NORTHWEST KANSAS

EDUCATIONAL

SERVICE CENTER

PERSONNEL HANDBOOK

2013-2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS

GENERAL POLICIES AND PURPOSES OF HANDBOOK …………………………………….3

INTERLOCAL STRUCTURE …………………………………………………………………….3

STATEMENT OF PHILOSOPHY ………………………………………………………………4

MISSION STATEMENT ………………………………………………………………………….4

NKESC GOALS ………………………………………………………………………………….4-5

ETHICS …………………………………………………………………………………………….5-6

SOCIAL MEDIA …………………………………………………………………………………6-7

DRESS ATTIRE…………………………………………………………………………………..7

CELL PHONE USAGE……………………………………………………………………………7

DISCIPLINARY ACTION ………………………………………………………………………..7-8

EMPLOYEE LEAVE PROCEDURES ……………………………………………………………8-11

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT & NONDISCRIMINATION ………………………11

GENERAL INFORMATION/PROCEDURES …………………………………………………..11-27

APPENDIX A – Internet/Email Guidelines ……………………………………………………….28-30

Blood Borne Pathogens Exposure Plan ……………………………………………………….16-17

Child Abuse…………………………………………………………………………………..19

Children at the Job Sites ………………………………………………………………………19

Classified Staff Inservice Log …………………………………………………………………-27

Comp Time/Flex Time/Overtime …………………………………………………………….18

Complaints…………………………………………………………………………………24

Copyright ……………………………………………………………………………………22

Credit Cards and/or Petty Cash ………………………………………………………………….26

Drug Free Schools ……………………………………………………………………………….13

Equipment/Materials/Supplies Purchases ………………………………………………………21

Equipment ……………………………………………………………………………………… 19-20

Evaluation…………………………………………………………………………………13

Expectations of Privacy ……………………………………………………………………..20

Exit Forms………………………………………………………………………………….25

FERPA ……………………………………………………………………………………….14-15

Grant Proposals …………………………………………………………………………………25

Health Insurance ………………………………………………………………………………18

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ………………………………14

Homebased Services ………………………………………………………………………….25

Hostile Work Environment …………………………………………………………………..11

HR Portal ...... 27

Internet Usage ………………………………………………………………………………..20-21

Lease Car and Van Procedures ………………………………………………………………22-23

License/Certificates ………………………………………………………………………….13

Mailing Procedures …………………………………………………………………………..25

Medicaid …...... 13

NKESC Building Procedures…………………………………………………………………23-24

Office Supplies ……………………………………………………………………………….21

Para-professional Inservice …………………………………………………………………..26

Payroll Protocol………………………………………………………………………….17-18

Personnel Records Information …………………………………………………………………13

Room Scheduling………………………………………………………………………………..16

Salary Schedule for Classified Staff …………………………………………………………25-26

Section 125 - Cafeteria Plan …………………………………………………………………18

Sexual Harassment (Employee)/(student) ……………………………………………………12-13

Staff Development ……………………………………………………………………………15-16

Staff Schedule/Calendar Change ……………………………………………………………..18

Substitute Teacher/Paraprofessional ………………………………………………………….16

Supervision of Students ……………………………………………………………………….19

Tuition Reimbursement ………………………………………………………………………..26

Weather …………………………………………………………………………………………16

Worker’s Compensation ………………………………………………………………………….17

GENERAL POLICIES AND PURPOSES OF HANDBOOK

The policies included or referred to herein are abstracted or excerpted from the Northwest Kansas Educational Service Center’s Policy Handbook, hereafter referred to as NKESC, which was officially adopted September 23, 1993, and modified periodically to date.

Provisions or contents of this Handbook, which do not have a policy or statutory reference, are administrative rules or guidelines. The provisions in this Handbook also control or have authority over any oral or written statements by any person(s) except the Executive Director of NKESC.

Any Handbook provisions with statutory or policy reference may be changed at any time by the legislature or Board of Directors respectively. Any other provisions may be changed by the Executive Director at anytime. This Handbook applies generally to all NKESC employees and more specifically to some identified classes of employees. Nothing contained herein is intended to change, replace, negate, or expand upon any controlling statutes, Board Policies, or Negotiated Agreements, nor may this Handbook or any of its provisions be used to argue any work processes, employment provisions for any class of employees, or as a defense in any non-renewal or termination procedures.

This Handbook is not a contract of employment in any sense. It is intended to serve as guidelines to expedite many work processes and to help employees understand and follow such guidelines. The Handbook is not intended to list all work rules nor does it purport to do so; only a few of the more critical ones!

INTERLOCAL STRUCTURE

The Northwest Kansas Educational Service Center is a "special and regular education service provider" for the 19 school districts contained in Cheyenne, Decatur, Gove, Graham, Lane, Logan, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas, Trego, and Wallace Counties. The interlocal covers more than 12,099 square miles and serves a school population of over 6,060 in grades preschool-12. It provides special education services to approximately 1,229 exceptional students with an approximate certified staff of 136 and an approximate paraeducator/clerical staff of 162. Additional services include Head Start, Early Head Start in 3 counties, Interactive Distance Learning Program Access (Virtual program classes and computer assisted instruction), Migrant Education/Identification and Recruitment, Migrant Academic Services, Parents As Teachers programs, media, Library services, foreign language, school nursing, counseling, Vocational Rehabilitation services, Agribilty, Kansas Equipment Exchange and Adult Assistive Technology.

In 1973, the member districts drew up an interlocal agreement to band together to provide special education and other services. The interlocal agreement went into effect September 1, 1973. The governing body is the Board of Directors, which is composed of a board member from each participating district. An advisory council of member district superintendents serves to provide recommendations to the board and the administration. The Executive Director, the Director of Special Education, Assistant Directors of Special Education and the Head Start Director assumes administrative responsibilities.

NORTHWEST KANSAS

EDUCATIONAL SERVICE CENTER

A.Statement of Philosophy

The society in which an individual functions determines his/her beliefs, attitudes, and actions. The school, as an agency of society, plays a large role in each individual’s development. It is a role that must incorporate the advancement of broad skills in one’s thinking and reasoning, build one’s appreciation for the arts, and strengthen one’s ability to interact socially. These critical components which are needed for an individual to be an active contributor to society must be offered to all individuals on an equal basis as provided for in the Constitution and legislation.

Though the needs are unique, all children must have the guarantee that they also will receive the most complete education possible in terms of their individual needs and abilities and that this takes place as much as possible in the least restrictive educational environment. The use of intervention, through special services or classroom programs, should be initiated only after careful weighing of the advantages or disadvantages in light of the child’s particular needs.

Cooperative interaction between the child’s family and the school is paramount in meeting the child’s essential needs. We believe parents have a right to any and all information, which is needed in order to assist the school in making intelligent educational plans for their children. While we are concerned about the personal impact of the decisions made relative to the operation of NKESC, decisions will be made for the good of the organization in reference to our mission.

B.Mission Statement

The mission of NKESC is to allow, foster, and support cooperative efforts based on the ideas, knowledge, and beliefs of member districts and communities. We commit ourselves to the development of all students’ emotional, social, physical, and academic progress, assuring that education is a life long process. Students can be expected to achieve standards of excellence as they prepare to become citizens of the future. While acting in a leadership capacity, the service center will strive to meet the needs of each member district and community.

C.NKESC GOALS

  1. To provide direct and related special education services to those exceptional students whose unique needs in specific areas cannot be met without such services.
  1. To develop and implement programs designed to enable the individual learner to function independently to his/her maximum potential.
  1. To develop and implement plans to integrate all instructional programs, personnel, and facilities to the benefit of the exceptional student as well as all other students.
  1. To promote or provide programs and services to reduce the future need for special education services.
  1. To participate with other community agencies in developing and maintaining a continuum of services for exceptional students.
  1. To provide a community awareness program related to the unique needs of the exceptional population.
  1. To contribute information to the professional community to assist in the development of legislation, regulation, policies, and programs to best serve the exceptional student.
  1. To develop and maintain effective support systems, which enable personnel to operate programs at an optimal level (e.g., technical assistance, staff development, supervision, access to information, and human and material resources).
  1. To provide parents with educational activities, which enable them to be informed, contributing members to their child's education.
  1. To establish data and information collection systems which will be utilized for future planning.
  1. To develop and implement ongoing systems to evaluate the effectiveness of programs.
  1. To develop and implement the coordinated use of interactive television between member districts and other agencies in providing educational services.
  1. To provide and promote Head Start services.
  1. To encourage and coordinate cooperative use of the bulk purchasing power of all member districts in order to best utilize the resources available.
  1. To establish a satisfactory working relationship between staff with all governmental and private agencies having an interest in the promotion of quality education.
  1. To foster an atmosphere of cooperation between member districts and various community groups/organizations interested in the development, implementation, and promotion of quality education.

D.ETHICS

In performance of educational duties, an educator shall:

  1. Recognize basic dignities of all individuals with whom there is interaction in the performance of duties;
  1. Exercise due care to protect the mental and physical safety of students, colleagues, and subordinates for whom they are responsible;
  1. Be accountable for maintaining personal integrity and avoid accepting anything of substantial value offered by another which is known to be or which may appear to be for the purpose of influencing personal judgment or performance of duties;
  1. Accurately represent personal qualifications;
  1. Be responsible for the presentation of subject matter in a fair and accurate manner; and,
  1. Extend to students the opportunity for individual action in pursuit of learning and take steps to ensure that the students shall have access to varying points of view.

E.SOCIAL MEDIA: (also refer to the NKESC Internet/Email Guidelines Appendix A)

Social Media if defined as any form of on-line presence that allows interactive communication. Some examples of social media include: Facebook; Twitter; You Tube; Google; Flickr; and Pinterest.

Social media can be considered either a professional social media activity that is work related or a personal social media activity that is non-work related. All NKESC staff working in member districts should abide by the local USD rules concerning school use of social media. Additionally, all staff needs to be mindful of the following guidelines:

  1. Professional social media sites that are school-based should be designed to address reasonable instructional, educational or extra-curricular program matters.
  2. Professional social media sites that are non-school based should have a reasonable relationship to the mission and function of NKESC.
  3. To the extent possible, based on the social media site being used, NKESC supervisors or their designees should be given administrator rights or access to the professional social media accounts established by NKESC employees.
  4. NKESC employees should treat professional social media space and communication like a classroom and/or a professional workplace. The same standards expected in NKESC professional settings are expected on professional social media sites. If a particular type of behavior is inappropriate in the classroom or a professional workplace, then that behavior is also inappropriate on the professional social media site.
  5. NKESC employees should exercise caution, sound judgment, and common sense when using social media sites.
  6. No personally identifiable student information may be posted by NKESC employees on professional social media sites, including student photographs, without the consent of the students’ parents.
  7. Employees using professional social media have no expectation of privacy with regard to their use of such media. The NKESC will regularly monitor professional social media sites to protect the school community.

PERSONAL SOCIAL MEDIA

  1. In order to maintain a professional and appropriate relationship with students. NKESC employees should not communicate with students who are currently enrolled in NKESC schools on personal social media sites.
  2. As a recommended practice, NKESC employees are encouraged to use appropriate privacy settings to control access to their personal social media sites. However, be aware that there are limitations to privacy settings. Private communication published on the Internet can easily become public. Furthermore, social media sites can change their current default privacy settings and other functions. As a result, employees have an individualized responsibility to understand the rules of the social media site being utilized.
  3. Personal social media use, including off-hours use, has the potential to result in disruption at school and/or the workplace, and can be in violation of NKESC policies.
  4. The posting or disclosure of personally identifiable student information or confidential information via personal social media sites, is prohibited.
  5. NKESC employees should refrain from using personal social media during regular work hours.

F.DRESS ATTIRE

NKESC staff working in member districts are expected to follow local established dress attire guidelines. Other NKESC staff are expected to dress in a “business casual” manner.

Here’s a helpful definition from the Internet. Because all casual clothing is not suitable for the office, these guidelines will help you determine what is appropriate to wear to work. Clothing that works well for the beach, yard work, dance clubs, exercise sessions, and sports contests may not be appropriate for a professional, casual appearance at work.

Clothing that reveals to much cleavage, back, chest, stomach or undergarments is not appropriate in our educational setting. Work clothing should be wrinkle free and not torn, dirty, or faded.

On occasion when cleaning, moving and or other “messy work” is involved, staff may dress in rugged or sporty work attire. Another helpful definition for the Internet indicates the Rugged Casual category draws garments from the typical apparel of the more outdoorsy sports, like hunting, fishing, backpacking, rock climbing, etc. This category is not about playing a sport, but more about the relaxed look of a spectator (only to be worn occasionally under the aforementioned circumstances).

Finally, NKESC acknowledges that in some situations staff attire may vary depending on unique job roles and environment. When unsure of what might be appropriate dress, be sure to ask a supervisor.

G.CELL PHONE USAGE:

During regular business hours NKESC staff are to refrain from personal phone use (this includes personal cell phones). In most school settings NKESC staff are to follow established local cell phone guidelines. For NKESC office staff, cell phones are to be turned off or put away except for breaks

H.DISCIPLINARY ACTION

It is never pleasant to be put in a position that receives the application of punitive disciplinary action. For this reason, the Board and administration strive for a clear understanding of NKESC policy and procedures. While no handbook or policy manual could address every conceivable situation, we are of the opinion a “good-faith” effort has been put forth to give every employee a clear understanding of his or her responsibilities.

An employee’s choice to work outside of the policies and standards established by the Board will result in the employee receiving some form of punitive action. This action may include, but is not limited to: 1) informal verbal reprimand, 2) informal written reprimand, 3) formal letter of reprimand, 4) formal written action plan, and/or 5) recommendation for non-renewal. Items 3, 4, and 5 will be placed in the individual’s personnel file.

I.EMPLOYEE LEAVE PROCEDURES

All staff must notify the NKESC switchboard when you are absent from work.

Classified employees will be granted leave based upon their work agreement. By definition, the length of the work unit equals the number of hours specified in an employee’s work agreement. The number of units granted will be based upon an employee’s FTE as specified in their work agreement. For example, a fulltime employee would receive up to 120 hours or 15 days of leave. Length of work unit equals work agreement hours per day. Number of work units equal FTE based upon 188 days or 1504 hours.

Unused leave will be carried forward for subsequent years use as sick leave only. Accumulated sick leave in excess of 480 hours will be eligible for buy-back at a rate established annually by the Board of Directors. *Certified staff refer to Article 7 of the Negotiated Agreement.

The Board may grant unpaid leave at their discretion.

  • Each employee shall submit a leave request for consideration to their respective administrative supervisor for approval.
  • Leave buy-back payments shall be made no later than June 30 of the respective fiscal year.
  • Package leave days must be used prior to using accumulated sick leave

In no case does the administration of NKESC wish to place our staff members in harm's way. Every individual should, in case of inclement weather, consider the degree to which they can travel safely.

J.LEAVE WITHOUT PAY: When you are absent from duty and have exhausted all earned leave, or have been denied the use of earned leave, you will use Leave Without Pay (LWP). Using LWP may result in your being frozen on the salary schedule. Certified staff should consult their negotiated agreement.

2.PROFESSIONAL LEAVE: When you are required by your administrative supervisor to attend a job related function/workshop, we will use the following criteria to determine the hours you are paid.

Travel time from Oakley will be allowed according to the following schedule:

Hays 1.5 hoursLawrence5.5 hours

Salina3 hoursGarden City1.5 hours

Wichita5 hoursHutchinson4 hours

Topeka5 hoursDodge City2.5 hours

Kansas City6.5 hoursParsons6.5 hours

Denver4.5 hoursManhattan4 hours

Colorado Springs4 hoursEmporia5.5 hours

At the discretion of the Administrative Supervisor, staff may be allowed to leave their regular work site in time to reach their scheduled destination by 5 p.m.

If a staff member cannot leave work early enough to reach that destination by 5 p., then that staff member will only be allowed the scheduled number of travel hours after the time they leave work.

For example, a staff member begins work at 8 a.m. and leaves work at 3 p.m. headed to Kansas City. The staff member has to stop in Salina for supper and to visit family and does not arrive in Kansas City until 11:30 p.m. The staff member might appear to be “on the clock” from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. This will not be allowed. The staff member would be paid only for the time they worked at their regular work site through 3:00 p.m. and the 6.5 additional hours for travel time. Thus giving them a 12.5-hour day, rather than a 14.5-hour day.