Evaluations…Don’t wait to take action. Probationary Teachers Beware.
(CCEA Express, March 2010 issue)
Pursuant to Nevada law, probationary teachers in nine-month schools must be evaluated December 1, February 1, and April 1 of each year of the probationary period. Probationary teachers in year-round schools must be evaluated by December 1, February 15, and July 1 pursuant to School District Regulation 4322. Post-probationary teachers must be evaluated at least once a year pursuant to Nevada law. However, according to School District Regulation 4322, post-probationary teachers must receive evaluations by April 15th. It is very important that probationary teachers notify CCEA immediately if they receive an unsatisfactory evaluation. Probationary teachers should not wait until the second or third evaluation to call. Each individual evaluation should be addressed as it is received, as there are timelines that must be met. There are three options when considering how an unfavorable evaluation should be addressed:
1) do nothing;
2) write a response; and/or
3) grieve the evaluation.
Evaluations are permanently placed in teachers’ personnel files. Pursuant to Nevada law, teachers have a right to respond to the evaluation and said response is permanently attached to the evaluation. The response gives teachers an opportunity to provide their view of the evaluation. This option may be recommended if, for example, a teacher received a disciplinary document during the evaluation period, but that document was not grieved or appealed. It may also be an option if there are no violations of the collective bargaining agreement or school district policies and regulations. Significantly, teachers have thirty (30) working days to submit a response.
An evaluation may be grieved for various reasons. The most common is that the underlying facts are in dispute. For example, the evaluation is based upon a disciplinary document that is being grieved or appealed itself because the facts are incorrect—i.e., teacher receives an admonition for cursing at a student, and there are other teachers present stating that is not what occurred. The admonition is being grieved because of the facts. The evaluation may also be grieved because it is relying on the same “untrue” facts. Another frequent basis for grieving an evaluation is violation of the twenty-day rule. Article 36-12 and Article 14-3-1 of the Negotiated Agreement provides that, “Any behavior that results in an unsatisfactory written evaluation or direction for change must be called to the employee’s attention in writing within twenty (20) working days after the observation.” The purpose of this article is to ensure that teachers receive notice, in writing, of any deficiency prior to receiving the evaluation and in a timely manner. It also permits time to improve.
For probationary teachers, the most common issues are lesson plans and classroom management. Not only does the school district have to provide the teacher with notice of the deficiencies, the school district must also provide the teacher with assistance. Getting CCEA involved early on with probationary evaluations results in getting assistance for the member, and counsel to the probationary teacher regarding how the evaluation should be handled. Remember that there are only thirty (30) days to file a grievance upon receipt of the evaluation.
Probationary teachers are sometimes concerned about retaliation from the supervisor so they decide to wait to get the union involved. This can result in a negative consequence for the probationary teacher. It is imperative that probationary teachers get advice early on, as each evaluation can affect the next.