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| On Board Online • December 13, 2010 By Kimberly A. Fanniff An occupational therapist whose job was eliminated when a school district contracted with a BOCES for those services may be entitled to employment with the BOCES, according to a recent decision of the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court, Fourth Department. Under the Education Law, instructional employees are entitled to transfer rights when a BOCES “takes over” a program from a school district. An occupational therapist – a non-instructional employee – was deemed to have transfer rights in Hellner v. Board of Education of Wilson CSD et al., |
| On Board Online • December 13, 2010 By Kimberly A. Fanniff The state’s highest court has derailed a union’s effort to obtain the names and home addresses of six charter schools’ employees, possibly for recruitment purposes. New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) claimed it was entitled to the information under the state’s Freedom of Information Law, which requires public employers to maintain a list setting forth the name, public office address, title and salary of every officer or employee. Such list must be made available for public inspection and copying. |
| On Board Online • December 13, 2010 By Kimberly A. Fanniff A recently retired administrator appealed the calculation of his final average salary, which excluded increases for his final two years of employment. Benefits are determined by calculating the average of the employee’s highest three consecutive years of salary – typically the last three years. Under a memorandum of understanding the district granted the petitioner and another administrator nearing retirement 10.22 percent and 6.5 percent raises in those two years prior to retirement. The collective bargaining agreement granted only 3.5 percent annual salary increases to members of the administrative unit. |
| On Board Online • December 13, 2010 By Kimberly A. Fanniff A labor contract’s requirement that a school district use progressive discipline for all but the most serious offenses did not require it to keep employing a bus driver who tested positive for marijuana use, according to a court ruling in Shenendehowa CSD Board of Education v. CSEA. After her termination, the bus driver filed for arbitration claiming her termination violated the district’s contractual promise to use progressive discipline, i.e., to ensure that penalties are proportional to offenses. |
| On Board Online • December 13, 2010 By Fred Langstaff School district leaders depend on BOCES to help address emerging needs. BOCES are frequently called upon to design new shared services when districts determine that such an approach would be more cost-effective then offering the service on a stand alone basis. In these difficult economic times, our state is finding new ways to use BOCES. Consider the federal Race to the Top (RTTT) program. The State Education Department’s RTTT application envisioned the creation of Network Teams to serve as the vehicle for implementing the initiatives embedded in the federal program. The application anticipated that BOCES across the state would house these teams. In fact, the application was written in a way to encourage districts to collaborate with each other and/or with a BOCES to fulfill the requirements. |
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