(a) any matter for which a method of review is prescribed by law;

(b) any rule or regulation of the State Commissioner of Education;

(c) any bylaw of the BOARD except those that have been preempted by Section 13 of Chapter 123, Laws of 1974;

(d) any matter which according to law is either beyond the scope of BOARD authority or limited to unilateral action by the BOARD alone;

(e) a complaint of a non-tenure teacher which arises by reason of his/her not being re-employed;

(f) a complaint by any certified personnel occasioned by appointment to, lack of appointment to, retention in, or lack of retention in, any position for which tenure is either not possible or not required.

In the event a grievance is filed at such a time that it cannot be processed through all the steps of the procedure by the end of the school year, and if left unresolved until the beginning of the following school year, the grievance could result in irreparable harm to a party of interest, the time limit set forth herein shall be reduced so that the grievance procedure may be exhausted prior to the end of the school year or as soon thereafter as is practical.

(a) Failure by a grievant to process a grievance within the specified time limits of this procedure shall render the grievance as settled in favor of the BOARD.

(b) Failure to issue a decision within the specified time limit of this procedure shall render the grievance as settled in favor of the grievant.

A grievance to be considered under this procedure must be initiated by the employee within twenty-five (25) days of its occurrence or at the time when the aggrieved would have been reasonably expected to know of the occurrence. A teacher with a grievance shall first submit the grievance in writing to the superintendent or immediate supervisor. The grievant may submit the grievance directly or through the Association's designated representative. The grievance must be on the proper form. The following should be set forth on the grievance form:

(a) the nature of the grievance

(b) the section of the contract that is specifically violated

(c) the results of previous discussions, if any were held

(d) if the grievance is processed above Level 1, the grievant should note his/her dissatisfaction with the decision previously rendered. The superintendent shall communicate his/her decision to the grievant in writing within eight (8) school days after receipt of the written grievance.

If the grievance is not resolved to the grievant's satisfaction at Level 1, the employee may request that the grievance be forwarded on appeal to the BOARD within ten (10) school days after receipt of the Level 1 decision. This request shall be submitted in writing to the superintendent, who shall attach all related papers and forward the request to the BOARD. The BOARD, or committee thereof, shall review the grievance and shall, by mutual agreement of both parties, hold a hearing with the grievant and render a decision in writing within twenty (20) school days of the receipt of the grievance by the BOARD or of the date of the hearing with the employee, whichever comes later. The decision of the BOARD will be final and binding, unless the grievant appeals the decision to an advisory fact finder within ten (10) school days after the employee has received the Board's decision in writing.

(a) If the employee is dissatisfied with the decision of the BOARD, only the ASSOCIATION may request the appointment of a fact finder. Such a request is to be made known to the superintendent no later than ten (10) school days after receipt of the written decision of the BOARD by the employee. The ASSOCIATION agrees to save the BOARD harmless from any legal action or suit that may occur as a result of the ASSOCIATION’S exercise of its rights in this paragraph.

(b) This request can be honored only if the grievant or grievants and the organization representing them waive the right, if any, in writing of said grievant or grievants and the organization representing them to submit the underlying dispute to any other administrative or judicial tribunal.

(c) A joint request will be made to the American Arbitration Association to submit a roster of persons qualified to function as a fact finder in the dispute in question.

(d) If the parties are unable to determine a mutually satisfactory fact finder from the submitted list, they will request the American Arbitration Association to submit a second roster of names.

(e) If the parties are unable to determine, within ten (10) school days of the initial request of fact finding, a mutually satisfactory fact finder from the second submitted list, the American Arbitration Association may be requested by either party to designate a fact finder.

(a) The fact finder shall limit the hearing to the issue submitted to him/her and shall consider no other material or evidence.

(b) The fact finder can add nothing to, nor subtract anything from the agreement between the parties.

(c) The hearing will entertain evidence, testimony and arguments only on those matters that are specifically considered grievable under this contract as defined in Section A-1 of this Article.

(d) The fact finder shall establish rules for the hearing, except as provided herein.

(e) The fact finder shall first rule on the admissibility of the grievance to the fact finding hearing, if so requested by either party.

(f) The fact finder shall have no power to make an advisory award inconsistent with law.

2. If time is lost by an employee due to fact finding proceedings necessitating the retention of a substitute, the BOARD will pay only the cost of the substitute. The time lost by the employee must be either without pay or charged to personal time. Employee case preparation and post-hearing briefings will not be conducted during scheduled assignments.

Any aggrieved person may be represented at all stages of the grievance procedure by a representative selected or approved by the ASSOCIATION. The ASSOCIATION agrees to save the BOARD harmless from any legal action or suit that may occur as a result of the ASSOCIATION's exercise of its rights in this Article.

3. All records of grievance processing shall be filed separately.

4. Forms for grievance processing shall be mutually agreed upon by the parties to the agreement. The ASSOCIATION will distribute the forms as they are required.

5. Parties in interest will cooperate in investigating and providing pertinent information concerning a grievance being processed.

6. All meetings and hearings under this procedure shall not be conducted in public and shall include only the parties in interest and their designated or selected representative, hereto referred to in this procedure.

(a) 8:15 a.m. - Duty teachers arrive

2. The sickness allowance provision is non-cumulative and expires at the termination of the yearly contract.

3. After the first day due to family illness, it is understood that the teacher shall be paid a sum equal to his/her daily employment less the sum paid to a substitute teacher.

2. All sick days not utilized in any one year shall be cumulative and may be used for additional sick leave time

3. When absence exceeds the annual sick leave and the accumulated sick leave, the Board of Education may but shall not be required not withstanding any past practice pay any such person each day's salary less the pay of a substitute, if a substitute is employed or the estimated cost of the employment of a substitute if none is employed, for such length of time as may be determined by the Board of education in each individual case.

4. A leave of absence without pay shall be granted after use of all accumulated sick and personal leave for any remaining period of the current school year.

5. Sick leave may be applied toward disability leave due to pregnancy as allowed by law. There is a presumption of disability in a childbirth case under New Jersey school law of 20 work days before, and 20 work days after the birth. The amount of sick days to be used must be submitted to the BOARD in writing ninety (90) days before the intended leave to give ample time to find a replacement.

7. On or before September 30th of each year, the board secretary shall present to each employee the current total of his/her unused sick days.

(a) One(1) personal day per school year may be taken without explanation and must be requested a minimum of three(3)school days before, unless in the case of an emergency.

(b) With written request supplied to the superintendent thirty (30) days prior to the following:

(1) before or after a holiday

(2) for two (2) or more days in succession

(3) splitting two (2) days over a weekend (i.e. Friday, Monday

(4) for four (4) consecutive days in a row, which must be taken in one calendar week.

(c) Seniority shall prevail under item(b)in the event of more than 15% of the staff requesting same personal days.

(d) Maximum of one request per person, per school year, regarding personal days off before and after a holiday and consecutive school days.

(e) A maximum of four (4) days may be accumulated in any two year period.

3. On or before September 30th, the board secretary shall present to each employee the current total of his/her cumulative personal days.

2. Upon return of the teacher, salary will be based on salaries in effect for that year. Experience credit shall be granted for the school year if the teacher was actively employed for five (5) or more months within the classroom or any combination of medical disability time that totals five (5) or more months for that year.

3. Upon the return from maternity leave, the district shall offer the teacher the job held before going on leave or an equivalent post.

Prior to the beginning of each membership year, the Association will notify the board in writing of the amount of regular membership dues, initiation fees and assessments charged by the Association to its own members for that membership year. The representation fee to be paid by non-members will be determined by the Association in accordance with the law.

In order to adequately offset the per capita cost of services rendered by the Association as majority representative, the representation fee should be equal in amount to the regular membership dues, initiation fees and assessments charged by the Association to its own members, and the representation fee may be set up to 85% of that amount as the maximum presently allowed by law. If the law is changed in this regard, the amount of the representation fee automatically will be increased to the maximum allowed, said increase to become effective as of the beginning of the Association membership year immediately following the effective date of the change.

Once during each membership year covered in whole or in part by this AGREEMENT, the Association will submit to the Board a list of those employees who have not become members of the Association for the then current membership year. The Board will deduct from the salaries of such employees, in accordance with paragraph 2, below, the full amount of the representation fee and promptly will transmit the amount so deducted to the Association.

The Board will deduct the representation fee in equal installments, as nearly as possible, from the paychecks paid to each employee on the aforesaid list during the remainder of the membership year in question. The deductions will begin with the first paycheck paid:

b. 30 days after the employee begins his or her employment in a bargaining unit position and continued in the employ of the Board in a non-bargaining unit position or was on layoff, in which event the deductions will begin with the first paycheck paid 10 days after the resumption of the employee's employment in a bargaining unit position, whichever is later.

If an employee who is required to pay a representation fee terminates his or her employment with the Board before the Association has received the full amount of the representation fee to which it is entitled under this ARTICLE, the Board will deduct the unpaid portion of the fee from the last paycheck paid to said employee during the membership year in question.

Except as otherwise provided in the ARTICLE, the mechanics for the deduction of representation fees and the transmission of such fees to the Association will, as nearly as possible, be the same as those used for the deduction and transmission of regular membership dues to the Association.

The Association will notify the Board in writing of any changes in the list provided for in paragraph 1, above and/or the amount of the representation fee, and such changes will be reflected in any deductions made more than 10 days after the Board received said notice.

On or about the last day of each month, beginning with the month this AGREEMENT becomes effective, the Board will submit to the Association, a list of all employees who began their employment in a bargaining unit position during the preceding 30 day period. This list will include names, job titles and dates of employment for all such employees.

2. Part-time teachers and school nurses are included in proportion to the time spent teaching in the district.

3. All courses must be approved by the Superintendent and authorized by the BOARD prior to registration.

New hires, effective July 1, 1998 shall receive only single benefit coverage at board expense when permitted by the benefit plan until the fourth year of their continuous employment in the district. Upon reaching the fourth year of employment they shall be eligible for full benefit coverage as provided by this agreement.

3. Employees hired after July 1, 1984 may purchase disability insurance through Washington National Insurance Company or The Franklin Life Insurance Company at their own expense through a payroll deduction.

4. Upon anticipation of a change of carrier the board shall provide the association with a copy of any contract or policy which the board intends to sign with any carrier at least sixty (60) days prior to the date of the change.

The Board will submit to the Association and to each member, a statement guaranteeing the exact coverage as under the SHBP currently in effect with a guarantee that the Board accepts responsibility for any costs not covered under the new carrier, providing these costs were previously covered.

The committee shall issue a non-binding written report by March 31, 2005, which shall be a public document.