Board member myself somewhere.
What dingus decided to have Winter Break 10 days after the “Year-end” Holiday break?
Q1 – is the real reason for only virtual learning because of liabilities associated with getting sued if teachers/students get sick? Why can’t both teachers and students(families) choose between teaching virtually or in-person? Its like Dekalb is playing “Big Brother” in what is best for us. The only thing I can think of is that the school board has no money if it gets sued due to mismanagement and other lawsuits.
Thank you so much for your time and energy.
Why does the calendar have to end in May? If it were extended into June, breaks could be built into the schedule. For example a break in February and March or the 4 day long weekends.
Ditto, Dcsdteacher,
As I’ve said before, enough is enough. I’m watching too, and I can’t continue to work for a district that, as Dr. Morley put it, direspects its teachers while driving up wasteful spending.
I feel that furlough days should be re-think. There are too many questions that need to be answered by teachers before money is taken away. Teachers were just given a small raise in 2019-2020; and now that raise is being taken away. No teacher should be furlough at any cost because there is a critical teacher shortage in the country and we need highly qualified teacher to teach our children. Cutting salaries is bringing DeKalb County Schools System to the bottom of the pit. Years ago DeKalb County Schools System was one of the top schools system to work for and now no teacher want to work with our system. Something is wrong and broken so, now it the time to fix it. Let’s look out for our teachers and do right by them. Without teachers there would be no school. Teacher are the foundation of educating our children. The school board and new superintendent needs to do the right thing. Now, is the time…
I am wondering if the Professional Development Institute will have something to do with the ISS positions! Gevertz said, “Instructional Support Specialists will be shifted, though not necessarily to teaching positions.”
Learning Institute created using Title 1 funds to circumvent the law, TRS, not furlough, but called Professional Development, Stipend pay…
Stan the calendar only shows 3 PL Institute days
Superintendent just announced August 10 as first day for teachers.
Focus group included no teachers and students and one community member. Makes sense.
Love hearing how this focus group worked for three hours in a virtual meeting. Gives me such hope that this was well thought out.
@Think!
January 15 is the fourth.
@Classified18 thank you!
So what happened to ISS positions?
I noticed the new super doesn’t post anything on the Dekalb website nor does she email us for input. Wow, just wow. Everything is done behind closed doors.
@Current ISS – they didn’t really say – Woodard said HR was working with each individual to reassign to some type of position. It sounds like it may or may not be back in a classroom. Erwin requested a private meeting update. Why private. people’s lives are in limbo!
I asked Stan if schools could choose to keep effective ISS support. No response.
@CurrentISS
They said they retained all ISS positions, but didn’t go into specifics. The district said ISS would do the same stuff they usually do, virtually. Erwin required more specific details offline.
Do we have to come in and teach virtually or was that just a suggestion?
Good morning. I heard talk about how schools are supposed to put social distancing into to place. They is a big difference between Interrelated and self contained. I have heard anything about how special Education teachers are going to practice social distancing when it’s impossible to feed a child, tend to their personal needs which requires constant day to day contact. Many of our children have medical needs, mother send them to school ill. They not have considered these and other risks that special Education teachers deals with. Also, our students requires special services such as physical therapy, nursing services so how are they going to receive their therapy. Another thing, I understand the confidentiality of special need students, but it will be a lot easier if we could use zoom when teaching if the parent gives the permission. We have been told we cannot use any form of video conferencing. Please help and forward some advice. Could yall speak about this at the board meeting? Thank you very and appreciate you looking out for the teachers
I predict there will be another mass exodus next year. Then the district will find it self in a real pickle! That $100 million they are trying so hard to hold on to will quickly be depleted trying to recover qualified teachers after this disgrace. I further predict as the county is on the hook for $27.5 m for the next 5 years this issue of furloughs and cobbling money together will continue. However I have no intentions of sticking around to find out.
Stan,
I need some clarification on the Professional Learning Institute stipend. Are you saying these 4 days would be unpaid, but the hope is the stipend comes close to the employees daily rate to help balance out? So essentially a reduction in pay for those days.
OR
Is this stipend in addition to what we’re making for our daily rate? (Doubting it’s this option, but that’s why I wanted clarification)
How do you approve a budget that: one, does not take funds out of the 100 million reserve to buy back ONE 4 million dollar “calendar reduction day” for teachers (just one) and, two, approves a 4 day institute that you dont even know how much your paying teachers yet because it is a “special pay” that is not a contra ted day. THEN, turn around and buy into a lawsuit thats going to cost more than what you are saving (though it is an appropriate lawsuit). Where are your priorities and where is that 2.2 mil savings going to go after you pay the county lawyer?
Thank you for at least being consistent Stan!
ISS will do the same thing? They do nothing. Principals use them to do their work. Many of the things they do were formally done by the vice principals. Get rid of the ISS and make principals do their full job. Many employees do nothing during virtual learning. The homeroom teachers carry the full load. They should get full pay.
@Charlie
There will be no ISS positions. The ISS positions will be placed in vacant teaching positions. This was revealed at the July 20th BOE meeting and re-affirmed at today’s BOE meeting. Also, there are more ISS positions than vacant teaching positions. The overflow of ISS positions will not be let go from the district. If I’m remembering correctly, at the July 20th meeting, the board stated that those teachers would assist in teaching virtual learning as well.
Highlights from July 24th BOE meeting! (Just in case you missed it 🙂
*Teachers now have 1 furlough day (Stan went into more detail at the top of the page.)
*Central office staff currently have 5 furlough days (This includes AIC staff. This does not include bus drivers, custodians, etc.)
*ISS positions will be placed into teaching positions.
*Buildings are prepared for teachers to work in the building. However, a final decision on whether teachers will be required to report to school buildings for virtual learning has NOT been made.
*Teachers will receive a salary step increase in January.
*Students and teachers will receive a schedule for how a virtual learning day will look. This is currently in the works.
*The district is in the process of creating a virtual learning FAQ list and handbook for students and parents.
*November 3rd will be an early release day and virtual learning day no matter which learning model we are in. For example, even if we are back to traditional learning by November 3rd, this day will be a digital learning day for students.
*The Board voted to approve the calendar above, posted by Stan.
*The board voted to engage in the NAACP vs Betsy DeVos lawsuit. The legal work is being done pro-bono (without charge). My understanding is that the lawyer (s) working this case are doing so free of charge. However, the district has a lawyer, and any work he is needed for related to this case will have to be paid per his hourly rate.
Here is more information on this lawsuit: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/07/22/894318170/naacp-sues-betsy-devos-over-federal-aid-money-for-private-schools
FYI: Learning Institute is just fancy for professional learning day. Modules are being created for staff to complete virtually that will assist in virtual learning and any other things that teachers should be aware of prior to the start of school. Watson-Harris stated that a community of stakeholders, which included principals, suggested that the district front load as much information as possible to prepare staff for virtual learning. Principals have been sent the modules to preview and the modules will be adjusted based on feedback.
Thanks for all of your hard work. The outcome isn’t perfect, but it is a lot better than what was previously presented.
Will virtual learning be live-streamed?
For those of us working (non-teachers) and teaching our kids based on the day/week syllabus as our paying job schedule allows – will the live-streamed sessions be recorded? So we can watch later or even re-watch with kiddos? Could also be a solution when internet drops.
If live, will we be required to have our student’s camera on all day? For privacy reasons, I have concerns around computer cameras and hackers. Okay for brief zoom calls but want to block camera access generally.
And Thank You Stan
@Teacher Life,
I mean NO disrespect, but what is there to be grateful for, here? That the boe, with one vote against, approved a budget that still takes money out of teachers’ pay? Really? Let’s be clear, for whatever euphemistic language the DeKalb BOE employs, DeKalb teachers are losing 5 days of regular pay with the opportunity to receive a stipend for attending the professional development or “institute. ” And while I appreciate the platform Mr. Jester offers here to voice our feelings, he did vote for this budget. I note further, he did question the need to cut teachers’ pay.
Professional Development days should be part of the regular calendar contract days for teachers and count toward retirement. Even if teachers are paid their regular daily rate, the plan is reducing future benefits for teachers during retirement. The Board already made a huge retirement mistake which they must now pay for due to the lawsuit. Do the right thing. There is no reason these 5 PD days can it be part of the contracted days. These are still furlough days. Perhaps 12 month and administrative employees should have more furlough days than the teachers who are only paid for 10 months That would create enough additional money to pay teachers for more contract days. Let the people who do not work in the schoolhouse take the pay cut this time. The teachers can leave and get paid on their real step of experience with no furlough days in most metro counties. The increase they would realize could be as much as $10,000 or more per year as credit on their retirement salary. If DeKalb paid more for teachers, they would not have a shortage. They would have many more candidates to choose from. Please do the right thing for teachers. This is going to be a difficult year for them. Most teachers work many life hours than their contracted days. Don’t turn them into clock watchers who refuse to work more than 8 hours a day. They are professionals and have professional training. Treat them as professionals.
@downbutnotbroken
No disrespect taken. I simply appreciate the work Stan did to get us this far. We are better off then we were Monday, but as I said, it’s not perfect.
I’d like to know if the District will host online parent trainings for virtual learning. They can be recorded, and we can just point them to the recordings. Teachers already have to do too much.
It is 4:30 on the last working day before teachers have been told we have to “report” virtually and although the district sent out the new calendar we have not been officially told when our new report date is.
The last official communication I received from my principal/DCSD was to report to work Monday, 7/27/2020, at 7:30 am…
To me, it seems DeKalb has already made the decision to return to in-person schooling in January. Or perhaps I should say that’s the earliest date they would consider it. Why else would they give a long weekend 10 days after the Christmas break. They need it to get teachers/schools prepped.
Get ready for four months of virtual incompetence (real incompetence, virtual schooling).
So is this “learning institute” mandatory since it is only a stipend pay and not part of our contractual paid days? And if it is mandatory how can we be mandated to work, i.e. attend professional learning on what is actually our days off?
Disappointed,
I’m not an attorney, but I see no way the district can require you to attend an “institute” for which there is an unspecified stipend still waiting for state approval. That’s probably why these days are given this name. School districts like Cobb, Decatur, and Fulton that are investing in teaching are hosting professional development/staff days for at least a week, the mandatory ones we’ve had in other calendars and the one like we have on January 14.
Unfortunately, today’s meeting and decisions seemed to be more about duplicity and praise than school preparation and clarity. No real information about the content of the institute or the schedule of the institute other than these were to be things we would’ve seen or done on Wednesdays.
Hard to see how this is a good start unless there’s a lack of understanding about what’s really happening.
Confused as can be as to how this schedule now logically makes sense in some regards? We went from the 1st draft being set for traditional or hybrid potential to the 2nd being more virtually appropriate especially for the 1st into 2nd term which was nicely setup for the ability to hopefully be returning hybrid or traditional by January (regardless of opinions or ability to do so then just as an organized setup for fluidity in learning). Now in this 3rd draft the schedule has returned to a nightmare potentially for students and likely teachers if they are in class at that point. Can someone please explain how logically we went from the 1st draft winter break ending on Jan. 1st and the 14th being an early release -last day 1st semester, 15th teacher workday pre-planning (closed), 18th Dr.M.L.K., Jr. Day (Closed), 19th 1st day 2nd semester (early release), to the more logical setup taking into account we are opening virtually Dec 18th last day 1st Semester (early release), 1st Jan. Winter Break (closed), 4th teacher workday (closed), 5th 1st day 2nd semester, 18th Dr.M.L.K., Jr. Day (Closed) – which made the MOST sense if logically (& likely these kids will be virtual throughout Fall into Winter)? This setup could have added more pre/post planning days on either end for the teachers to prepare for continued virtual or a hybrid/traditional return it seems rather than the chaos of this 3rd draft created (& now apparently approved?)! This draft returns to the oddity of the 1st one, but is even worse. Jan. 1st Winter Break (closed) return 4th, but the following Wednesday 13th is the last day of the 1st semester? If the kids had just been fully virtual and have a chance in Hell of returning what exactly are the teachers attempting to teach them hybrid or traditionally for 8 more days of that 1st semester after likely coming off of solid virtual learning? That transition is not only odd it’s asking for potential problems for both teachers and students! Not to mention the more likely possibility of doing zero for more than a week if anything on both parts especially if all testing has been officially been granted the waiver in GA. To continue this insanity then it would be 14th & 15th Jan teacher workdays (closed), ALONG with the following Monday as it is the 18th Dr.M.L.K., Jr. Day (Closed), so these kids just came off of Winter a Break to basically have yet another one? If “back to hybrid or traditional” by then exactly what are parents to be doing with their children during these newly added several middle month extended breaks? Then let’s begin our 2nd semester FINALLY on the 19th of January, so yay we are trying to return (maybe) to a type of normal, but thanks to this schedule we are still kind of in limbo for half of January, Good Luck kids , parents, staff & teachers (especially getting them to want to cooperatively pay attention IN class if they’ve returned by then). Not sure what person thought this was a good idea, but do they even have children? Or know any teachers and parents? Did anyone weigh in on this whatsoever prior to it’s vote it seems more like someone simply blended a concoction of the first 2 drafts and tossed it on the top for a vote which the board was just ready to pass no matter what was in front of them. This transition is absolutely appalling and should seriously be reconsidered & swiftly. Beginning to believe DeKalb isn’t worth remaining in and homeschool may be better this year overall then by next year a brand new county & district where ALL considerations are not only taken into place, but common sense is hopefully found.
Stan, I’m unclear, is this final? Or is this still a proposal that y’all will be voting on (when)? Thanks.
Stan,
Just for clarification, is the teacher’s institute required of teachers? Based on how the central office team discussed it, it sounded optional. Also, am I correct in understanding that the sole furlough day that’s left is the day that was made up of teacher’s four conference sessions spread throughout the school year, meaning there will be no scheduled parent-teacher conferences this year?
We should just cancel this school year and have everyone repeat their grade next year.
Ok, first of all, everyone, including you, Stan, keep using the term “fulough”. But at the meeting there was discussion about this very thing. We are NOT having furlough days! We are having “Calender Reduction” (Contract Reduction) days. They are very different species. Am I correct in that (and I admit I may be wrong!):
1. As “Calendar Reduction” days, they don’t have to pay into retirement for them, thereby, avoiding another lawsuit;
2. Whereas, if they were furlough days, they would?
3. If so, in effect, the Board IS using the 5 “cut” days to pay for the lawsuit?
The wording of the superintendent’s emails says the PD “will be offered”. Doesn’t say ANYTHING about it being a a requirement or part of our salary!
And about that “stipend”…BAD FORM! Do you think we don’t listen and notice these things?!?!? We are TEACHERS for pity’s sake. Sometimes I feel that the Board treats us like we are stupid.
I want the training. I will take the training. But if it is for a measely little stipend…The Board will create a WHOLE TON of bad will all across this County!
Thank you for listening to the “all caps” and as always, THANK YOU, STAN for speaking up at the meeting when they were slip-sliding past things. I don’t know WHAT we are going to do without you!
Ok, I’m out of “ALL CAPS MODE” now. 🙂
It looks like if teachers don’t attend the Institute – they will have the impact of 5 furlough days.
@HS Teacher. My teacher told me teachers don’t report July 27th. That was from the original calendar before the school start date changed. We are to follow the calendar approved today.
Dr. Morley is definitely underrated! I wish others had the balls to stand up and speak the truth like she does. Everyone who is on this blog complaining about the furlough/calendar reduction/Learning Institute/BS days, yet singing Stan Jester praises are part of the problem. Didn’t he vote for this foolishness AFTER presenting your questions and concerns during the meeting? SMH!!! Why is the BOE receiving thanks and praises for approving a budget that is relying on Title 1 and Title 2 funds to provide teachers with a stipend to attend what should be mandatory PD’s during contracted hours? Will we even receive our hourly rate for attending the learning institute? This is so backwards and definitely says alot about DeKalb’s values. Super frustrating! Just throw the whole board away with the exception of the one person who voted against this foolishness.
How are the 4 conference nights going to equal to the 1 furlough day because there is a
No Work Rule that states:
A furloughed employee can’t so much as make a phone call or answer e-mails. … If a salaried employee does any work while on furlough the employer must pay them the equivalent of their salary for the entire day. If an hourly employee works while on furlough the employer must pay them for the time worked. With that being said are there no Parent/ Teacher Conference Nights?
@concerned parent
Conference nights are 4 nights for 2 hours (or where I work, 2 nights for 4 hours); that is an 8 hour day.
Teachers are not being “furloughed”. They are working withiut pay, ie. Calendar reduction. It does not follow the same principles as a furlough or reap the same benefits
Good morning everyone,
I personally don’t like this calendar. However, I understand certain aspects of it. The staff member overseeing the creation of the calendar went into more detail during the BOE meeting, so I will post the link to the meeting below. First semester ends January 13th. The following 2 days are teacher planning days. As teachers, every year we are given planning days at the end of each semester, which allows us to wrap up grading, re-organize, etc. The planning days typically call for us to return to school 1 or 2 days prior to the students returning from Christmas break. However, since first semester ends on January 13th, students will essentially have a short break so that teachers are given their end of semester planning period. For more information about why this decision was made, I would suggest viewing this portion of the BOE meeting.
The calendar information is presented starting at around 1hr and 43 minutes into the meeting.
https://view.earthchannel.com/PlayerController.aspx?&PGD=dekalbschga&eID=780
Concerned Parent,
This furloughed conference night is interests me for an additional reason.
It appears the school district has been paying people a half million each year for people to do nothing since the calendars for central office and the school house have been the same even though central office had nothing to do with conferences/staying late four times a year. That’s a lot of money for a school district that seemed to be counting professional dollar pennies to figure out how to legitimatize under-paying and under-training Dekalb teachers.
I watched the board meeting. When the superintendent spoke about the institute she stated that it would put our furlough days to one. When asked for details, it all changed. They would “hope” that it was at full pay. Then, they qualified it further saying that they hoped it would be full pay except for the portion that they pay for benefits. This harms those near retirement. Here we go again……..hence my name!
Personally, I like the idea of three days of learning new strategies for online learning. They need to be professional learning days paid in contracted days. I hope that the schedule will be more robust especially for the middle and high school students. We need to be able to hold students accountable as well as the teachers.
“The budget was approved and it includes five calendar reduction days for district employees. However, the district will also offer a four-day paid Professional Development Institute for teachers, leaders and support personnel. As a result, these employees will experience one reduced work day in the next year. I am so grateful that our team was able to dig deeper and find a resolution that reflects how much we value our teachers and schools.” -Superintendet Cheryl Watson-Harris
Most of us will be experiencing 5 unpaid days. Cute how they tried to hide that in the meeting yesterday. Corruption.
The daily rate of pay for a teacher ranges from $267.03 to $516.41. Of course, that doesn’t include the calendar reduction impact, so this year’s daily rate would be less than that of the salary schedules posted last year, if the district is actually intending to give teachers their daily rate of pay. Can’t trust people who can’t present things honestly.
The daily rate of “leaders” would be considerably higher since those salaries can be 10% to a 100% higher than teachers’ salaries. Dekalb has 2,500 educators who don’t teach classes, so there will be many leaders and support staff being paid for this institute. No one asked and no one explained how the institute content for leaders or support staff or counselors will differ from that of teachers or why the 11 and 12-month leaders wouldn’t already be professionally developing or planning now. In some cases, leaders or support staff may have already been paid to produce the content of the institute that they will then be paid to watch or learn from? Makes sense in Dekalb.
I can appreciate the irony of Stan’s pointing out the hourly rate of a Dekalb-paid attorney working on the free lawsuit other board members’ discussed. I’m guessing there’s no stipend there.
Last year Stan posted the audit of the 2017 FY that was submitted months late. The department of audits found that the district was missing employee information or had incorrect employee information that resulted in incorrect compensation. Would love to know how our new superintendent and the board discussed this before devising, revising, recommending, and approving this year’s budget.
I hope Stan can post the specific information about this institute compensation as well as the specific monies not paid into teacher retirement and the specific impact on accrued sick days. These types of reductions take away from our benefits.
Facts matter.
@DeKalbTeacher. The administration said they did not know how much teachers would get paid for the learning institute yet. They are going to try to make it equivalent to a day’s salary. I guess it’s like a stipend on a non paid day.
Stan,
If the learning Institute is not a contracted day, then the calendar is incorrect. The calendar says 189 teacher days. How can they count days not in our contract? This implies that we are required to work days outside of the contract without choice or full contract pay.
Mr Jester
I want to thank you for all that you try to do. You have shared a great deal of information. I am not surprised that we are bad financial circumstances. You , as well as others on this blog, have been asking for both a financial audit and an audit of programs.
I have three questions please.
Based on the calendar, it looks like staff does not returns until August 5. I don’t understand why work days in July are not shown.
1. What is the first day for staff in the schools?
2. What happens to the custodians that work at the schools? If all of the schools are closed and staff are not allowed to go to the schools, what will happen to them. I am concerned about their jobs.
3. Does the school system pay money to TRS on the Professional Institue Days?
Again, thank you for every thing.
FYI: I just retired May 31, 2020! Let me explain something about TRS. (I always suggest people go to the TRS Group meetings 5 years before retiring – very informative!) You have several options to divide your retirement. To Begin: 1st – Decide if you want to take it all at one time. 2nd – Or take it has a set monthly payment. If monthly, TRS pulls from your reserve to make the monthly payments. When that is gone they will continue with the same payments for life! Plus you get COLA (cost of living) adjustments.
When will chromebook and hotspot distribution for students begin? It should be the week BEFORE students are expected to begin virtual learning.
When will a learning schedule be released (at least to teachers)? Our schedule and expectations this spring changed many times which played a large part in virtual learning to be viewed as a failure by many. I am ready to start planning NOW to create the best learning experience possible for this semester but need more guidance so I don’t waste my time on lessons that cannot be used.
Let’s set our students, families, and teachers up for success from the get-go.