Article 7 (Workday) of the PAT/PPS Contract includes language to ensure a fair work schedule that allows you to support your students. Using the Schedule Check worksheets further down, review the contract and your schedule. Select the worksheet appropriate for your assignment (grade level/building and full-time or part-time). 

NEW 2023-2024 Due to the Overage Methodology (see HERE):

Special Education Case Management time: All SPED case managers who do not currently receive a case management period will receive a case management period each day for due process paperwork, evaluation work, and IEP work. At the elementary level, the case management period will be at least 40 minutes per day, and no less than 320 minutes total per week. At the middle school and high school levels, the case management period will be not less than the equivalent of one standard class period per day. High school SPED educators will receive a substantially equivalent amount of case management time as other SPED educators. School Psychologists and Speech Language Pathologists are also entitled to self schedule a period of time each day equivalent to a standard class period (or at least 40 minutes per day, and no less than 320 minutes total per week, for those at the elementary level) for due process paperwork, evaluation work, and IEP work. These periods of time for SPED case managers, School Psychologists, and Speech Language Pathologists reserved for SPED paperwork will be in addition to planning time already guaranteed under Article 7.8.  

Advisory/Homeroom Overage: Advisory, homeroom, or other similar periods that require attendance-taking, delivery of content, and tracking student performance and/or participation, count for the purposes of student load and unique preparation in a prorated relationship (based on minutes per week as described in the example) to a standard class period. 

Schedule Check worksheets:

• Elementary Full-Time
• Elementary Part-Time
• K-8 Full-Time
• K-8 Part-Time
• Middle School Full-Time
• Middle School Part-Time
• High School Full-Time
• High School Part-Time

An important part of our union’s ongoing work is making sure the terms of the contract are honored. All educators are responsible for checking their schedule to confirm it provides the contract hours, planning time, duty and lunch periods which the contract requires.

If your schedule needs adjustment, raise the issue now. If you have concerns about your schedule, talk to your administrator. Your PAT Building Representative is available to help.

Emergency sub plans: Please remember to make 3 days worth of Emergency Substitute Educator/Guest Teacher plans! These plans could include:

• A general run down of the routine in your classroom: How do students ask to leave the classroom/space? Is there a morning Routine? Bell work? Typical end of period routine?
• Make sure to leave a message for students in the folder reminding them to be flexible, and that with guest teachers sometimes things do not always stay the same and that is ok! 

How to request a substitute

Remember: As SOON as you start to feel sick or show any symptoms, please go to Absence Management and request a substitute. Then email your school secretary and admin sharing your absence. If you know you need to schedule a day in advance for training or Professional Development, please add your jobs to Absence Management ASAP.

Remember, you do NOT need to explain why, just what type of leave you are using. For example:

• Sick leave (mental and physical): “I am unable to come in because of illness. I have already requested a substitute with Absence Management under the code SICK.”
• Personal leave: “I am unable to come in due to an emergency [OR an appointment I cannot reschedule].  I have already requested a substitute with Absence Management under the code PERSONAL.”
• Professional Development leave: “As we discussed, I am taking a day for PD today.  I have already requested a substitute with Absence Management under the code Professional Dev.”
• COVID quarantine: “I have tested positive for Covid and must isolate for 5 days. I have put this into the notes on Absence Management under the code ‘Quarantine’. I will let you know if my symptoms have not improved and I must continue to isolate after the 5 days of my isolation period.”

Come join us on Friday, September 8th at 3:45 PM (or anytime after school) at Laurelhurst Park to help celebrate the start of the school year! Come and enjoy some live music, (courtesy of fellow PAT educators). We’ll have fun, food, and drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic)! Bring your families, too. RSVP today!

PAT is proud to partner with NEA and Art Build Workers. Come together with your colleagues and community and make art that supports our organizing campaign! No experience necessary, bring the kids! RSVP HERE. See our flyer for more details. 

**Update**

Hello Educators,

Thank you for your patience as we try to better understand the contract language for summer pay and advocate for educators. As I shared in the last Advocate, Article 12.5.2.7 states that the “rates of pay for professional educators for each half-day session of Summer School shall be 3.2 times the base salary daily rate”. My understanding was that each “half-day session” meant a half day. I asked for clarity from PPS through email, text, and at our Contract Admin Meeting before the end of the school year. Thank you all for your emails and communication, as it truly pushed this concern to the forefront for PPS as well.

On Friday, June 23rd, PPS HR responded and shared their interpretation of the language after going back about 30 years in PAT-PPS Collective Bargaining Agreements. They have asserted that the term “session” refers to the entire week-long summer academies. The language has changed over time, and it seems they may be correct in their interpretation due to language that is present in our contract from 1980. Our talented associate staff are working to dig deep into our contracts to verify the past CBA language PPS has shared with us. For now, educators will be paid the rates they were offered this summer by PPS.

If this interpretation is correct, those offered summer positions are offered an hourly pay rate of $44.46/ hour. According to PPS, that rate is based on the summer rate set forth in Article 12.5.2.7 divided by the number of hours worked for the week-long half-day session:

• $260.52 (base salary daily rate) x 3.2 (per Article 12.5.2.7) = $833.66 (summer rate) 
• 3.75 hours (½ day) x 5 days = 18.75 (hours worked for the week-long half-day session)     
• $833.66 (summer ½ day rate) / 18.75 = $44.46 hourly rate

If this interpretation is incorrect, we will continue to advocate for members to be appropriately paid. I will consult with staff and legal to ensure we fully understand the language and on our next steps.

Thank you again for your patience and advocacy. We will share more updates as we get them.

Take Care,
Angela Bonilla

***

A reminder: all school team/committee leader positions are VOLUNTARY AND PAID. You should be paid your hourly rate for the loss of planning time or for extended hours. This is under Article 16.2 in our CBA.

PPS has moved away from the Teachers on Special Assignment (TOSA) model by unassigning over 50 educators. With the elimination of TOSA positions, a lot of work that would have been supported by these experienced educators is now being put on to the plates of educators in the buildings.

One such way is the Instructional Leadership Teams: PPS Management is asking Principals to recruit volunteers to lead the Instructional Leadership Team and adding more responsibilities to those roles. These responsibilities include a 2 day training in August before the work year begins and 8 hours per month of additional responsibilities.

When this was presented to PAT at the Instructional Practices Council, we asked, “Many educators are overwhelmed by their workload. What if no one volunteers in a building?” One district leader responded, “Let’s not catastrophize”. :Deep breath to not lose it: We explained that this is not catastrophizing, this is our REALITY. Their response: “Well, the Principals are instructional leaders and will figure it out”.

This is not a plan. This is a guarantee that educators will continue to carry more on their backs. If you do not feel you have the capacity, skills, or want to take an extra responsibility, THAT IS OK. You can say no. In fact, several educators have already let us know that as a school team they have refused to accept this increase in workload. It is up to you. Just remember, we need PPS to understand: We can't squeeze blood from a stone. Educators are at the limit, and we refuse to run ourselves ragged to uphold a raggedy system.

A reminder: all school team/committee leader positions are VOLUNTARY AND PAID. You should be paid your hourly rate for the loss of planning time or for extended hours. This is under Article 16.2 in our CBA.

PPS has moved away from the Teachers on Special Assignment (TOSA) model by unassigning over 50 educators. With the elimination of TOSA positions, a lot of work that would have been supported by these experienced educators is now being put on to the plates of educators in the buildings.

One such way is the Instructional Leadership Teams: PPS Management is asking Principals to recruit volunteers to lead the Instructional Leadership Team and adding more responsibilities to those roles. These responsibilities include a 2 day training in August before the work year begins and 8 hours per month of additional responsibilities.

When this was presented to PAT at the Instructional Practices Council, we asked, “Many educators are overwhelmed by their workload. What if no one volunteers in a building?” One district leader responded, “Let’s not catastrophize”. :Deep breath to not lose it: We explained that this is not catastrophizing, this is our REALITY. Their response: “Well, the Principals are instructional leaders and will figure it out”.

This is not a plan. This is a guarantee that educators will continue to carry more on their backs. If you do not feel you have the capacity, skills, or want to take an extra responsibility, THAT IS OK. You can say no. In fact, several educators have already let us know that as a school team they have refused to accept this increase in workload. It is up to you. Just remember, we need PPS to understand: We can't squeeze blood from a stone. Educators are at the limit, and we refuse to run ourselves ragged to uphold a raggedy system.

Don’t forget to wear blue on Tuesdays! It doesn’t have to be a PAT blue shirt: You can rock a blue scarf, a blue pin, a blue sticker, a blue sweater or anything else you can imagine. But why, maestra? What’s the point? Well, the Tuesday Blue-sday tradition helps us show each other our union solidarity and reminds PPS leaders that our power is in our numbers and unity. Remember, campaigns are not built on one action but many escalating actions. This is just the beginning!

Substitute PAT members have the opportunity to shape our union and participate with other substitute and full time educators to organize inside our union and in our communities for quality public schools for all.

Not a member of PAT? Click HERE to Join PAT now!

Take a look at the Contract to become familiar with your rights. 

Announcements:

• Next Substitute Committee Meeting: Monday, 10/17 from 4:30-6:30 PM at the PAT Headquarters (345 NE 8th Ave). Come eat, drink, and chat with substitutes and get involved in making our union strong! Here’s the agenda for the next meeting.
• The district will be offering another paid professional training day on "Building Your Guest Teacher Toolkit" on Friday 10/14 for substitute educators. If you didn’t attend the last one, you can register through Pepper here.
• Earn an additional $50 per day/ $35 half-day incentive pay if you work at one of the following schools:
• SE: Grout, Harrison Park, Kelly, Kellogg, Lane, Lent, Sellwood
• NE: Beaumont, Faubion, Rigler, Roseway Heights, Sabin, Scott, Vernon
• N: Beach, Cesar Chavez, Chief Joseph, George, Harriet Tubman, James John, Jefferson, Ockley Green, Rosa Parks, Roosevelt, Sitton, 
• If you are applying to renew a teaching license from  01/01/2022 through 12/31/2023, educators are not required to report Professional Development Units (PDUs) to TSPC to renew or reinstate a license. For more information on this waiver, click here.
• Did you know you get a sick day as a substitute for every 17.7 days you work? If you need to take a sick day, whether or not you had to cancel a job on Absence Management, fill out this form.

Do you have unused sick leave hours? Please consider donating them to help support PAT members  facing serious health issues.

Members may donate up to 40 hours of sick leave annually. Employees who have already submitted their notice of resignation are exempted from this maximum limit, and may contribute as many hours as they would like. 

The PAT Sick Leave Bank (see PAT/PPS contract Article 17.2.1.2) provides aid for colleagues who have exhausted their accumulated leave balances and are unable to work due to extended or recurring personal illness. With the help of the Sick Leave Bank, they are able to avoid the additional hardships of lost salary and lost insurance coverage during their illness. 

You can donate hours using this online form, or go to our website for additional information.