This Page has been established to Provide Employees with Information and their Rights under Federal Law, State Law, District Policy and Contractual Provisions. You will find the following Information on this page; Due Process and Discipline, Rights under the Teacher Evaluation Process and Disagreements, District Harassment Policy, and the Procedure for Solving Non-Grievable Issues with Administration. Please scroll down for specific information. This information is not intended to provide legal advice as it summarizes portions of some of the laws that apply in the workplace, and if anyone has a particular concern they should contact their union representative (if they have one) or a lawyer.
Click Here to download a flow chart outlining the different processes available to employees.
Click Here for Board Policy 9130 (When an employee or member of the school community has a complaint.
Click Here to be taken to all board polices on the NEOLA website.
Due Process and Discipline
Effective Discipline and Due Process 2021 Update
Employees represented by a union always have the right to representation. Non-union employees may request representation. All employees have the right to compose a rebuttal and add it to their personal file in response to any discipline. If union employees are not satisfied with a discipline outcome they may also contact their union representative and consider filing a grievance.
Rights Under the Teacher Evaluation Process
All employees have the right to be evaluated in a fair and effective manner. Employees always have the right to add comments to the evaluation documents. State Law also affords employees that are rated ineffective to appeal that decision to the superintendent (2 times only in a 3 year period). The appeal must be in writing and within 20 days of the evaluation. In addition Employees that feel a fair process is not followed may contact their union representative or Human Resources. However, it is important to note that Human Resource will only monitor the process involved with evaluation. They will not make judgements on the specific evidence that is written in an evaluation document. The employee must contact their supervisor first and discuss differences of opinions within their evaluation. Employees that disagree with their evaluation may not file a complaint under the District Harassment Policy. Please click on the following Link to visit the DPS Teacher Evaluation Page which outlines all process.
Important Notes on Evaluations:
- An employee will not be placed on the Assistance Phase of the Plan III Evaluation Process unless their are observed by an additional central office administrator.
- Employees may only be rated ineffective if they are given a Plan III awareness document prior to April 30th.
- Employees that are rated minimally effective will receive a Plan III awareness document and IDP for the subsequent school year. They should develop their goals over the course of the summer.
- If an employee receives one or two or a few ratings at the ineffective or minimally effective level this does not necessarily mean that they will have an overall ineffective or minimally effective rating. In most cases they would not pending the individual circumstances.
District Harassment Policy
Click Here to View the District Harassment Policy
Employees that file a complaint under the district Harassment Policy Must have specific evidence or proof of a violation. Please be advised that Human Resources will need specific examples, witness statements, emails, etc to support the complaint. Issues involving employee evaluations, due process and discipline, and the implementation of programs that are under the control of administration are not considered violations under the board of education harassment policy. There are separate procedures for dealing with those issues as mentioned on this website. Things that are rumors or third party information are also not specific enough to support a complaint unless Human Resources can interview the individuals directly and they can provide me with direct knowledge or witness accounts of the alleged harassment incident. This information is being posted for the convenience of employees so that individuals are prepared if and when they file a complaint. This will help to expedite the process and allow Human Resources to conduct a fair and detailed investigation. In addition, in most cases Human Resource will first recommend that the individual follows the Administrative Protocol for discussing non-grievable issues prior to investigating a harassment complaint(See below). This decision will depend on the severity of the complaint and /or the specific individual circumstances.
Procedure For Non-Grievable Issues with Administration
There are times when the behavior of administrators is not against our contract, but in the opinion of an employee, fails to recognize the basic dignity of any individual with whom they interact in the performance of duties. Only violations of the written contract are grievable, so, many teachers mistakenly feel they have no recourse when they have concerns with the way they have been treated. The following guidelines explain your options.
Request to meet with the administrator to discuss your concerns. You may request a union representative be present at the meeting. Please note that the administrator may also have union representation, and either party may request the presence of the Human Resources director at the meeting. The request to meet should inform the administrator that the purpose of this meeting is to communicate your concerns. Your concerns should be detailed in order for the administrator to be prepared to take part in the discussion.