New Teacher Payroll Questions – “How Stuff Works”

After my induction program session, I was asked further questions regarding “HOW STUFF WORKS.” My hope is that this will answer most of your questions, but if not, please feel free to call or email me.

 

Payroll. By contract, teachers are paid their annualized salary over 26 pay periods. At the end of the year, teachers will have accrued four weeks of salary earned, but not yet paid. Before the end of the year, you will be given the option to receive this earned salary in a lump payment or to continue to receive payment over the summer.

 

Deductions. Massachusetts is a non-social security state and has its own teacher pension system. Your contributions to the Massachusetts Teachers Retirement System are in lieu of paying social security tax. You do, however, pay Medicare tax to the Federal Government. The percentage of your contribution to the MTRS depends on when you’ve entered the system, but teachers new to the profession in Massachusetts would generally contribute at 11%. You can find the schedule for the percentage applicable to you at the MTRS website.

 

Also deducted from your gross pay are the Massachusetts state and the Federal income taxes. There are instances that would cause changes to your deductions without a change to your gross pay. For instance, the first $2000 of contribution to your pension are not taxed Federally. If you have questions regarding your tax deductions, please feel free to contact payroll.

 

If you have elected health or other insurance coverages offered through the town, these deductions would also be reflected in your check. If you have elected to enroll in the cafeteria plan, these would be deducted pre-tax, if not they would be deducted after tax.

 

If you have elected to become a member of the Watertown Educators’ Association (WEA), or Teachers’ Union, you will have union dues deducted as well. If you have chosen not to join the association, there will be an agency fee deducted. An agency fee is a fee assessed by the union to cover expenses associated with administering the collective bargaining agreement.

 

Direct Deposit vs. Check. If you have elected direct deposit, you will receive a deposit on a bi-weekly basis and will receive a non-negotiable (not spendable) statement called an advice of deposit that looks like a paycheck. It will break out your salary and deductions. Pay days are Thursdays and the pay week runs from Thursday to Wednesday. Check are generally delivered to each individual school and will be distributed there.

 

Yearly Statements. At the beginning of the year, you should expect a statement from Central Office. This statement will detail the following: Your FTE (full time equivalent), step and column on the salary scale, accrued sick days/personal days, and years toward the collectively bargained longevity benefit and what if any benefit to which you may be entitled. If you have any questions regarding the accuracy of the statement, please contact the Personnel Office.

 

Moving Columns. A compensable factor on the teachers’ scale is educational attainment. The columns negotiated in the Watertown collective bargaining agreement for Unit A – the Teachers – are Bachelor’s Degree, 15 course credits over Bachelors’ degree, Masters’ degree, 15 credits over Masters’ degree, 30 credits over Masters’, and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS)/Doctorate. As you complete additional credit hours, be sure to forward your transcripts to Personnel. Please note, though, credit hours over a degree (B+15,M+15, M+30) must be completed after completion of a degree by contract. Sometimes people have completed coursework over and above the requirements of their degree programs, but do so before completion of that degree. Those credits are not applicable to advancing on the scale – i.e. a Masters’ program requires 36 credits, and at the time you matriculate from your graduate program you have taken 51 credit hours, you are eligible only for the Masters’ (“M”) column of the salary scale because the additional credit hours were not completed after completion of the degree.

 

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact your building Principal or the Personnel Office.

Schedule for Teachers’ Opening Day

The first day of school for Teachers is September 4

The Scheduled Program for opening day is as follows:

• 8:00-9:30:  Breakfast reception for all faculty (Watertown High Cafeteria)

• 10:00 – 12:00  Faculty Meetings at Individual Schools
  • District, School, and Department goals: A Tapestry
  • (Elementary) My Learning Goals: Professional Development Planning
  • (Secondary) Student’s Rights & Faculty Responsibilities: Student Services

• 12:00 – 12:30 LUNCH BREAK
• 12:30 – 3:00 
  • High School Department Meetings
    • Department Improvement Plans and Goal Setting
    • Common Assessments
  • Middle School Cluster and Curriculum Meetings
    • Organizational Skills for students
    • Curriculum Planning

•    Elementary Grade Level Team Meetings
  • Learning Styles and our students

And finally, on September 5 our Professional Staff Meeting

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

8:00 – 12 Noon  Breakout Sessions

                             All Classroom, ELL, Guidance, and Special Education Teachers:

• Think Math Seminar: Focus on Assessment and Data Driven Instruction at Hosmer
• Elementary FAPA Department Meeting at JR Lowell
• Elementary PE Teachers Department Meeting at Cunniff

12:00 – 12:30    LUNCH

12:30 – 3:00    Classroom Preparation 

 

MIDDLE SCHOOL

 8:00 – 12 Noon  Breakout Sessions

• Dell Workshop
• MyLearningPlan instruction
• Integrated Emotional Services
• Easy Grade Program

12:00 – 12:30    LUNCH

12:30 – 3:00    Classroom Preparation 

HIGH SCHOOL

 8:00 – 12 Noon  Classroom Preparation

 

12:00 – 12:30    LUNCH

12:30 – 3:00    Breakout Sessions

• Dell Workshop
• MyLearningPlan instruction

 

New Teacher Orientation

The summer is quickly coming to a close, and while the days may be getting shorter we’re anxiously awaiting the start of a new school year. We have one of the largest cohorts of new teachers to Watertown this year than I’ve seen in the six years I’ve been Director of Personnel here.

Our induction program kicks off next week, running from August 20-23, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM at the James Russell Lowell Elementary School

Monday’s Scheduled programs:

• Welcome & Introductions; District, School, and Teaching & Learning Goals; Personnel Issues
• Lunch
• First Class email and conferencing, Trolley Tour of Watertown

Tuesday’s Scheduled programs:

• Student Services & Special Education; English Language Learners
• Lunch
• Educational Technology and TeacherWeb

Wednesday’s Scheduled programs:

• Mentors & Principals meeting
• Professional Development and Induction Program during the school year

Thursday’s Scheduled programs:

• K-5 Think Math; iPass Student Information System
• Advanced TeacherWeb

One of the materials I will be distributing to our staff on Monday, during the personnel portion of the program is the Watertown Public Schools Civil Rights Training Manual also made available here.

The covered topics are:

Abuse & Neglect – 51A’s

Harassment

Sexual Harassment

Contact Information

Abbreviated Civil Rights Statutes

Non Discrimination

Non Discrimination on the Basis of Sex

Non Discrimination on the Basis of Disability

Review of Instructional Material

Compensatory Education (Title I)

English Language Learners

Homebound Instruction

Equal Educational Opportunities

Homeless Students: Enrollment Rights and Services

Section 504

Education Laws

Access to Equal Educational Opportunity

Education of English Language Learners

Physical Restraint

DOE Comprehensive Review

Internet Resources

While I won’t discuss each of these in detail on Monday, they are all part of the Watertown Public Schools commitment to annual and continuous notice of Civil Rights Laws and regulations.

I’m looking forward to seeing you.

Civil Rights Statutes

As part of our annual and continuous notification to the School, the following statutes are those civil rights statutes for which the Department of Education reviews periodically for compliance.

Federal:
(Note: “U.S.C.” refers to the United States Code, available at http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/. “CFR” refers to the Code of Federal Regulations.
“Et seq.” means “and following.”)

Title VI: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Prohibits discrimination, exclusion from participation, and denial of benefits based on race, color or national origin in programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance. Title VI is codified at 42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.; regulations have been promulgated under it in the Code of Federal Regulations at 34 CFR Part 100 (available at http://www.ed.gov/policy/rights/reg/ocr/edlite-34cfr100.html).

EEOA: the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974
Prohibits the denial of equal educational opportunity in public schools on account of race, color, sex, or national origin. The EEOA is codified at 20 U.S.C. 1701 et. seq.

Title IX: Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
Prohibits discrimination, exclusion from participation, and denial of benefits based on sex in educational programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. Title IX is codified at 20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.; regulations have been promulgated under it at 34 CFR Part 106 (available at http://www.ed.gov/policy/rights/reg/ocr/edlite-34cfr106.html).

Section 504: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Prohibits discrimination, exclusion from participation, and denial of benefits based on disability in programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance. Section 504 is codified at 29 U.S.C. 794; regulations have been promulgated under it at 34 CFR Part 104 (available at http://www.ed.gov/policy/rights/reg/ocr/edlite-34cfr104.html).

Title II: Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Prohibits discrimination, exclusion from participation, and denial of benefits on the basis of disability in public entities. Title II is codified at 42 U.S.C. 12131 et seq; regulations have been promulgated under it at 28 CFR Part 35 (available at http://www.ed.gov/policy/rights/reg/edlite-28cfr35.html).

IDEA 2004: the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:h.1350.enr:)
Governs special education. IDEA 1997 was codified at 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.; regulations were promulgated under it at 34 CFR 300 (available at http://www.ideapractices.org/law/index.php). Until final regulations under IDEA 2004 become effective on October 13, 2006, the Department has the responsibility of enforcing regulations under IDEA 1997 that do not conflict with IDEA 2004.

NCLB: the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
Governs elementary and secondary education. NCLB is available at http://www.ed.gov/legis%5BMarker%5Dlation/ESEA02/.
Title X, Part C is the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act of 2001: information on this act is available in the Massachusetts Department of Education’s Homeless Education Advisories at [ http://www.doe.mass.edu/mv/haa ]http://www.doe.mass.edu/mv/haa

FERPA: the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
Protects the privacy of student education records and gives parents certain rights with respect to those records. FERPA is codified at 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; regulations have been promulgated under it at 34 CFR Part 99 (available at [ http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_04/34cfr99_04.html ]http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_04/34cfr99_04.html)

Massachusetts:
(Note: Massachusetts education laws are available at [ http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/statelaws.html ]http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/statelaws.html; Massachusetts education regulations are available at [ http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/stateregs.html ]http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/stateregs.html.)

Mass. Const. amend. art. 114: Article CXIV of the Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution
Prohibits discrimination, exclusion from participation, and denial of benefits on the basis of disability in any program or activity in the Commonwealth.

M.G.L. c. 69: Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 69
Establishes the powers and duties of the Department of Education. Section 1G requires the Board of Education to set the minimum length for a school day and the minimum number of days in the school year for Massachusetts public schools. Regulations have been promulgated under Section 1G at 603 CMR 27.00.

M.G.L. c. 71: Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 71
Governs public schools. Section 34D requires promulgation by the Board of Education of student record regulations. Such regulations have been promulgated at 603 CMR 23.00. Section 34H concerns the provision of information by schools to noncustodial parents. Section 37G provides for the use of reasonable force to protect pupils, school personnel, and other persons from assault by a pupil and requires the promulgation by the Board of Education of regulations regarding the use of physical restraint on students. Such regulations have been promulgated at 603 CMR 46.00. Section 37H relates to codes of conduct and handbooks. Section 38Q ½ requires every school district to adopt and implement a curriculum accommodation plan.

M.G.L. c. 71A: Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 71A
Governs the education of English learners. Regulations have been promulgated under it at 603 CMR 14.00.

M.G.L. c. 71B: Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 71B
Governs the education of children with special needs. Section 6 relates to the assignment of children to special education classes. Regulations have been promulgated under c. 71B at 603 CMR 28.00.

M.G.L. c. 76: Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 76
Governs school attendance. Section 5 prohibits discrimination in all public schools on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation. Regulations have been promulgated under section 5 at 603 CMR 26.00. Section 18 requires notice to students permanently leaving school.

St. 1965, c. 741: Chapter 741 of the Massachusetts Acts of 1965
Established the maximum age for compulsory school attendance as sixteen.