UMATILLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
TEACHER HANDBOOK
ACCIDENTS
All accidents (student and employee) must be reported to the office as soon as possible. Accident reports must be filled out by the end of the school day. (Failure to report employee accidents within 24 hrs. may result in loss of worker's compensation.)
ATTENDANCE
Employee: All employees are to check in & out daily on time. Each person is responsible for checking in & out for him/her self only.
Student: It is the responsibility of the classroom teacher to report attendance accurately.
CHILD ABUSE
Pursuant to chapter 415, Florida Statutes, all employees or agents of the Lake County Public Schools have:
a. A duty to report all actual or suspected cases of child abuse or neglect.
b. Immunity from any liability when such reports are made in good faith.
c. A duty to comply with child protective investigations and all provisions of law relating to child abuse and neglect.
The statewide toll-free number of the State's Abuse Registry is 1-800-342-9152
If abuse is suspected, please consult with the Administration or guidance counselor prior to making a call. They will be the school contacts with HRS and need to know of any reports from the school.
In addition, if you know of a situation a child is going through at home that affects him/her and the school could possibly help, please be sure the Administration and/or guidance counselors know also. (Mrs. Cole will assist you.)
CHILDREN UNDER AGE AT SCHOOL
No employee of the School Board will be permitted to care for any child under school age at the school during the hours of a regular school day; moreover, no employee shall allow his/her children to interfere with his/her duties during working hours. The children of teachers in this school are to stay in their parent's classroom in the a.m./p.m. They are not to wander around the campus, hallways, office or lounge areas. If this becomes a problem, appropriate daycare will need to be arranged by the employee. Teachers’ children are not to be on campus during preplanning.
CLASSROOM CLEANUP
Each teacher is responsible for his/her classroom. You are responsible for leaving the classroom neat, orderly and picked up at the end of the day. The custodial staff is working hard to keep the school clean. When additional clean-up is required or if cleaning responsibilities are not met, please notify the administration. A neat, clean and orderly room is conducive to good learning habits.
UMATILLA ELEMENTARY is a well-kept school. We all must work hard to keep it that way.
CLASSROOM/STUDENT MANAGEMENT
Each class area should reflect an atmosphere of purpose. It should be evident that you have a planned program and the children respond to your directions. Try to avoid periods of time when students are waiting. Use this time for quick academic drills. It is our job to help students learn to control their own behavior. This requires us to demonstrate follow-through and consistency. Whenever possible, teachers should handle discipline problems within the classroom. Recurring discipline problems requiring involvement of an administrator should be dealt with in accordance with the discipline policy. Your discipline plan will be reviewed by the administration.
Procedures that are NOT to be used by the teacher in the classroom under any circumstance:
1. Paddling – It is against School Board Policy 5.21 for any teacher or school employee to use corporal punishment on a child without the permission of the principal each and every time. It is the principal’s decision that there will be NO corporal punishment at Umatilla Elementary.
2. Classroom suspension or putting children outside the hall – A students must always be under an adult’s supervision and this is impossible if the child is not in the classroom.
3. Administering mass punishment of an entire class or group for the misbehavior of one or a few students.
4. Sarcasm – If we expect to teach children respect for others, we must in turn treat them with respect – even when they misbehave. Remember, you are the role model.
CLASSROOM/STUDENT REWARDS
Rewards should take a reasonable amount of time. Creative activities are encouraged and should vary. Videos should be used occasionally (once a month if videos can still be considered rewards). Candy is not to be used as an ongoing reward.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Each child is protected by the right to privacy law. As a professional you must always be on guard against sharing information about a student with any other parent, adult, or student. Also, do not conference about a particular child at the grocery store, hairdresser, etc. Other people can overhear and you have essentially broken the law. When asked in a public place about a student, always let the parent know you will contact them from school. Additionally, be extremely careful about who you are talking to about a student. Only a child’s parent(s) are allowed to have school information. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, boy or girlfriends, or stepparents are not “in the loop” unless we have written permission from the custodial parent.
COPY MACHINE
Material which has a copyright cannot be reproduced. Personal copies can be made without approval for 15 cents per copy. Please log all copies. Abuse of this requirement will result in disallowing use of copier.
CURRICULUM
Any changes in any area of the curriculum must have prior approval by the principal.
DRESS CODE (Article X, Section 35 – Instructional Contract)
Employees should wear clothing that exceeds that of the Student Code of Conduct which is appropriate to their job assignments, including wearing of specific protective gear when needed.
Professional dress should be neat, clean and modest with employees being well-groomed. Attire should be non-disruptive, non-offensive and aligned with safety standards.
Schools and/or building sites may have one designated casual day that permits wearing jeans.
DUTY
Duties will be decided and assigned by the administration. It is your responsibility to see that your duties are covered in your absence. Chronic failure to do assigned duty will result in disciplinary action.
EARLY DISMISSAL DAYS
Early dismissal days are for meetings, conferences, planning, grade reporting, etc. Do not make appointments with doctor, dentists, etc. until after 3:30 p.m. Only in cases of emergency will employees be allowed to leave early. You must get permission from the administration to leave prior to your scheduled time. The second Wednesday of each month is set aside for county in-service.
EMERGENCY DRILLS AND PROCEDURES
School Board Policy requires periodic drills. There will be emergency drills ten times a year. Make sure you go through the evacuation processes with your class. If you do not have an evacuation route posted in your classroom, notify the assistant principal. The first drill will take place during the first week of school.
ENTRIES
New students are not officially in school until you have received notification from the office. Do not enter a child on your attendance list until then.
FACULTY MEETINGS
Faculty meetings will be held on the first Wednesday of each month. Please reserve this day each month. All faculty members are expected to attend. If you miss a meeting, it is your responsibility to see the Grade Chairman for the information and announcements. Leave agenda items in the office prior to Wednesday.
FIELD TRIPS
All field trips, including walking field trips (i.e. the city library) are subject to advance approval by the administration and MUST be posted on the master calendar. Refer to the Field Trip Procedure Policy located in workroom.
GRADING POLICIES (FYI)
Grading policies for grades K, 1, 2 3, 4, & 5 are outlined in the Pupil Progression Policy. For any grades that you record make sure you record the date they are taken and the lesson topic. Use the following scale for grading:
A = 90 - 100 D = 60 - 69
B = 80 - 89 F = 0 - 59
C = 70 – 79
GUM CHEWING
Chewing gum during school hours is not allowed by students or staff. Moreover, gum is NOT to be used as rewards for students.
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HEAD LICE
On Monday mornings, all students will be checked by teacher assistants for evidence of head lice problems. Students with lice or nits will be sent home and rechecked by the school nurse upon their return to school. If the problem persists, the student will be sent home again. Rechecks are to be done by 8:35 on the morning the child returns to school. Nurse Tammy will keep a log of these problems. This log may become part of the student’s record.
HOSPITALITY
Dues and social arrangements will be made by the Hospitality Committee, with the approval of the staff members.
KEYS
All keys will be distributed during pre-planning and collected during post-planning. You will sign for your keys and they will be your responsibility. Teachers will be given keys to their classroom door and a gate key only. It is the teacher’s responsibility to lock classroom doors. If you are here after custodians lock up, you will need to lock the gates after you leave. If you are here on the weekends or at night, you need to lock yourself in, DO NOT LEAVE THE GATES OPEN. If you lose your keys, report that information to Mrs. Rogers, Mr. Gagnon, or Mrs. White immediately.
LEAVE
Leave (sick, personal, etc.) is available to employees. Please refer to Article XVII of the School Board/LCEA Agreement. Also read Chapter 3, School Board Policies. Remember, PERSONAL LEAVE FOR INSTRUCTIONAL EMPLOYEES REQUIRES FIVE DAYS PRIOR APPROVAL. Please fill out the yellow REQUEST FOR LEAVE OF ABSENCE form and place in Mrs. White’s mailbox. Remember to attach copies of location and agenda if going to a workshop or conference in or out of the county. These forms must be sent to the Personnel Office along with the leave request form. If you are to be reimbursed for travel, meals, etc., please indicate this on the yellow form and indicate which department at the county level is paying for expenses. These forms are sent to the individual departments for approval at various levels. (Forms are in workroom.)
LESSON PLANS
Plans should always be available during the school day. They will be checked by the administration. The county curriculum and Next Generation State Standards and/or Common Core State Standards should be of prime importance in planning and should be highlighted in your plans. Also, be sure your plans will allow a substitute to carry on with minimum difficulty. A Substitute Packet will be provided to you by administration and must be filled out by each instructor. Please make sure Debbie Messer has a copy.
1. Plans should be completed on time, or an explanation as to why they are not.
2. Book titles, times, activities and curriculum skills should be included.
3. Plans should be done on the computer and placed in the Share Folder by 3:30 each Fri.
4. Differentiated Instruction, Learning Stations, Rigorous activities must be included.
Chronic failure to do lesson plans or to do them incorrectly will result in disciplinary action.
The definition of planning is to arrange beforehand.
LUNCH
Lunch may be purchased as an adult meal, salad bar items or a la carte items. If you plan to eat food prepared by the cafeteria, please see Mrs. Borders about an account number, this speeds up the lunch line. Refrigeration is available for lunches brought from home. Notify the lunchroom at least TWO weeks in advance if your class will not be eating in the lunchroom. Free/reduced lunches must still be picked up regardless of where you eat. You may NOT supersede lunch for students. The lunch program is federally funded and therefore each child must be “counted”. Allocation of hours for the cafeteria is done on a meal per labor hour rate, which means the more meals eaten in the cafeteria, the more hours they get paid for.
MAINTENANCE
Maintenance requests should be made on the appropriate form and placed in Mrs. White’s mailbox or an administrative mailbox. These forms are available in the workroom.
MEDIA
The media staff will help to provide multi-media materials (books, filmstrips, cassettes, DVDs, CDs, kits, transparencies, charts, study prints, etc.) for your study units. Please notify Mrs. Kennedy, media specialist, when you plan to do the unit and she will help select materials and have them ready for you to preview before you do your lesson plans. Please keep the media staff informed as to new materials you would like in the media center especially those items listed in the Teacher Editions of any textbook series. The media center policies give details on materials and equipment checkout and use. Read these policies carefully. Mrs. Kennedy will provide these to you.
MESSAGES
Messages received in the morning will be placed in mailboxes by 12:00 noon. Those received in the afternoon will be placed in mailboxes by 3:15 p.m. This is your responsibility to check your mailbox in the a.m./p.m. Messages of an emergency nature will be delivered. Please read Article X, Section 6 of the School Board /LCEA Agreement. E-mail will be used as much as possible.
MONIES COLLECTED
Teachers are responsible for monies collected. There is to be no money left in the classroom or work area after school hours. The school accepts no responsibility for money left in classrooms or work areas. Monies collected will be processed and placed in the office safe each day of collection. If you have any questions, please see Mrs. White.