• Each school will establish a Professional Development Fund committee that will approve the dispersal of all individual teacher funds; these funds shall be derived from Clause #14 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

 

• The Committee shall consist of a CSR member and two other members of the ATA on the school’s teaching staff. This committee shall submit their names to the PD Chair by September 30th of the school year.

 

• The money allocated to each certificated instructional staff will be determined by the total number of FTE teachers employed in Red Deer Public School District as of September 30th of that school year as reported by the Associate Superintendent Human Resources as determined by Clauses # 10 and 14 of the Collective Agreement.

 

• The PD Fund will set aside the equivalent of 10 PD allotments for the sole purpose of supporting late teacher hires throughout the school year until the month of May. All late hires will receive an allotment according to the following schedule:

  • Start date in:

    • Sep: 100%

    • Oct –Dec: 75%

    • Jan –Feb: 50%

    • Mar – May: 25%

    • Jun: 0%

  • Late part-time hires will receive a pro-rated PD allotment based on their assignment percentage and length of contract.

  • Any unused credits from the period of temporary employment will be reallocated to the general PD Fund of the subsequent year, unless the temporary member obtains a contract before employment expires.

 

• All members who go on leave will retain their current year’s PD allocation if they remain members in good standing, which includes payment of dues. Otherwise, if a member goes on leave, or ends their employment, their PD allotment will be reduced by the late-hire percentages, based on the final date of work. All credits in their account will be returned to the general PD Fund to be reallocated in the subsequent year.

 

• Any member of Local No. 60 leaving the RDPSD No. 104 through retirement, termination of contract or termination of employment will revert their unused PDF monies to the general pool of funds to be reallocated at the discretion of the Table Officers’ Committee (TOC).

 

• Plans for use of the PDF monies should be documented annually in a teacher’s Individual Professional Growth Plan.

 

• Local No. 60 PD funds are used for the individually directed activities of Local No. 60 members. This usage does not include reimbursement for school or District-level directed PD events, including retreats. If a member is unable to travel with the arranged transportation, the employer is required to reimburse for alternative transportation, or the cost is borne by the member.

 

• Teachers will not be eligible for any additional PDF funds beyond a $3500 accumulation, unless approved by the school PDF committee. A notice of approval to exceed the $3500 maximum must be received in writing by the PDF Coordinator by September 30th. Failure to do so will cap the eligible teacher’s fund at $3500.

 

• The Table Officers Committee (TOC) of Local No. 60 shall arbitrate and make a final binding decision on the validity of any PDF requests that are disputed at the school level. Both individual teachers, and the school PDF committee can appeal any decision to the TOC of the Local.

 

• When a teacher is on exchange to a school district in another country and is still being paid by Red Deer Public School District No. 104, the teacher is still eligible for the yearly allocation of PDF funds. The teacher can accumulate the funds in their budget line or access the funds to pay for a professional development activity that has been approved by TOC in lieu of a school based PDF committee. Once approved, the teacher can access their funds by submitting the necessary receipts and a letter to the PDF Coordinator. The teacher on exchange in Red Deer is not eligible for PDF funding.

 

• The transfer of funds between one member of Local No. 60 and another member is nonpermissible under any circumstances.

 

• A report showing all individual Local 60 member PDF allocation balances for each work site be produced at least once per year and be provided to the Treasurer and PD Chair.

 

• A site-based report of the PDF allocations be provided to one CSR member for each work site. The CSR members will share each individual’s information at his or her site through direct communication to the individual. The CSR member will destroy the site-based reports after this reporting process.

 

From our ATA Local Constitution & Handbook - Updated November 2013