On January 20, 2015, AALA and the District reached agreement by mutual consent on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to consolidate two classifications, Assistant Principal, generic, and Instructional Specialist. AALA has pursued this consolidation on behalf of our members for well over a year. The newly merged classification is to be called Assistant Principal, Secondary, or Assistant Principal, Elementary. The major provisions of the agreement are summarized below. You may access the full agreement HERE or via the AALA website.
Rationale for the Agreement
APs and ISs have similar duties and responsibilities at school sites and often are used interchangeably. However, APs earn seniority while Instructional Specialists are temporary advisors and do not earn seniority. ISs may be released from their positions at any time with no recourse. Some superintendents have encouraged principals to use the budget process to replace APs with ISs which has destabilized schools, caused job insecurity and decreased the number of APs throughout the District. Consolidation will afford greater protections to all while stabilizing school staffs.
Summary
The consolidation will be in effect as of July 1, 2015. The classification of Instructional Specialist will no longer be available for schools to budget. All current ISs with continuing assignments will become APs.
The classifications of Assistant Principal, Secondary Counseling Services (APSCS) and Assistant Principal, Elementary Instructional Specialist (APEIS) are to remain separate and are not included in this agreement.
Seniority Dates
Seniority dates of APs, both current and those with return rights to the classification, will be maintained and will be unaffected by the merger.
Seniority dates of current ISs will be determined by the effective date of their current regular continuous assignment in that classification.
Displacements
Displacements may occur at school sites or District offices due to such factors as decreased student enrollment. Should the District reduce the number of AP positions at a school site, the incumbent AP at the site with the most recent seniority date will be displaced and placed on a Reemployment List. Should the school have a special need to retain that employee because of special skills or training (e.g., bilingual status) the District may deviate from the seniority-based displacement order. In that case the incumbent AP with the next most recent date is to be displaced and placed on the Reemployment List.
If affected positions are reduced at a District office, a displaced employee with return rights to the AP classification will be placed on a Reemployment List, subject to the same exemption.
Reemployment Lists
When sites or offices are selecting from the Reemployment List, vacancies will be filled from among the top 50% of employees (by seniority dates) on the list, up to a maximum of 35 people, whichever is lesser. List participation and return rights expire after 39 months unless the District and AALA mutually consent to an extension of up to one calendar year.
Future Budget Development Processes
During Budget Development for 2015-2016 and future years, normed positions will no longer include Instructional Specialists and will consist entirely of AP positions.