Faculty Handbook
Announcements
P.A. Announcements are made on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to inform staff and students of Le Conte events. Teachers should direct their students to listen quietly and attentively. Anyone wishing to submit an announcement should submit the announcement to the Main Office in advance, so that it may be approved by the Assistant Principal. Efforts are made to keep the announcements as brief as possible to conserve instructional time.
Attendance
All teachers shall, upon each daily arrival and departure, enter their initials on the sign-in card in the Main Office that is provided by the District. Teachers shall be on their assigned duty station at least six (6) minutes before the first daily class or other assignment begins and shall remain at their assigned duty station at least six (6) minutes after the last class or other scheduled period of work ends.
Teachers who find it necessary to be absent due to illness or personal reasons will follow this procedure. Personal reasons for absence must be approved by the principal in advance.
Contact subfinder to submit your absence the day before or no later than 6:30am on the day of the absence. Call LCMS (323) 308-1700 between 6:30am and 7:30am to notify Saydi of your absence.
During your absence, personal courtesy and professional standards dictate that you provide your colleagues with the following: Lesson Plans, Rosters, and Seating Charts. In case of an emergency, all these items are in your substitute folder in the main office.
To return, notify Saydi before 2:00pm on the working day before you return. On a shortened day, call one hour before the dismissal time. If you do not let Saydi know you are returning, we will retain the substitute. If the teacher and substitute both arrive, the substitute will be paid - not the teacher.
Audiovisual Materials
Audiovisual media shown at a school must be relevant to the curriculum being studied and appropriate for the age and maturity level of students being taught. Audiovisual media shown at a school must use the established District and State criteria for the evaluation of instructional materials, especially with respect to racial and gender stereotyping and the depiction of violence, even in animation. Audiovisual media must be consistent with accepted standards of professional responsibility and must not reflect advocacy, personal opinion, bias, or partisanship.
Audiovisual media which have not been MPAA rated and are not owned, broadcast or recommended by the District must be thoroughly reviewed by the instructor prior to their use, and are not to be shown without prior approval by the administrator. In middle schools, for MPAA R-rated audiovisual media may not be shown in grade 6 and written approval by principal and parent / guardian is required prior to the scheduled viewing date for grade 7 & 8 (see attachments for the prior approval letter for parent/guardian and for the prior approval form for the principal). MPAA PG-13-rated audiovisual media may not be shown in grade 6 and written approval by principal and parent / guardian is required prior to the scheduled viewing date for grade 7 & 8 (see attachments for the prior approval letter for parent/guardian and for the prior approval form for the principal). MPAA G-rated audiovisual materials may be used in elementary schools with principal approval and teacher review.
Class Period Coverage
Class period coverage should be requested in advance by the teacher and the coverage will be arranged by Saydi with the approval of the principal. Non-paid assignments will be rotated equally among the teachers available during that class period. A teacher who cannot accept a particular class assignment must notify Saydi immediately by returning the assignment slip and stating the reason for unavailable.
A teacher needing a substitute teacher for less than a full day should notify Saydi at least one day prior to the activity which will take him/her from the class. Again, teachers need to leave the guest teacher lesson plans, rosters, and seating charts.
Contact Information
Every year, all staff members need to fill out an EMPLOYEE PERSONNEL RECORD form to keep the contact information current for emergency purposes. In addition, if changes occur during the school year, then request a new EMPLOYEE PERSONNEL RECORD form to be filed.
Copy Machines / Workrooms
Workroom is located in the main building next to the Sunshine Room. Copiers are located throughout the campus, including the Main Office, the Magnet Office, the Library, Healthy Start and the Nurses Office. Teachers should do their own duplicating. Each teacher has their own password and allocation of copies. Paper and supplies may be requested through the main office.
Eligibility for Extracurricular Activities
In the spring of 1983, the Los Angeles Unified school District instituted a policy regarding eligibility for extracurricular activities. This policy states that:
- Students must maintain a “C” average and no more than one "Fail" as a condition of participation in any contest. These contests include, but are not limited to, speech contests, drama contests, festivals, spelling bees, band and drill team competitions, as well as sporting events.
- Students must maintain a “C" average and no more than one “Fail" in subjects as a condition of participation in contests requiring the submission of an original work. Such contests include, but are not limited to, art and poster contests, art shows, and science fairs.
A “C" average is defined as a "grade point average" of 2.0 or better on a scale where an "A" = 4 points, "B” = 3 points, "C" = 2 points, "D” = 1 point. A mark of "F" is worth 0 points.
An ineligible student may continue as part of the class and earn a mark and credits even though he/she may not participate in out-of-classroom activities, performances, or competitions.
Eighth grade students and parents will be notified of “Non-Culmination" status by letter every five weeks, after the progress reports have been issued. As a reminder and warning, participation in school and eighth grade events may be denied to students in non-culmination status. Students may also be placed in non-culmination status based on negative behavior and/debts owed to the school.
Flag Salute
All persons are expected to demonstrate respect for the United States and its symbol in the following ways:
In the classroom, turn in the direction of the flag.
Stand or sit motionless and quiet.
Recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
On the campus, but not in an enclosed space.
Stop and face the nearest flag.
The circumstances under which the morning ceremony can be interrupted with impunity are very rare. All persons are requested to observe appropriate behavior during this ceremony.
There is only one choice for a student who has an objection to the morning flag ceremony: remain in the classroom and stand or sit quietly in a display of respect for the other members of the class until the pledge has been completed.
Hall Pass
In order to reduce the amount of students walking in the halls and potentially causing disruptions, we ask our faculty to limit the use of hall passes and adhere to the following: Hall passes should be limited for necessary activities. Remind students to use the restroom before school, passing periods, lunch and nutrition. Students with written passes to the restroom must be sent to the office.
Homework
Research has shown that a truer picture of a student’s content knowledge is reflected in the academic achievement grade when that grade is based on actual learning rather than compliance (O’Connor, 2009). Based on varying degrees of access to academic support at home, completion of homework should not penalize a student so severely that it prevents the student from passing a class nor should it unduly inflate the grade. Because of the formative or practice nature of homework, it is now Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)’s policy to limit its weighting in a student’s academic grade. No more than 10% of a student’s academic grade can include daily routine homework as a factor towards that grade.
Students with excused absences must be given the opportunity to complete the missed coursework, homework, or test with other equivalent assignments and must be given credit equal to that which they would have received on the original assignment or test for the same quality of work.
Students absent for justifiable personal reasons, upon written request of the parent or guardian and approved by the principal or designated representatives, shall be allowed to complete all assignments and tests missed during the absence which can reasonably be provided and, upon satisfactory completion, shall receive credit equal to the credit they would have received on the original assignment or test. The teacher shall determine in what period of time the student must complete such assignments. Teachers must take into consideration that students will have work from multiple subjects to make up. Teachers should collaborate with each other to assure that the student will have the opportunity to get all of the work completed. The tests and assignments shall be reasonably equivalent to, but not necessarily identical to, the tests and assignments that the student missed during the absence.
Students who have been suspended from a class may be required to complete assignments or tests missed during the suspension if the assignments and tests can reasonably be provided and upon satisfactory completion shall receive credit equal to that they would have received on the original assignment or test. The teacher shall determine what assignments must be made up and in what period of time the student must complete such assignments. The tests and assignments shall be reasonably equivalent to, but not necessarily identical to, the tests and assignments that the student missed during the suspension.
Students who are truant or absent without verified justifiable personal reasons or students who have returned to school without a note need not be given the opportunity to complete coursework, homework, or tests missed. However, in the interest of helping these students succeed academically, teachers should give them such opportunities.
Jury Duty
An employee summoned to involuntary jury duty which is to commence during the employee’s work time (including summer school/off-track/intersession assignments previously offered and accepted), shall notify the immediate administrator of such summons.
As a condition for paid absence, the employee shall seek postponement of the jury service until the employee’s upcoming unpaid recess, if the employee is summoned to start jury service during an assigned work period. When calling the court, employees will need to provide information contained in their summons and be prepared with a calendar to designate a specific reporting date during which they are on recess and can begin jury service.
Involuntary jury service commenced during the employee’s recess period which inadvertently extends into the employee’s assigned period shall qualify as paid absence for up to twenty working days from the start of the assignment or track. The twenty day limit shall be subject only to such exceptions which may be agreed upon by the District and respective employee bargaining units.
An employee who does not request postponement of the jury summons to a recess period will be granted unpaid absence for the jury service. Any unpaid, assigned hours may negatively impact the employee’s benefits, including retirement benefits
Keys
Keys are checked out to individual teachers based on their teaching stations and other responsibilities. Each staff member will return keys to the administrator responsible for keys when clearing from school on the last day of the school year. Special purpose keys may be borrowed with permission from an administrator.
Teachers should keep their keys in their possession at all times and treat them as if they were their own house keys! Loss of keys creates a serious security problem and should be reported to the administrator responsible for campus security and Saydi immediately.
Leaving Campus
No teacher may leave the school premises during the school day except for the 30 minute lunch period or for school business during a conference period. Teachers leaving the campus should clear first with an administrator and sign the sign-out binder in the Main Office giving the time of leaving and the destination. Teachers must then sign-in upon return to school.
Mailbox
Each certificated staff member has a mail box located in the main office. Names are placed below individual boxes. You need to clear your mailbox when you arrive at school each day.
School Mail - Mail being sent to other LAUSD locations and mail that should be legitimately paid for by the district, i.e., letters to parents, is picked up and delivered daily. The School Mail bag is located at the end of the main office counter near the faculty restroom.
U.S. Mail - There is a daily U.S. mail pick-up, for our collective convenience. There is a pick-up box located on the main office counter.
Master Calendar
All school events (curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular) must be scheduled on the master calendar. This calendar is managed by an assistant principal and located in their office. The activity must be approved by administration.
The master calendar is available on the LCMS website, and can be viewed at any time for daily updates. A hard copy is posted in the Main Office, but will not be updated as frequently as the website calendar.
Parent Conferences
Schools that are designated as PHBAO and all Magnet Schools are required to conduct two conferences between teachers and parents during the school year. The first conference is to inform parents of the students’ academic progress, diagnosis of standardized and classroom test results, and teacher’s observation of work habits and behavior. The second conference is to provide parents with an update of the student’s progress and academic status, utilizing the most recent marking period.
Parents can request a meeting with a teacher and meet with the teacher within a reasonable period of time after making a request. A request can be done through a phone message, email, counselor or letter. It is the responsibility of the teacher to let the parent know if he/she is unable to keep the appointment.
Parties
No class parties are allowed. No food or drinks are allowed in the buildings. Teachers wishing to schedule reward activities may inquire with the Assistant Principal regarding the use of the lower lunch area or faculty cafeteria.
Substitute Folder
Emergency Lesson plans, rosters and seating charts need to be submitted every year to be filed in the substitute folder for each teacher in the main office. IEP forms will also be included for corresponding students in the substitute folder.
Supervision
Effective supervision provides a controlled campus atmosphere that prevents incidents. It is the responsibility of all personnel. Even when teaching in the classroom, you should not be oblivious to actions taking place in the hallway or on campus. Hallway supervision during passing periods discourages problem situations and tardiness, and allows teachers to reinforce a clean, safe campus. All teachers are encouraged to stand outside their doors during passing periods to monitor student behavior and intervene when necessary.
Supplies and Equipment
Teachers should consult with department chairpersons regarding special requests for ordering supplies for classroom instruction. Teachers must consult with the department chairperson and Saydi before spending money on instructional materials for which they may not be reimbursed. Supplies are ordered on a yearly basis by the principal for the school.
All school equipment is either the property of LAUSD or of the student body and may not be removed from the campus for personal use. Upon the approval of the principal, certain equipment may be used off campus at school functions or at home.
Telephones
School phones are to be used basically for school business. There are phone extensions at a few locations on campus for this purpose.
While there will be occasions when personal calls will be necessary, please keep their frequency and length to a minimum. The District pays the phone bills and individuals cannot reimburse the district for personal calls that carry charges. You can, of course, use your personal resources, such as your cell phone to call collect or use your telephone credit card. Please observe the school cell phone policy; teachers should not use their cell phones while on duty with students.
Vehicle Registration/Parking
The staff parking lots are on Fernwood and La Mirada. No vehicle should be parked on campus without permission. Staff vehicles are registered in the main office every year by completing the EMPLOYEE VEHICLE INFORMATION card.
NO PARKING areas need to stay clear for delivery drivers at all times.
Visitors
All campus visitors must have the consent and approval of the principal. Permission to visit must be given at the time requested, if possible or within a reasonable amount of time. Students not enrolled at the school are not to be on campus unless prior approval of the principal has been obtained.
Visitors must sign-in at the front desk in the main office and receive a VISITORS PASS before walking around campus. Teachers should not permit any unauthorized person to see a student or to remove him/her from class. Before leaving campus the visitor must return to the main office to sign-out and return their VISITORS PASS.
Parents can observe classrooms in which their child is enrolled, with prior request and approval. Parents will follow the visitor’s policy, enter and leave the classroom quietly, not converse with students or staff, do not interfere with school activities and keep the observation to a reasonable amount of time. Schedule an appointment with teacher(s) and/or Principal after classroom visit if needed.