Mandated Summer Professional Development
Can MNPS require professional development during the summer?
The answer is complicated but in short—YES, the district can require you to complete professional development during the summer as long as they pay your daily rate. Failure to participate in the mandated training may result in disciplinary action for insubordination.
Here are some of the factors that complicate the answer:
School Term:
According to Tennessee Code Annotated §49-6-3004, the school term for educators consists of 200 contractual days divided as follows:
· 180 instructional days
· 10 days paid vacation—always provided at winter break
· 5 days for professional development
· 1 day for parent-teacher conferences
· 4 days designated by the local board of education/administration
MNPS educators are paid for 201 days, which includes pay for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Teacher Contract:
Educators typically work a year-to-year contract that begins on July 1 (or the date of hire) and ends June 30. As long as your contract is renewed each year, you are on continuing employment with the school district. From July 1-June 30, all educators are required to fulfill the 201-day school term as outlined above. Your salary is based on the 201-day term. However, your employer can mandate additional days as long as you are compensated for the additional time.
As a reminder, your employer can discipline you for issues that occur outside normal working hours or your normal work schedule. For example, if you were to receive a DUI during the summer, MNPS can still discipline you for that (and you are required to report it to your employer within 24 hours by law—failure to do so may lead to other disciplinary action).
Documentation:
Since the training is mandatory, educators should take the following precautionary steps to maintain a stream of documentation in case it is needed to resolve pay issues or as a counterargument to pending disciplinary action:
1. Calculate your daily rate of day (salary step divided by 201 will equal your daily rate of pay). You can find the current salary schedule here.
2. Send an email inquiry to the appropriate personnel inquiring when the summer professional development will be paid (on which paycheck should you expect to see it)—keep a copy of the response for your records. If you’ve already been given the information, save a copy of the email.
3. Document your attendance at the required professional development sessions. You can do this by taking a picture of the sign-in sheet with your phone and by getting some photos with you and other attendees and of the presenter. If you complete the training virtually, you can take a picture of the screen showing the time and date. This can be used as documentation, if needed, to combat allegations you didn’t complete or attend a mandated PD session.
4. If you are unable to attend a mandated professional development, send an email to your principal asking for a make-up date for the professional development. Do NOT overshare information in your email to your principal (contact MNEA if you’d like assistance on writing the email). Keep your email and any response from your principal. You may be required to provide documentation to support your reason for not being available to attend the PD—doctor’s note, proof of family event (wedding, funeral, graduation, etc.). If you have scheduled a vacation for the time the professional development occurs, you may need to provide proof that you scheduled the vacation before the email mandating attendance was sent.
Sample Email to Principal:
Mr/Mrs/Dr_______________:
I wanted to let you know that I will be unable to attend the required professional development session on [date] at [time] due to a previously scheduled family event. Please let me know how and when I can make up this professional development session.
Respectfully,
[your name]
During the 2022 summer break, all educators are required to participate in one day of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion professional development (PD) and one day of Social-Emotional Learning PD. ELA educators in grades 6-12 are required to participate in 1 or 1-1/2 additional PD days, depending on if they are new or returning as an ELA educator. ELA educators in grades K-5 who did not teach Wit and Wisdom during the 20-21 school year are required to participate in 1 additional PD day. Since these trainings are required, MNPS will offer multiple opportunities each week throughout the summer so all staff can easily find a date that will work for them. Educators will be paid their daily rate of pay for required PDs. Any additional summer PD will be paid at the voluntary workshop rate of $85/day (limited to 5 days).
For more information, check the MNPS SharePoint site. It will be updated between now and summer break to keep educators informed of required and optional PDs.
CLARIFICATION FOR REQUIRED SEL PD:
MNEA QUESTION: Is SEL Foundations Day 1 & 2 professional development the same or different than the district required SEL professional development?
DISTRICT RESPONSE: The SEL Foundations PD is a different PD through the SEL department; it does not address the same learning from the Tier 1 Essential Practices training. It is listed separately in the PD catalog (not under the Required PD section) and was not included in the information shared on the Summer 2022 Professional Learning SharePoint main page that identified the required professional learning.