465 Online Staff Assignment Policy

These policies and practices have been thoughtfully developed with the following considerations:

• The goal of the online program is to provide our services to as many students as we can responsibly serve, within the limitations set by our authorizer and the state of Minnesota.
• Without the physical limitations of a classroom, it is necessary to establish limits to staff workloads/assignments to ensure the continued quality of the online program and maintain a level of equity and consistency between staff members.
• The Board-approved class size limit for the CCS Seat-Based program is 19 students per class, with flexibility to increase to 21 students in certain cases.
• Careful and meticulous tracking of student enrollment occurs on an ongoing basis. The Online Director closely monitors staff workloads and strives for balance between staff members as much as possible.
• The goal is for every staff member to have a workload that exactly matches their FTE assignment. However, this is not always possible in our online setting due to fluctuating enrollment, different course needs for high school students, special education (SPED) status, etc. so flexibility is mandatory.
• Each year, staffing levels are examined and established after consideration of the previous year’s staffing levels, student enrollment, budgetary realities, expectations for future enrollment, and program changes.

1. 1.0 FTE for an online Teacher is based on 125 course enrollments. This was established with the consideration of a seat-based teacher with 6 classes per day, approx. 21 students per class.
2. 1.0 FTE for a Learning Coach is based on 40 students. This assumes an average time spent per student as 1 hour per week.
   1. The Lead Learning Coach has additional responsibilities including: planning and facilitating weekly learning coach meetings; coordinating coach wide efforts (STAR test outreach, MCA follow-up, etc...), drafting and gathering data for 2x weekly student emails regarding progress and school updates, fielding questions from the learning coach staff, assisting with student login issues, training new learning coaches, and serving as bridge between coaches and administration for coach wide questions, therefore this individual’s FTE includes .5 for the Lead Learning Coach role.
3. 1.0 FTE for an online Special Education Teacher is based on case managing 15 students. This was established based on the significant amount of time it takes to connect and engage with online families, the requirements surrounding verifying paperwork, the additional preparation required for serving multiple age groups, using technology, and collaboration with colleagues in an online setting. By setting this limit of 15 students, we improved at meeting the needs of students and we saw our SPED student retention rates improve significantly. In assigning students to case managers, we aim to balance student setting levels between staff members as much as possible.
   1. The Special Education Coordinator’s FTE is based on case managing 10 students, as this person has additional responsibilities including: serving as the district administrator on all IEP/ due process meetings, ensuring that all due process paperwork is compliant, assigning students to case managers, intake of all new special education students (walking new families through how programming works, answering questions, practicing logging in, etc.), monitoring attendance on admin/MTSS meetings, leading and notetaking at weekly SPED meetings, entering SPED student info in JMC, tracking dates students enter, leave and re-enter programming, training and teaming with Gen Ed teachers, and training/supervision of paraprofessionals.
4. Additional roles are factored into the FTE of certain staff members - such as Work-Based Learning Coordinator, Curriculum Coordinator, Technology Coordinator, Student & Family Engagement Coordinator, HS Advisory teacher, Middle School Homeroom teacher, ESL Teacher, and Reading/Math Interventionist. The FTE allotment of these roles varies and is based on the estimated time spent on the role.

1. Due to the fluctuating nature of online student enrollment, it is impossible to predict the exact FTE levels needed each year with certainty. Some flexibility is required for our program to operate.
2. In the case that a staff member’s actual assignments result in numbers that are lower than the identified FTE expectations (as described in I. Overall Online FTE levels), there is to be no reduction in that staff member’s FTE, pay or benefits for the course of the employee agreement.
3. Staff members who have actual numbers lower than identified FTE expectations may be asked to take on additional roles, such as long-term substitute teaching, supervision of Math/Reading Corps volunteers, JTerm facilitation, student interventions, leading committees such as MTSS, etc. If these additional roles would lead to the staff person’s work being more than their assigned FTE, the staff person is expected to consult with the Online Director to reassign responsibilities and determine whether overage practices would apply (See III. Actual assignment more than FTE Level).
4. Occasionally, courses and assignments may be redistributed mid-semester or mid-year to balance out staff workloads or better meet the needs of students.
5. Each year, when planning for the upcoming school year, the administration will closely review actual FTE levels to determine if reassignments or, as an absolute last resort, reductions are warranted.

1. Overages are intended to be short-term and minimal. If a certain position consistently is in overage status, administration will look at restructuring/hiring to address that in the longer term as a staffing need.
2. If a teacher has course enrollments that are above 110% of their FTE for the majority of the semester, they will be compensated for the extra FTE for that semester.
3. If a learning coach has student assignments that are above 110% of their FTE, they will be compensated for that extra FTE based on the number of days and students that made up the overage.
4. If a special education teacher has student assignments above their FTE, they will be compensated for that extra FTE based on the number of days and students that made up the overage.
5. For staff who have multiple roles (for example, teacher and learning coach), overages will not be paid if both roles together and/or neither role singly results in an overage.
6. If another staff member has the appropriate licensure, space in their FTE, and ability to take on these students and avoid an overage, that will be the first course of action. This is up to the discretion of the Online Director as factors such as minimizing the disruption of the student’s educational experience must be considered. If a staff member chooses to maintain an overage in the case that another staff person could reasonably relieve that overage, they are not eligible for overage pay.
7. In the case that overages become excessive and/or are at the level that would require an additional staff member, the Online Director and HR Manager will work to fill that position as soon as possible in accordance with the CCS Hiring Policy.

1. Due to the specific and technical skills required to work in the Online Program, and in an effort to provide consistency for students, the most desirable course of action when a substitute is needed, is to fill that need from within.
2. Short-Term Substitutes (10 consecutive days or fewer): When a staff member will be away from work for a short period of time and their immediate duties can reasonably be covered by another staff member in their absence, this role is filled voluntarily by another member of the online team (and is coordinated by the staff member who needs to be absent). Additional compensation is not provided in this case, as our team members support each other and “return the favor.” In the case that this is not an option, the Online Director may make other arrangements for a substitute.
3. Long-Term Substitutes (more than 10 consecutive days): When a staff member will be away from work for an extended period of time and their immediate duties cannot be reasonably covered by another staff member in their absence on a volunteer (unpaid) basis, the Online Director and HR Manager will work to identify other staff members who may have the capacity to take on additional roles and serve as a “long-term substitute.” The CCS Hiring Policy does not apply in the case of online long-term substitutes unless existing online staff members are not able to fill the role.
   1. If the additional duties will not result in the staff member being over their assigned FTE, the additional work will not result in additional compensation and is not optional if the staff member is qualified to do so.
   2. If the additional duties will result in the staff member exceeding their assigned FTE, the additional work will be compensated as follows if the staff member accepts the role:
      1. Teachers: will be compensated for the number of enrollments above 110%, for the number of days in the long-term sub role.
      2. Special education teachers: will be compensated for the number of students over their FTE, for the number of days in the long-term sub role.
      3. Learning coaches and other staff members: will be compensated for the additional hours spent doing the long-term sub role. The hourly rate received is the same as the individual staff member’s hourly rate.

500. If it is not feasible or possible to have an internal staff member cover these roles, the Online Director will work with the HR Manager to post and hire as needed, and at that point the CCS Hiring Policy will apply.

1. Overages will be paid at the end of each semester, in a lump sum added to the employee’s regular paycheck. Overages are tracked throughout the semester and verified using enrollments in the JMC student information system.
2. Overage and long-term substitute pay is calculated based on the employee’s salary and/or hourly wage, except as otherwise specified.
3. Benefits are determined based on the employee agreement. No additional benefits are available due to overage status.
4. QComp payouts are not impacted by overage status.

1. Staff who accompany students on off-campus field trips and/or overnight events will be compensated at the current substitute teacher rate of pay as follows: One day of sub pay for each weekend/non-school DAY (regular working hours but not a school day), and One day of sub pay for each OVERNIGHT (inclusive of all hours between 4 PM and 8 AM).
2. OVERNIGHT will be compensated as one day of sub pay.
3. The compensation above will be payable in half-day (minimum of 4 hours) or full-day (between 4-16 hours) increments.
4. Staff should request this type of compensation and receive approval in writing from the director in advance of the field trip. Compensation will not be granted without prior written approval.
5. If approval is granted, staff must provide the hours worked on non-school day and overnight field trips to the director, who will submit the information to the HR/Business Manager for payment.
6. This compensation will be included in the regular paycheck and is subject to regular withholdings such as taxes and TRA.
7. This policy only applies to field trips and other work including the supervision of participating CCS students. Travel time is not included in the compensated hours.

Download 465 Online Staff Assignment Policy