The District shall determine when a reduction in force is necessary and which programs will be affected.  However, the District agrees that such layoffs shall be implemented in accordance with the following procedures.  When the Board determines that a reduction in staff is necessary, it shall, forty (40) days prior to the effective date of layoff, (the first day that the member would have been scheduled to, but does not, work as a result of the layoff) provide the Council a layoff list.  The superintendent will also then provide a list showing the seniority and endorsements/licenses of each unit member.  Affected members shall be notified, in writing, at least thirty (30) days prior to the effective day of layoff.  In the event of school closure due to lack of funds, however, the notice shall be twenty (20) calendar days in advance to the Council and ten (10) calendar days to the member.  In the event of a necessary layoff, the District and GBEA will work together to develop options that may reduce the impact upon members of a department or staff.  The District will offer the opportunity for unit members who would not otherwise be laid off to voluntarily apply for a one (1) year unpaid leave of absence.  Upon written request, such unpaid leave may be extended for an additional year providing the layoff conditions remain in effect.

The following criteria shall be applied in determining which members shall be retained:
 

1.   The member must be properly licensed (endorsed) to teach the curriculum area or program being retained.

 
2.  Members in the impacted program shall be laid off in inverse order of seniority. Seniority shall be determined from the first date of actual service for required duties in a regular position.  Service in an athletic or activity position, or one in which trade time (not compensatory time) was exercised, shall not be counted as first date of service.  Members who were under contract (as distinct from an employee agreement) in a temporary position (as distinct from a regular employee contract) and were then employed in a regular position without a break in service shall be allowed to have seniority begin from the first day of actual service in that contracted temporary position.  Approved leaves of absence will not be considered as interruptions in service, and the actual year of leave will be counted as a year of service.  Seniority is retained if a severance of employment and a break in service are due to layoff.  If two or more members are found to have equal seniority and competence, the member to be laid off will be determined by lot.

 

3. If the District desires to retain an employee with less seniority than an employee being laid off under this article, the District shall determine that the employee being retained has more competence than the employee with more seniority that is being laid off. Competence shall be defined as the ability to teach a subject and grade level based on recent (within the last five years) teaching experience related to that subject area and grade level.  For purposes of this section, “grade level” shall be defined as K-5, 6-8, and 9-12.  For purposes of this section, “subject area” shall be defined as elementary classroom, elementary specialist, specialized programs, and middle/high school curricular area.

1. The definition for the date of layoff shall be the last day of actual service in the contract year, not counting days in an athletic, department chair, or other extended contract assignment.  Members who arrange to trade the last day of actual service at the end of the year for a later date shall not be considered to have a layoff date later than the regularly scheduled last date of actual service.

2. Members shall be recalled by reverse order of layoff to positions they are qualified or deemed competent to fill when an opening occurs in the license group(s) from which they were laid off, if they held at the time of lay off the proper endorsement(s) and license(s) and are deemed competent according to criteria in A-2.


3. Notice of recall shall be sent via certified mail to the last address given to the office of human resources by the member.  A member shall have ten (10) days from the date notice of recall was mailed to the last known address to notify the District of his/her intent to return.  The member must report on the starting date specified by the District, provided the reporting date is at least twenty (20) calendar days from the date the notice of recall was received.  A member who has been laid off may refuse one (1) job offer without loss of recall rights.  Failure to notify the District of intent to return or to return to work within the time limits shall be considered the resignation of said member.

 

3.  Members who are laid off from the District shall be eligible for recall as outlined above for a period of twenty-seven (27) months after the effective date of their layoff unless they:

 

a. Resign.  In such event, a written resignation shall be sent to the District.

b. Fail to return when recalled as described above.

 

5. Members recalled according to contract language shall not be considered involuntarily transferred.

 

1. The member who is laid off will receive all months of pre-paid insurance due him/her at the time of layoff.  The member is eligible for COBRA health coverage as per Article 29-H.

2. All benefits to which a member was entitled at the time of his/her layoff and to which members are currently entitled will be restored upon his/her return to active employment, and the member will be placed on the proper step of the salary schedule for the member's current position according to the member's experience and education.

3. Notwithstanding any other provision in the Agreement, no vacancy in the new or former bargaining unit position will be filled until the procedures in this Article have been complied with.