FAQs

In year 1 of the "Build a Better Contract Campaign" we identified six areas of focus to build proposals around. 

Those were:

• Salaries and Extra Work Time that Allow Us to Recruit and Retain

• Health and Leave Benefits That Work for Working Families

• Classrooms and Schools That Safely Support Everyone

• Time to Work at Work

• Clarity for Non-Traditional Teaching Assignments

• Simplified Union-District Relations

In year 2 of the "Build a Better Contract Campaign" we voted to bring 57 proposals to the table and started negotiations on those proposals. At that time we identified "impasse worthy" items, and after many wins on smaller items, by late spring we were fighting for the "Core Four" issues:

• Step and Lane Salary Schedule

• Healthcare for retirees and Domestic Partners

• 12 weeks of maternity leave

• Protections against AI outsourcing 

In year 3 of the "Build a Better Contract Campaign" we returned to the table (after a summer pause) laser focused on our resolving our "Key Three Issues" and reaching a Tentative Agreement by Thanksgiving.

• Step and Lane Salary Schedule

• Healthcare for retirees and Domestic Partners

• 12 weeks of maternity leave

So How Did We Do? We fought and we won!!!

• We delivered significant improvements in every area of our original contract priorities! 

• We reached agreement on shifting to a Step and Lane Salary Schedule with average increases of 7%, 7%, and 6% annually (and a floor of 5%)!

• We maintained healthcare for retirees!  

• We achieved 12-weeks of maternity leave AND 12-weeks of FMLA caregiver leave!

• We protected our work from AI Outsourcing!

• And we reached a Tentative Agreement by Halloween instead of Thanksgiving!

We finalized TA Language TODAY (November 25th) that reads:

Article 11. A. 1. Teacher Work Day (Effective July 1, 2026)

1. All teachers are required to devote sufficient time to their duties to fulfill their professional responsibilities and teaching assignments. 

   1. Starting July 1, 2026, on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, teachers will work a seven-hour-and-twenty-minute (7hr 20min) in-building workday.

   2. On Wednesdays, teachers will work an eight-hour and ten-minute (8hr 10min) in-building workday to accommodate a weekly Staff Meeting as addressed in Article 11. E. Teachers will arrive for the start of the Student Instructional Day.

   3. On Fridays, teachers will work a six-hour-and-fifty-minute (6hr 50min) in-building workday. Teachers will leave at the end of the Student Instructional Day.

2. The teacher workday will be established for each school and will go into effect on July 1, 2026. 

1. All full-time teachers assigned to the same school shall follow the established teacher workday schedule.

2. The parties recognize that circumstances may arise in which individual schedule changes may be necessary. These changes must be mutually agreed upon by teachers, their affected teaching teams, and their building administrators and/or direct supervisor, and put in writing. 

1. These changes should be made to improve teaching and learning outcomes for the following reasons, including but not limited to: attending graduate classes outside the student's school day, teacher-initiated support for district students, supervising district students in extracurricular activities, and facilitating team collaboration.

2. Specialists shall not be required to meet with more than five (5) classes in one-half (1/2) day. Classes will be at least one-half (1/2) hour in length on a standard school day.

Article 11.A.2. Report Time for Teachers

1. Teachers will report ten (10) minutes before the start of the Student Instructional Day, except on Wednesdays when they arrive in time for the Student Instructional Day. 

2. This time is designated for teacher-initiated professional duties and responsibilities, such as preparing for instruction, providing teacher-initiated support to district students, or collaborating with colleagues.

   1. By mutual agreement and to meet students' instructional needs, teachers may be offered alternative start and end times to accommodate innovative student scheduling. In these cases, the total teacher work day shall not exceed seven hours and twenty minutes unless an appropriate FTE adjustment is also made.

Article 11. E. Wednesday Staff Meetings (Effective July 1, 2026)

1. Starting July 1, 2026, teachers will attend a 60-minute staff meeting after school on Wednesdays. The teachers and Building Leadership may, through mutual agreement, schedule any and all Wednesday Staff Meetings to take place before school.  

1. After school staff meetings will start no later than ten (10) minutes after the end of the student instructional day and will last for 60 minutes from the time the meeting begins. 

2. Before school staff meetings will end no later than ten (10) minutes before the start of the student instructional day, and will last for 60 minutes from the time the meeting begins.

2.  Ten (10) minutes of each staff meeting are dedicated to ITA business. This time can be 

      at the beginning or end of the meeting, as mutually agreed upon by the Building                  

      Leader and the building's ITA membership. 

3.  Teachers will have input into the development of the staff meeting agendas. These    

      meetings can be arranged as “whole staff meetings”, “department meetings”, 

     “grade-level meetings”, “professional responsibility days”, or any other way the   

      The school community sees fit, provided mutual agreement has been reached. 

 4.  Teachers who have other professional responsibilities (such as coaching athletics or 

       supervising extracurricular activities) during these meetings, OR who are enrolled in 

       graduate or other classes to maintain teaching certification, will be excused from 

       these meetings for the duration of their conflict. 

5.    Teachers who teach less than full-time will attend staff meetings proportionally to 

        their FTE. Itinerant Teachers who teach in multiple schools will attend staff 

        meetings proportionately to their FTE.

6.     Teachers who work part-time, teach during Zero Period, and/or are not regularly on 

        campus immediately before these meetings are expected to attend staff meetings. 

 7.    The district may establish up to five Wednesdays a year for district-wide department 

        meetings. A sample list of district-wide departments may include, but is not limited 

        to, special education, reading, art, music, P.E., ENL, and teacher librarians. 

        Administrators will create agendas for district-wide department meetings; however, 

        attempts will be made to form these agendas collaboratively. 

Article 11.A.3: Expanded Student Instructional Day

1. The District retains the right to make a one-time extension to the student instructional day by up to thirty (30) minutes at the elementary level and up to fifteen (15) minutes at the secondary level between July 1, 2026, and June 30, 2028.

2. Any extension of the student instructional day shall fall within the established teacher workday as outlined in Article 11.A.1. 

   1. 1. At elementary schools, the student instructional day will be no longer than 6 hours and 30 minutes, and may start no earlier than 7:25 am.

      2. At secondary schools, the student instructional day will be no longer than 6 hours and 55 minutes, and may end no later than 3:50 pm.

3. All changes to the student instructional day will be established and communicated with all stakeholders no later than June 30th to take effect in the following academic year. 

Additional info, but not CBA language:

Student arrival and dismissal times shall be established for each building in consultation with the building administration, the Board of Education, community stakeholders, and all staff bargaining units.

Yes! 

One of the considerations for excusing teachers from professional responsibility time is to run extra-curricular activities like clubs and sports. Since these positions receive stipends, you will still be paid your stipend for this work. 

You will not however, be able to fill out a "loss of prep" timesheet if you choose to run an extracurricular activity during your professional responsibility time. 

Currently, all ICSD staff can run extra-curricular activities at the secondary level. If you are an elementary teacher and you have an idea for a club you'd love to run at Boynton, DeWitt, IHS, or LACS, let Kathryn know and she will connect you with the right person at the respective school.

This negotiation proved that there is ample mutual interest and willingness between the ITA and ICSD to create extra-curricular opportunities for elementary students and create teacher leadership opportunities to support elementary staff, but we could not sort through enough of the logistical challenges to include a binding agreement for THIS contract.

• Once we ratify a contract, this could be an organizing issue the ITA could take on via piloting some programs in anticipation of bringing a fully-developed plan to the table in 2028. If you would like to be part of this work, please let your CAT or Kitten know!    

Our current contract language regarding summer school pay will remain unchanged. That language says:

Summer school teaching and any day worked for which the teacher is not regularly assigned as a classroom teacher (i.e., registration, proctoring of exams) will be paid on the basis of .0035 of the salary (for summer school teachers will be .0075 of the minimum base teacher’s salary Bachelor’s Degree – no experience) for three teaching periods per day for a maximum of 30 days. Any workday of less than normal (three class periods per day for a maximum of 90 minutes each) will be paid on a prorated basis. No summer school teacher will teach more than two ninety-minute class periods or the equivalent thereof if there is a District teacher on the waiting list in that particular discipline.  

On October 30th, the ICSD presented their "Best and Final" offer. This phrase legally indicates the end of active, collaborative negotiations. At this point, our only legal option to end negotiations is through ratification of the Tentative Agreement. Our only legal option to continue negotiations is through mediated impasse. 

Yes! IF we pass the Tentative Agreement. 

One of the Working Agreements we signed last January was that our agreements would be applied retroactively if our CBA expires. However, it may take a few pay cycles to get everyone their retroactive salary adjustments.

Our counter-proposal to not implement any changes to the length of the work day until July 2026 was accepted by ICSD, so those changes would not apply retroactively or even be implemented during this school year.  

No! IF we go to impasse.

Even though we agreed to retroactivity in our Working Agreements, these are not binding and will not be guaranteed by a mediator. In short, going to impasse risks our retroactivity.

Our ballot will have an abstention column. However, only yes and no votes will be counted towards the overall vote count for contract ratification.

Why would someone abstain then?

Members who abstain from voting will be removed from our voting reminder lists provided to our cats and kittens, so they will not be personally reminded to vote throughout the 2 week voting window. An abstention will effectively be a "unsubscribe" from follow-up about the ratification vote.

Yes!

Throughout the entire negotiation process our NYSUT Labor Relations Specialist has been working closely with the rest of the NYSUT staff to ensure that all agreements not only comply with Education Law, and Labor Law, but are also practicable and enforceable through day to day labor relations processes.