Florence Unified School District #1
Performance Based Compensation Plan
Final FY1415
Mandated by A.R.S.15-977 and its Task Force.
Composition of Committee
The Proposition 301 Committee is a standing committee and will determine whether selected goals have been met. The Committee is chaired by a district administrator and is composed of teachers from each site, directors, and one principal.
The committee is charged with the responsibility of assessing each site’s level of success with regard to their plan. The committee has broad latitude and discretion but shall adhere to the spirit of Proposition 301, performance-based compensation, and always endeavor to utilize common sense and wisdom. The committee shall strive for consensus; however, when necessary, majority rules.
2014-2015 Proposition 301 Committee:
Dr. Amy Fuller Superintendent
Syndee Lopez Anthem K-8 Teacher
Suzanne Morgan Director Summit School
Darrin Thomas Poston Butte High School Teacher
Bianca Passmore Copper Basin Teacher
Irene Klinakis Florence K-8 Teacher
Kathryn Davis Circle Cross Ranch Teacher
Arthur Montano Florence HS Teacher
Kresta Huston Magma Ranch Teacher
Jack Healey Skyline Ranch Teacher
Linda Schow Summit/FVA/Academy
Anne Marie Karel Walker Butte Teacher
Kelly Smith Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Maribel Lopez Director of Data and Assessment
Mary Grant Director of Federal Programs
Anticipated Performance Pay – Stipend for 100% eligible employee at a site meeting all goals will depend on sales tax dollars collected at state level. Teachers receive all or none of the percentage for fulfilling each section of the plan, unless otherwise indicated.
Proposition 301 Performance Pay is “protected”, meaning, if not earned, the remaining dollars revert to the district performance pay “pot” to be utilized in the future.
A. Performance Based Component: 30%
Mandated – plan must include measures of academic progress
Student Achievement:
For the 2014-2015 School Year:
Areas Assessment Instrument Evaluation Criteria
Reading,
or
Math
This portion is based on the evaluation
percentages represented in the following
chart:
Note:
Individual teacher performance as measured by the teacher’s performance classification pursuant to HB 2830, section 15-203, subsection A, paragraph 38. Beginning in school year 2014-2015, the individual teacher performance component (see J.a.) shall account for thirty-three percent of the forty per cent allocation for teacher compensation based on performance and employment related expenses.
B. Professional Development: 20%
Mandated – to focus directly on knowledge and skills required to fulfill the performance expectations of plan goals.
Definition: We believe that effective educators are life-long learners, that professional development must be an on-going process of refining skills, inquiring into practice, and developing new methods. Professional development should give teachers, principals, and administrators the skills and content knowledge, and research-based instructional and assessment tools, techniques, and strategies aligned with FUSD’s curriculum standards to assist students in meeting rigorous academic standards, and to meet performance criteria identified in FUSD evaluation instruments. This professional development should be utilized to guide improvement and demonstrate impact on student learning.
Ten clock hours of professional development must be completed outside of district contracted time. In order to receive credit for these hours the teacher must provide proper documentation. This documentation consists of records kept on a log discussing the type of professional development completed, the number of hours, and a signed certificate to serve as proof of the completed hours. Clock hours will be prorated by the quarter when employee was hired: 1st quarter- ten hours, 2nd quarter- seven hours, 3rd quarter- 5 hours, 4th quarter- not eligible. Teachers must complete the total number of hours required, as noted above, in order to receive this portion of 301. Teachers cannot use hours submitted for 301 monies to advance on the salary schedule.
Acceptable professional development consists of:
§ School, District, County sponsored workshops or other professional workshops
§ College courses not used for salary advancement
§ Kids First Academy
§ Additional activities, not to exceed a combined cumulative, as a group, of 5hours are as follows:
*School/District academic (with parent instructional component) based community outreach events, such as Family Reading Night or Math Game Night.
*Participation on a non-stipend committee
*Tutoring, not for pay, outside the work day, including Saturday School if tutoring is occurring.
*Academic Field Trips, principal approved.
Examples of activities that would NOT count include:
§ Dances
§ Book Fairs
§ TAP/PLC cluster meetings
§ Coaching
§ Fall/Winter/Spring Festivals
§ Open house/Meet the Teacher/Curriculum Nights and other all school events that are part of contracted duty.
§ New Teacher Induction (included in contract)
§ Parent/Teacher Conferences
§ IEP meetings
§ Courses that are required for certification, such as AZ Constitution, SEI endorsement, etc.
All logs must be turned in and approved by site administrator by May 1. By the second week of May, Site 301 Committee Members will verify professional development logged hours and return payroll log forms to principal. The principal will complete the remainder of the payroll log form and send forms to the payroll office by the last week of May. Payroll office will tabulate each staff member’s portion and prepare and distribute checks. Checks shall be distributed as soon as possible, preferably before the end of June.
C. Teacher Evaluation: 30%
Mandated – that the requirements of the plan are based on the classroom performance of an individual teacher
All teachers receive training on the instructional delivery model the TAP Rubric and this model is used as a guide for classroom observations. Lesson plans are turned in weekly to support the use of the curriculum standards. Benchmark testing is used to provide the data to determine the progress made towards the achievement of the curriculum standards. School-wide and grade level meetings, as well as the principal’s monitoring, are used to monitor the implementation of these areas.
The teacher evaluation process consists of a pre-conference, formal observation and post-conference. In addition, there are drop-in evaluations that are utilized to validate the formal observations and to complete the summative evaluation of a teacher.
Any teacher who receives “effective”, or “highly effective” is eligible for the full 30% for this area. Any teacher who receives “developing” is eligible for 20% of this area.
The Board approved scale for determining a teacher’s performance classification is as follows:
4.0 – 5.0 Highly Effective (HE)
3.0 – 3.9 Effective (E)
2.0 – 2.9 Developing (D)
1.0 – 1.9 Ineffective (I)
Any teacher who is deemed “ineffective” on the summative evaluation based on FUSD board policy GCO/GCO-R is not eligible for this percentage.
D. Attendance: Elementary – 10%;
High School – 5% Attendance, 5% Graduation Rate
Attendance is mandated
A graduation rate is mandated; the percentage is not
Attendance and Graduation Goals
Student’s attendance rate averages will be 90% or better for the school year.
There will be at least a 2% increase in the graduation rate from the previous year, or the graduation will be 80% or better.
Monitoring of Attendance
Attendance rates are monitored by the registrar at each site. Records are submitted by teachers and attendance is sent either, twice a day or at the beginning of each period per the discretion of each site via Schoolmaster. Students that are absent for the day or class period will receive; either a call from the automated system or a physical call from the attendance secretary/registrar informing them of the absence.
Attendance Rate Improvement
Each site will include an informative session regarding the importance of attendance as a part of “Meet the Teacher Night” at the beginning of each school year. How the information will be disseminated is at the discretion of the site supervisor.
Rewards
At the end of each quarter, students that have earned perfect attendance will be given Attendance certificates. Extra recognition will also be given to students who have achieved perfect attendance for the entire school year.
E. Rates of School Quality: 10%
Mandated to have both parent and student rates of quality
Parent and student surveys will be conducted in the spring of each year. Each site will utilize the Arizona Department of Education Parent and Student online surveys.
As both parent and student surveys are utilized, the combined survey response rate must equal at least 100%; however, the parent survey response rate must be at least 15%. Example: Student surveys representing 80% of students enrolled, and parent surveys representing 20% of students enrolled = 100%.
(Students at the elementary schools will be surveyed in grades 3-8 only; high school is 9-12.)
F. Eligibility:
Mandated to “teacher”
In FUSD a “teacher” must be highly qualified and certified (classroom teachers, special education teachers, special area teachers, reading specialists, and teaching librarians, counselors with teaching certificates). They must spend at least 50% of their time involved in classroom instruction with the same students.
If a teacher is not highly qualified for the position he/she is working, but is on an Individual Teacher Plan and showing progress toward becoming highly qualified (i.e. course work, AEPA exams), the teacher may qualify for 301 Performance Based pay.
· Staff hired before or during the 1st quarter of the school year are eligible for 100% of the Prop 301 allocation.
· Staff hired during the 2nd quarter – eligible to receive 75% of money
· Staff hired during the 3rd quarter – eligible to receive 50% of the money
· Staff hired during the 4th quarter - are not eligible for Prop 301 allocation regardless of whether they meet all the requirements or not.
· Staff resigning from FUSD effective at any time during the current school year will not be eligible for the Prop 301 allocation.
· Staff resigning from FUSD effective at the conclusion of the current school year, thus fulfilling their contracted obligations successfully, are eligible for the Prop 301 allocation.
· Long term substitutes are not eligible for 301 pay.
· Teachers with a lapsed certificate also do not qualify for 301 monies. They will qualify for 301 after their certification is renewed. They will receive a percentage of the pay, determined by the date their certificate is renewed (see the above timeline).
· Half day teachers (.5 FTE) – the above applies to half day teachers at a 50% prorated portion.
· Teachers traveling between sites will have the official percentage of time spent at each school calculated at the beginning of the year.
o The school with the majority of the time should handle the 301 paperwork for that teacher.
o If there is a 50/50, equal time situation, the school where the teacher first reports for the day should handle the 301 paperwork.
G. Appeal Process
Mandated to include a process
An appeal may be submitted to the site administrator at any time prior to receipt of the employee receiving their 301 allotment and up to ten days thereafter. The site administrator is obligated to notify the 301 chair within five working days and a hearing will be held to resolve the appeal within five additional days.
The appeal will be heard by the appeal committee, which is comprised of two district teachers, one principal and the district administrator who are all members of the 301 committee.
The appeals committee will make a written recommendation to the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources within three days of the hearing. If there is still disagreement, the employee has five days to appeal to the Superintendent, who shall make a ruling within three days.
H. Plan Evaluation:
Mandated to include an evaluation
Florence Unified School District’s Performance Based Compensation System Plan will be evaluated, on its effectiveness, annually by teachers and administrators. The district will document growth on identified goals and commit to reaching those goals the following school year.
· 301 Committee will meet in the fall to evaluate the plan and will utilize the District Continuous Improvement Plan and its data to document growth on selected areas:
§ Parent/Student surveys
§ Graduation Rate
§ Academics
I. Plan Approval:
Mandated at 70%
The approval of this plan shall be based on an affirmative vote of at least 70% of the teachers eligible to participate in the performance based compensation system. You are voting on whether or not the plan that your 301 Committee created meets the requirements of the law, A.R.S. 15-977. You are not voting on whether or not you agree with the requirements of the law.
Voting Procedures
- The District’s 301 Plan and list of Frequently Asked Questions will be distributed via email and explained by 301 committee members to faculty and staff as necessary.
- Staff will have one week to read through the 301 plan.
- Questions and concerns will be addressed and the electronic ballot will be live on the FUSD Google docs for one week. Voting will be completed by each staff member via their computer.
- Ballots will be tabulated and reported to Committee.
- The proposed 301 plan will pass if 70% or more of the staff, district-wide, vote affirmatively.
- If the plan does not receive at least 70% affirmative vote, the 301 Committee will meet to modify the plan based on comments from the staff.
- The new plan will be distributed, discussed, and voted on as stipulated above.
J. Allocation Requirements:
Mandated
As required by A.R.S.15-977, funding for this plan shall be allocated in the following manner:
a. 40% of Proposition 301 funds (Fund 012) shall be spent on teacher compensation increases based on teacher performance. These Performance Pay Goals may include:
School District Performance Parent/student satisfaction
School Performance Parent involvement
Student Achievement Teacher attendance
Dropout/Graduation rates Teacher Evaluations
Student Attendance Teacher Professional Development
Leadership Activities Tutoring/extracurricular activities
Other
b. 20% of Proposition 301 funds (Fund 011) will be distributed for teacher base salary increases and employment related expenses. Teacher compensation increases to base salary shall supplement, and not supplant, other funds.
c. 40% of Proposition 301 funds (Fund 013) will be spent on maintenance and operation purposes. These funds can be spent on any of the menu items, with the majority of the funds going to teacher development, and class size reduction.
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