Questions & Answers

Make an appointment to talk with your evaluator to see if a discussion can resolve the issue(s) and the observation or evaluation re-written. If not, you can always write and attach a rebuttal letter to the observation/evaluation that explains what you are disagreeing with and why.

Make sure your letter is clear and specific. Building reps would be happy to meet with you to go over your letter if you wish – this is recommended by the LEA.

Unfortunately, the LEA contracts currently have no paternity leave language. If you need time to care for your partner and baby, sick leave can be used for this purpose (usually about a week). You could always request FMLA unpaid leave for up to 12 weeks.

A professional staff member who is pregnant may remain in her position until the conclusion of her pregnancy. Maternity leave begins for a professional staff member on the child’s day of birth and continues for up to 56 consecutive calendar days that include weekends, holidays, summer vacation days, and snow days. The professional staff member must notify the Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources within two weeks following the birth. The professional staff member will be paid for each work day during her eight weeks of maternity leave and these days are deducted from her sick days. She will also continue to receive all her normal medical and dental benefits. If the staff member does not have enough sick days, she should apply to the sick leave bank.

If, for medical reasons, more than the 56 consecutive days of leave are required, the professional staff member must provide the Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources with medical documentation prior to the end of her original maternity leave. Those days of leave which are work days will be deducted from the professional staff member’s accumulated sick days.

After the birth of her child, a professional staff member may elect to extend her maternity leave an additional four (4) weeks for a total of twelve (12) weeks provided for under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA).* FMLA leave and the maternity leave described above run concurrently. Requests for FMLA leave should be sent to the Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources at least three (3) weeks before the FMLA extension begins.

A professional staff member will be granted childrearing leave of absence by the School Committee of up to two (2) years from the effective date of commencement of leave, but in any event, it may last until the beginning of a new school year.

$1000/employee/year is the maximum allotment of money given for a grad course (up to the maximum of $100,000 in the fund). In the event the Tuition Reimbursement Fund for a given term is insufficient to satisfy all requests, reimbursements will be prorated evenly on a percentage basis among tuition reimbursement recipients up to a maximum of $1000.

In order for courses to qualify for tuition reimbursement, they must be content-based, graduate-level courses in 6the area of a teacher’s current assignment or projected teaching assignment.

Content-based courses that are offered through LPS’s Professional Learning Catalog that are approved for tuition reimbursement will be designated as such in the catalog.

For all other courses, the Superintendent of Schools, or his/her designee, will determine whether a course qualified for tuition reimbursement.

Applications for tuition reimbursement and/or course approval will be processed three times annually and are due on the following dates:

• June 30 for summer courses
• September 30 for fall courses
• January 31 for spring courses

If you want LPS to recognize that you took the class and give you credit toward a lane change, you must follow the pre-approval process and complete the Graduate Level Course/Degree and Tuition Reimbursement Approval Form. Submit this form even if you are not requesting tuition reimbursement. Forms and procedures can be found on the LPS Forms & Information page.

You should receive a copy of your request form in interschool mail with the signature of the Asst. Supt with the words “approved for credit” underneath the signature. Contact HR if you do not receive this copy.

Professional staff members must provide the Human Resources Office with appropriate evidence of successful completion of the 15 credits needed to move to the next salary column no later than January 20 for a winter lane change or August 19 for a fall lane change. See Article 23 of the Unit A Contract for information on using in-service credits toward movement from one salary column to the next.

You use the same account information to log into the LEA site and the MTA site. If you know your MTA username and password, just log in with those. You’re all set!

If you do not know your MTA username and password, it is very easy to retrieve them. Just follow the instructions here.

If you have any trouble, there is an 800 number listed on the bottom of that page – the MTA should be able to