Superintendent's Preliminary Recommendation

Questions and Answers

SECTION H: Staffing

1. If schools are closed, how will the teachers and support staff in those schools be reassigned?

The district's senior leadership is scheduling meeting times to consult with the Principals Association of Seattle Schools (PASS) regarding a reassignment plan.

The Seattle Education Association (SEA) and the district have begun discussions regarding the displacement and reassignment of certificated employees, office personnel, and paraprofessionals. The following general principles will guide this process:

• The reassignment process due to consolidation will be structured to best accommodate the displaced employee.
  • The process will minimize complexity of the reassignment procedures.
  • Reassignments due to consolidation will provide choice to the employee.
• The reassigning of SEA personnel due to consolidation will be scheduled to be completed by May 15, 2006, and prior to open hiring.
• Time will be scheduled for transitioning new staff to consolidated sites.

Local 609 (which includes custodians, gardeners, nutrition services, and school security specialists) and the district's labor relations manager are scheduling meeting times to review current bargained procedures for displacing employees and make recommendations as appropriate to the procedures.

2. If schools are closed, are you planning to keep the teachers and students from those schools together in another location?

When a program or school is moved from one location to another, where possible, the district will work to accommodate students and staff moving together to the new location. When a school is closed and students are reassigned to a variety of locations, staff will have an option to move to one of the locations where their students have been sent.