McAllen ISD

2008-2009 Time Equivalency Guidelines

All professional staff is required to attend 12 hours of approved staff development outside the contract or workday to receive time equivalency credit for September 1, 2008 & January 2, 2009. Professional employees cannot satisfy the district requirement by working on September 1, 2008 & January 2, 2009. The district will not offer staff development sessions on September 1, 2008 & January 2, 2009. Professional employees must earn a total of 12 hours of time equivalency with:

• Six hours are required in areas designated by the campus/district as per needs assessment and other district requirements i.e., textbook adoptions, grant requirements, mandatory trainings, etc.
• Six hours are self-selected as per job responsibilities/teaching assignments.
• Courses that qualify for time equivalency must directly relate to improving student achievement or to improving the employee’s job skills.
• The time frame for the accumulation of time equivalency credit for all professional employees begins on May 18, 2008 and ends May 17, 2009

• After the posting of the spring professional development sessions in ERO, no additional sessions will be created for the sole purpose of meeting T.E. requirements. Therefore, completion of required T.E. hours should be planned accordingly prior to the May 17 th deadline.

Six hours will be equal to one day of time equivalency credit. Time equivalency must be earned in credit blocks of no less than two hours. Two or more one-hour sessions on the same topic may be eligible for a block of time equivalency credit. A professional employee who has earned 12 or more hours of time equivalency by the deadline will be paid for both September 1, 2008 & January 2, 2009. Payroll deductions for professional staff for non-completion of the required 12 hours of time equivalency will be done in hourly rate increments based on each individual’s daily rate as determined by the Personnel Department. Pay will be deducted from the June paycheck of those professional employees who have not met their time equivalency requirements.

District Sponsored Courses

District-sponsored courses published Electronic Registrar Online may earn credit on the Professional Development Transcript and will be eligible for time equivalency credit when:

• They occur outside the contract or workday.
• Sessions held during the contract day will count for credit on the Professional Development Transcript but will not count for time equivalency.
• After-hour general procedural meetings or committee work will not be recorded on the transcript and will not count for time equivalency.
• If a participant receives a stipend for attending a district or out-of-district session, no time equivalency credit will be awarded. The participant will only receive transcript credit.
• Participants are strongly encouraged to complete their T.E. requirements prior to receiving a stipend.
• Personal days may not be used to complete Time Equivalency Requirements.
• Staff members are advised not to repeat courses/sessions for time equivalency credit. T.E. credit will only be awarded once per course/session within a two-year period. 

Out of District Courses

Additional courses may be selected from both primary and secondary job responsibilities and may include courses, with the prior approval of the principal or District supervisor, that are not listed in Electronic Registrar Online (ERO). Campus principals are the primary PDAS evaluators of their campus staff. Therefore, professional development Add/Requests Forms A & B must be pre-approved by the campus principal to ensure that professional development courses for which staff wishes to receive time equivalency credit directly relate to staffs’ job responsibilities and/or teaching assignments. In addition, these courses must be directly related to improving student achievement or to improving the employee’s job skills. Central office staff must also comply with this requirement by having their primary central office supervisor pre-approve Add/Requests Forms A & B. Allowable courses not listed in ERO may include the following:

• Professional conference s, institutes, seminars or teacher alternative certification training sessions that are appropriate to the employee’s job responsibilities when the sessions are attended after the regular duty day or on weekends or other non-duty days. Such courses/sessions, when eligible, may count for time equivalency regardless of who paid the registration fees. Prior approval by the principal or central office supervisor and proof of attendance are required.

• Employees must complete a Professional Development Transcript Add/Request Form A and submit it to the Office of Professional Development no later than 2 weeks following the completion of the session in order to add out-of-district courses (includes Region One sessions) to their transcripts.

• Evidence of course completion (certificate of completion, conference programs, agendas, etc.) must be attached to the ADD REQUEST. The principal or central office supervisor must sign the ADD REQUEST and indicate that the course was approved inadvance. No faxed copies will be accepted.

• Any out-of-district course taken during summer should be submitted to the Office of Professional Development with in 2 weeks of school start date.

UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE COURSES

University/College courses that qualify for time equivalency must be pre-approved by principal (for campus staff) and central office supervisor (for administrative staff) by completing the University/College Form B.University/College courses (including online university/college courses) that are appropriate to the employee’s job responsibilities will count for time equivalency credit (a maximum of 12 hours in accordance with Time Equivalency Guidelines) but will not be recorded on the Professional Development Transcript. Transcripts from an accredited university or college must be used to document course completion with passing grades of C or higher for one’s supervisor. Photocopies of university/college transcript and college catalog course descriptions must be submitted to one’s supervisor with the pre-approved and signed University/College Form B.Do not submit transcripts to the Office of Professional Development. Supervisors will sign off on staff with approved college courses after the May 17 th deadline using University/College Form B and transcripts as documentation of completion. Staff members with supervisor pre-approved university/college course credit will have met their T.E. requirements for the 2008-2009 school year.

Online Courses

District sponsored online courses such as Element K technology courses and Library Services or required TELPAS, TAKS-ALT online courses may count toward meeting T.E. guideline requirements provided that the course is appropriate to the employee’s job responsibilities/teaching assignments(s), directly related to improving student achievement or to improving the employee’s job skills. Successful completion of specific course requirements i.e., passing test scores, projects, etc. is required before credit is approved. Online courses that are notDistrict sponsored must be pre-approved by the District Content Coordinator or the Central OfficeSupervisor. A maximum of 3 T.E. hours credit may be earned through a pre-approved online course that is not District sponsored. These online courses must be appropriate to the employee’s job responsibilities/teaching assignments(s) and directly related to improving student achievement. Successful completion of all course requirements is required before final credit is awarded. In addition, a copy of certificate of completion with an online time log must be submitted with a completed and pre-approvedOnline Form C to the Office of Professional Development. All online courses must be taken outside the contract or workday to be eligible to receive time equivalency credit.

Standard Certificate Renewal

Teachers holding a Standard teaching certificate issued after September 1, 1999 must complete at least 150 clock hours of continuing professional education (CPE) during each five-year renewal period. Teachers are encouraged to complete a minimum of 30 clock hours of CPE each year of the renewal period. (Reference: Chapter 232.850).Superintendents, principals, counselors, educational diagnosticians and learning resource specialists must complete at least 200 clock hours of continuing professional education (CPE) during each five-year renewal period. For specific certificate renewal guidelines and FAQs refer to State Board for Educator Certification at http://www.sbec.state.tx.us under the category Certification Information and subcategory Certification Renewal Requirements. Educators are responsible for keeping their own CPE documentation i.e., certificates, agendas, etc. The Office of Professional Development will maintain transcript records through ERO for staff access. Note that only district sponsored courses and submitted ADD/Requests with supportive documentation will be reflected on these transcripts.

Resignation Transcript Procedures

ERO transcript records for employees that resign from the District will be deleted on the last day of employment. Therefore, staff that resigns from McAllen ISD must print out a copy of their professional development transcript from ERO prior to their last day with District for their personal files. If employees return to the District, only new records from the first day of re-employment will be entered into ERO.

Support Staff (Wage and Hour Employees)

Wage and hour employees (instructional aides, sign language interpreters, clerks, secretaries, etc.) do not have time equivalency requirements and are not eligible to participate in the T.E. program. Therefore, paraprofessionals may not exchange professional development training for T.E. days. Wage and hour employees must adhere to their work calendars developed by the human resources department. Instructional paraprofessionals may participate in job-related training during staff development days, early release days, or during their work day when recommended and approved by their immediate supervisor/program director.

New EMPLOYEES (Hired after the start of the school year)

Professional employees (hired after the start of the school year) are required to attend a mandatory session addressing district policies, which will include sexual harassment, ERO, EAP procedures, crisis management overview, etc. Staff must sign up and attend the first available after workday session offered in ERO following the beginning of their employment. Time equivalency credit will be given for this session.

Wage and hour employees (hired after the start of the school year) are required to attend a mandatory session addressing district policies, which will include sexual harassment, ERO, EAP procedures, crisis management overview, Staff must sign up and attend the first available session offered in the ERO following the beginning of their employment. Training will occur during the employee’s regular workweek. Transcript credit will be given for this session.

NO SHOWS - LATE DROPS - WALK-INS

The District is committed to providing educators with comprehensive research-based professional development training opportunities through ERO. In order to ensure that presenters are adequately prepared with sufficient materials/handouts and adequate room arrangements for the group size are available, it is imperative that professional staff adhere to the following requirements:

• Professional staff is required to pre-register for all training sessions through ERO a minimum of two school days before a session.
• Professional staff is required to drop a course a minimum of two school days before a session is scheduled.
• Professional staff that walk-in without pre-registering on ERO will not be guaranteed admission.

Principals will be provided with quarterly reports of their staff indicating the following:

• NO SHOWS – Staff that register for a session and do not attend or do not sign-in.
• LATE DROPS – Staff that do not drop sessions they are registered for two days prior to the session.
• WALK-INS – Staff that do not register through ERO and show up for a session.

Principals may use this information at their discretion for PDAS Domain VII compliance with policies operating procedures, and requirements reviews.

ELECTRONIC REGISTRAR ONLINE

All staff is required to register online through Electronic Registrar Online (ERO) prior to attending any professional development sessions offered by the District.

• Log-in to ERO at ero.eschoolsolutions.com

• User ID xxxxxxxxx (social security number)
• Pin xxxxxx (SEMS number/number used to call in an absence)

• Staff is strongly encouraged to check their professional development transcript status periodically through Electronic Registrar Online (ERO) following these steps: