FAQs

ERIN TOSI – HR Generalist

Staffing for the following:

• • Deering High School

  • Lincoln Middle School

  • Longfellow Elementary School

  • Multilingual Center

  • ELL Staffing

  • Pre-K Staffing

  • Social Work Staffing

MANO ALI – HR Generalist

Staffing for the following:

• • Portland Adult Education

  • District Office

  • Transportation

  • Maintenance 

  • Food Service

  • Custodial

  • Subs

IZZY DIAMOND – HR Generalist

Staffing for the following:

• • East End Community

  • Ocean Ave Elementary

  • Presumscot Elementary

  • Moore Middle School

  • Portland Arts and Technical School

  • Portland High School

  • Special Education/Student Services 

RACHEL SILY – HR Generalist

Staffing for the following:

• • Casco Bay High School

  • King Middle School

  • Talbot Community School

  • Amanda C. Rowe Elementary

  • Reiche Community School

  • Cliff Island Elementary

  • Peaks Island Elementary

  • Lyseth Elementary School

• my paycheck, sick days, accrual, etc?

Kathleen Jensen  

jensek@portlandschools.org

(207-842-5338)

• a leave of absence or my benefits?

Dee Dudley

dudled@portlandschools.org

(207-874-8118)

• an injury I got on the job or during the school day?

The lead secretary at your school.

• AESOP, course reimbursement?

Erin Tosi

tosie@portlandschools.org

(207-874-8118)

• getting a copy of my SCH certificate?

Aimee Burume

burumu@portlandschools.org

(207-874-8100)

• PLBSS, help with teaching practice?

Eva Rodd

roddev@portlandschools.org

(207-415-9175)

• Mentoring, Certification Questions?

Beth Linevitch

linevb@portlandschools.org

(207-842-5329)

From Dee Dudley

Maternity Leave:

As with all Leave of Absences the amount of available time and paid time will differ by circumstances. Maternity leave is no exception. It is best to work with HR to review your leave details and options.  Below is some general information to keep in mind:

By board policy any allowable paid leave must be used concurrently with FMLA.

FMLA time and paid leave available are separate items to consider when planning.

Schools Vacation, Holidays and summer will not be charged to FMLA time or need to use any accrued time for payment.

FMLA only refers to the 12-week period in terms of an unpaid leave in which the employee's job and benefits are protected. (Pay is protected only in terms of when you return you would return to the same rate of pay) PEA contract allows for up to a year of unpaid leave for child rearing leave. This is used to extend your leave once FMLA is exhausted if you choose to do so.

Any paid time available is contract driven.  Within the PEA contract you can use your accrued sick time when you are sick, medically incapacitated or to care for a family member that cannot care for themselves for medical reasons (or because they are a child that is sick).  In terms of paid time available for maternity, this will mean time that the Dr has certified you as medically incapacitated. (Typically that means 6 weeks for a vaginal birth, 8 weeks for Cesarean. However, this can be extended to 12 weeks for medical reasons)

Things to remember: If you do not have enough sick time to cover the time of incapacitation, you can apply for the sick bank if you are a member. This will require repayment for those days taken and will be available for the rest of the incapacitation period for FMLA. Remember: this doesn’t always line up with the whole 12 weeks of FMLA.

Once FMLA is exhausted, if you are taking child rearing leave it will be unpaid and benefits will be at your own cost (plus 2% admin fee). This is done using Cobra. Child Rearing leave also requires a 30 day notice to Admin and HR of your decision to take this leave time.

Leave for a Spouse/ Partner having a child:

If it's your spouse or partner having the child, you may use up to five of your sick days within a month of the birth. Anything over 5 days will require you to use the FMLA process. Using the FMLA process can allow access of your accrued sick time for Family Illness to care for your spouse or partner while they are incapacitated.  You also have an option to use unpaid child rearing leave for up to a year.

Link to Contract language about LOA

First of all, does the new position fall within your impact area? Check the contract for Categories of Impact Area. If the new position is in the same IA (whether or not it’s grant funded) you’re in the same place in relation to others in that area regardless of whether the position is new.

If the position is outside of your impact area and you’re moving into one with fewer people, check to see where you are in relation to those people. Your years of service in the district travel across impact areas as long as you’re moving to a position covered in the PEA contract, but your placement in relation to other people may change as you move.

If your new position is grant funded, and the continual receipt of the grant to pay for your position is uncertain and you’d be vulnerable in your new impact area, you may want to explore options like asking HR for a leave from your current position to do a year’s work in the new position. You may not get it, but it’s worth a shot.

If you’re moving into a position not covered in the PEA contract (like if you’re becoming an administrator) none of this applies. Check in with HR to learn more about your new deal.

The district does not do voluntary transfers anymore, so if you’re interested in a position, you’ll have to apply. If it’s a position within the PEA contract and you’re qualified, you’ll automatically be granted an interview. You do have to go through the process, though.

• So, our contract allows course reimbursement for tuition and fees of one course a year, two if you're in lane 5. *Please note the caveats.*
  
  

• Probationary teachers have to take that course (and it can only be three credits) in one of the district-approved areas. Principals might sign off on another course, but they don't actually have that authority. The district still won't pay unless it's in one of those areas.
  
  

• The course will only be reimbursed for up to the amount that number of credits would have cost at USM ($1,470 for three credits in SY 20-21). If you take it at UNE or BU, for example, you're going to pay the difference yourself. And sometimes, that difference is "I could've bought an iphone" expensive.
  
  

• You actually have to submit the Course Approval Form (whether for reimbursement or not) before the course begins. For advance payment, it must be submitted with proof of registration, an official invoice detailing tuition and fees, and an attachment with answers to the two proposal questions listed on the form. I'd give it about two weeks for processing and check-cutting, to be safe.
  
  

• You have to get a B or higher in the course, and you have to do two things with that grade: 1) upload to PLBSS, and 2) submit proof to Erin Tosi in HR. The contract says you have 60 days to do this or you have to pay the money back.

The contract says that "Any educator who participates in a school-sponsored overnight with students and is not otherwise compensated will receive compensatory time off in the amount of one (1) work day for one (1) overnight, to be scheduled with the approval of their supervising administrator."

After you have participated in a school-sponsored overnight, please let your lead secretary know if you intend to request a comp day or sub pay, so that this information can be logged in the district tracking sheet. If you choose to take a comp day, submit your leave request in Aesop and select "Comp Day" from the Absence Reason drop-down menu. Your building administrator will review your request for approval. Comp days do not affect your sick leave balance.

If you would rather receive compensation in the form of a day of sub pay per overnight, fill out a half sheet and submit this to your lead secretary for payment in an upcoming payroll run.

Please note that for record-keeping and budget purposes, comp days will not roll over to the next school year. Any comp days not taken will be paid at the end of the school year at the rate of one day of sub pay per accumulated comp day.