Edwardsville Education Association
Common Contract Questions
Below you will find specific sections of the EEA Contract that are referenced the most when you have a question.
Check Your Check
To check your check, use the document created by the EEA by clicking the link below:
If you would like to check your sick leave or explore different scenarios regarding your paycheck, visit the Employee Access Center located on the district website on the staff page.
Experience Credit
(District forms are found on the website under the staff tab.)
STEP MOVEMENT
Teachers eligible for step movement shall receive the step movement on the salary schedule in each year of the agreement, provided that the parties agreed upon step movement for the applicable contract year.
EXPERIENCE CREDIT
Any teacher employed in District 7 for at least one full semester of a school year will receive one full year's credit on the salary schedule for that part of the year which was taught. However, any teacher who has more than one partial year of credit will not receive a full year of credit for each partial year. The total number of months taught will be divided by nine in order to determine the number of years of credit to be allowed.
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Credit, not to exceed one year, will be given for at least one full calendar year of service in the Armed Forces of the U.S. or in the Peace Corps of the United States. Salary schedule credit shall be for professional services rendered during the school term as defined in the school calendar.
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As of March 1, 1995, credit shall be given for any combinations of private, parochial or government agency professional experience, not to exceed five (5) years credit at the time of employment in District 7.
CREDIT BEYOND A MASTERS DEGREE:
Employees wishing to earn credit beyond a master's degree must obtain pre-approval for graduate courses or workshops. The application form for pre-approval can be found on the district website or in the employee handbook.
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT FORM:
Employees wishing to move horizontally on the salary schedule should submit the horizontal movement application which can be found on the district website or in the employee handbook. Horizontal movement applications must be submitted by September 1st to receive credit for the current school year. Applications submitted after September 1st will not be applied until the following school year. Credit granted for graduate courses must be accompanied by an official transcript. If the horizontal movement is past the master's column, the signed pre-approval for credit beyond a master's degree must also be included. Credit granted for workshops must be accompanied by the signed workshop participation pre-approval form which can be found on the district website or in the employee handbook. Employees are responsible for maintaining signed approval forms to be submitted with the horizontal movement application.
SPEECH LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST SALARY PLACEMENT:
Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, all current and newly employed Speech Language Pathologists will be placed in the Master's +32 column.
Mileage Reimbursement
When the nature of an employee's assignment is such that he/she is required to move from one location to another after reporting to work for the day, the district will reimburse the employee for the mileage at the Internal Revenue Service-established mileage rate.
Funeral Leave
(District forms are found on the website under the staff tab.)
IMMEDIATE FAMILY FUNERAL LEAVE
Funeral leave will be given for death in the “immediate family”. This is defined as death of parents, persons in lieu of parents, spouse or domestic partner, children, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, grandparents, grandchildren, brother or sister-in-law, daughter or son-in-law, or parent-in-law. Three days will be provide for parents, persons in lieu of parents, spouse or domestic partner, children, and stepchildren. For other immediate family members, one day will be allowed for each death, 2 days if over 150 miles travel one way, 3 days if over 250 miles travel one way and will not be counted against sick leave. Sick leave may be utilized if more days are needed per death.
FUNERAL LEAVE FOR A FRIEND
Employees will be allowed to use sick leave to attend the funeral of a friend.
In the event a large number of staff wants to attend the same funeral, the District will work with the Association to find a solution allowing as many staff members as possible to attend the funeral. The Association acknowledges the District's right to limit the number of members attending the same funeral.
Paternity/Maternity/Child Care Leave
Please note: It is strongly recommended that any certified staff member who wants to take maternity/paternity/adoption leave contact the Personnel Department to arrange a meeting to discuss the specifics of the leave as each situation presents different issues.
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Maternity/Paternity/Adoption leaves will follow Illinois School Code and the Family Medical Leave Act. Requests for maternity/paternity leave and/or child care will be granted by the Board without pay. All requests should be received thirty (30) days in advance of the effective date of leave of absence.
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Under the Illinois School Code, 105 ILCS 5/24-6, maternity leaves will consist of up to 30 school days (not including weekends, breaks, or holidays) starting from the date of birth during the school year, or the start of the new school year if the birth occurs during the summer as long as the employee has 30 sick days. After this 30 sick day period, for a normal maternity leave, the member may access their FMLA leave for up to 12 additional unpaid weeks, depending on how much if any FMLA they have already used at the time of the request
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The Board of Education will consider each request individually and, should the request be granted, the teacher should inform the Board of Education, in writing, sixty days before the end of the last semester during which the leave of absence is taken, whether he/she plans to return to the district the following semester. Failure to notify the Board of Education of his/her intentions, as stipulated above, shall constitute that teacher's resignation from the teaching staff in District #7.
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District 7 Practice - Commencing on the date a child is born, an employee is eligible to use up to 8 weeks of sick leave if the employee has sick leave available. If the employee only has 4 weeks of sick leave, then the employee is only eligible for 4 weeks of leave. An employee's use of sick leave during all or part of the 8 week period will run concurrent with and count toward his/her use of up to 30 sick leave days for the birth of a child under the Illinois School Code, 105 ILCS 5/24-6.
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For a member with doctor verified health issues related to the pregnancy: they may use their sick leave days until they run out of them. If the member participated in the sick leave bank, they may apply for however many days they are entitled to per sick leave bank regulations. After all sick leave, including sick leave bank days, is used, they may apply for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per FMLA depending on how much FMLA time they may have already used. For a member with a newborn with doctor verified health issues: they may use their sick leave days to care for the sick child. After all sick leave is used, they may apply for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per FMLA depending on how much FMLA time they may have already used. Note: Sick leave bank days are not available in this case because they may only be used for health issues of the member, not their family.
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Every effort will be made to reassign the returning teacher to his/her former school and grade level. If however, this is impossible or impractical, the Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools shall have the authority to assign the teacher to another school within the district and/or at a grade level that the teacher is qualified to teach.
Emergency/Personal/Professional Leave
EMERGENCY DAY
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The Board shall grant each teacher one (1) day of verifiable emergency leave per year without loss of pay or deduction of sick leave. This shall not be used for things of a personal nature. Verification shall be provided on request.
PERSONAL DAY
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The Board shall grant each teacher two (2) days personal leave per year without the loss of sick leave days. Personal days may not be scheduled the day before or the day after a school holiday, unless there is verifiable evidence that the scheduling of the activity is beyond the teacher's control.
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When possible, employees shall submit a written request for personal leave to the building principal five (5) working days in advance. It is not necessary to state a reason for the leave.
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Any certified employee who does not use any personal days during the current school year may have the option to carry one of those personal days into the next school year. The maximum amount of leave days that any certified employee can have at any time is three (3). Personal leave not carried into the following year shall accumulate as sick leave.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY
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A certified employee may be granted one professional development day per school year. The employee must submit a written request to the Superintendent no later than 20 working days in advance of the professional development event and must include a description of the event. The Superintendent or designee will, in his/her discretion, approve or disapprove the request. If approved, the employee will be permitted to attend the professional development event with pay, but the employee shall be responsible for all costs associated with attending the event.
Non-Instructional Assignments
DUTY-FREE LUNCH
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All teachers will have a duty-free lunch equal to that of the student lunch period (lunch and recess) or 30 minutes, whichever is greater.
PREPARATION TIME
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High School and Middle School Teachers will have one unassigned preparation period during the student day.
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K-5 teachers will have unassigned preparation time during their specialist time, which will amount to one hundred seventy minutes weekly.
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Pre-K and Early Childhood teachers will be given equivalent plan time to K-5 teachers or sufficient release time per month to equate to 170 minutes per week.
SUPERVISION
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Teachers shall not be responsible for supervising bus loading and playground activities. Non-certified personnel will be provided for noon-time supervision in all schools. *Staff may be requested to supervise students on a substitute basis at the hourly rate of 0.0006. Staff may only be utilized in the instance of an absence or open position.
MEETINGS
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Teachers will be available for open houses and student/parent conferences, without additional compensation, unless excused by their administrator due to some unavoidable conflict. An administrator may schedule meetings outside the workday with five (5) days advance notice. Employees attending a meeting scheduled outside their workday will be compensated at the curriculum rate. Nothing in this provision is intended to affect the legal provision for a duty-free lunch period.
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The District should schedule staffings so that teachers involved will not have all of their preparation time consumed by the staffing. When staffings or meetings are scheduled prior to the normal student contact time, teachers shall be released from the staffing or meeting at least fifteen (15) minutes before the scheduled start of their student contact.
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Paid compensation will be made when teachers attend meetings or staffings on dates designated non-work days on the school calendar.
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If requested by building administration, teachers who are available to supervise students outside of normal working hours will be paid at curriculum rate (e.g. Mascot Welcome, Middle School House activities, elementary music program).