Philadelphia Federation of Teachers School District of Philadelphia

XVIII. Working Conditions of Teachers
(b) If the Principal and the Building Committee have not reached consensus
on a Master Schedule/Roster for the school by May 25, the Principal and Building
Committee shall not later than five (5) working days after May 25 submit to the
Federation-District Committee a memorandum that describes areas of consensus
and defines issues on which they continue to differ.
(c) The Principal may implement a design that includes the areas of consensus
with the Building Committee unless the Federation-District Committee concludes
that the design does not reasonably satisfy the above-stated criteria, in
which case the School District members of the Committee shall work with the
Principal to design an appropriate Master Schedule/Roster.
(d) Notification of his/her proposed grade or class assignment for the following
school year shall be given to each teacher at as early a date as possible after
allotments are complete.
(e) In middle and senior high schools by June 15 or the last day of school,
whichever is earlier, tentative rosters shall be distributed to the individual teachers.
If changes are made between tentative rosters and final rosters, any teachers
concerned shall be notified. In addition to the Building Committee, any interested
teacher from that particular school may examine the organization plan.
(f) In elementary schools by June 15 or the last day of school, whichever is
earlier, teachers shall be notified of what grades and sections they will teach and
every teacher will receive his/her tentative new class name list, including each
pupil’s reading level.
(g) During the summer when the roster is actually being constructed, any
teacher, as well as members of the Building Committee, may come to the school
to review and discuss the roster with the administrator in charge as it is being
constructed.
(h) The master roster shall be posted in each school.
(i) A teacher may, with his/her consent, be assigned to more than five (5)
periods of teaching a week outside of his/her field of appointment.
(j) In departmentalized schools, rostering practices shall include a limitation
on the number of grade levels or subjects and the number of tracks within grade
level or subject to be taught. The number of grade levels or subjects to be taught
shall be limited to three (3). The number of different lessons to be prepared
according to grade level and type of class within the grade level shall be limited
to four (4), except where the number of specialized subject area teachers assigned
to a department makes such limitations impossible.
(k) To the extent administratively possible, a teacher with appropriate qualifications
shall be given the opportunity to teach classes of varying grade and
achievement levels. In addition, special consideration shall be given to rosters
assigned to new teachers so that new teachers are not assigned to teach the most
challenging classes or the most difficult students.
(l) Student teachers shall not be assigned to any teacher who has less than
three (3) years of teaching experience and who does not hold provisional or
permanent certification for the subject being taught.
(m) Middle school and high school teachers shall not be rostered to teach more
than one hundred and eighty (180) minutes consecutively or one hundred and
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