You can associate an image to your account by visiting a site called Gravitar. Create an account at Gravitar using the same email address that is associated with your LEA account, and your photo should automatically show up the next time you log in to this website.

You may need to refresh your browser in order to get it to show up.

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

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.

Request a grad credit form from your school secretary (or try online on LPS website under Administration-HR forms), fill it out in its entirety, and return to your school principal for his/her signature, regardless of whether you are requesting tuition reimbursement or not.

The principal will forward the form to the Asst. Supt for HR for his/her approval. Be sure to attach a copy of your IPDP if you are under a professional license.

$1000/employee/year is the maximum allotment of money given for a grad course (up to the maximum of $60,000 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.

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.

Although the language still remains in the contract under Article 24, the School Committee has not approved such requests since 2005. We continue to bargain this language at every round of negotiations.

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.

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.

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.

Once the evidence of completion has been received by Human Resources fourteen (14) calendar days prior to the first payroll in September and February, the salary adjustment will be made on the first pay day in September or on the first pay day in February.

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

• June 1 for summer courses
• September 1 for fall courses
• January 1 for spring courses