In wake of new law, Rapides School Board OKs changes to job descriptions, salary schedules

Changes to job descriptions and salary schedules were approved Tuesday by Rapides Parish School Board members based on a recently signed law out of the Louisiana Legislature, even as some teachers stepped up to question how it will work.

Act 311 aims to compensate teachers and other school employees for overtime work and duties assigned to them outside of their job descriptions and to compensate them if their planning periods are overtaken by other duties.

Gov. Jeff Landry signed the act into law on May 28, and it took effect immediately.

Rapides Parish Schools Superintendent Jeff Powell brought two motions to the School Board that sought to update both job descriptions and salary schedules so they would comply with the new law. He said he recently attended a meeting where attorneys provided guidance to superintendents on how to implement the new law.

"One of the biggest emphasis is making sure we update our job descriptions," he said.

He said several "key points" taken from that meeting were that districts were required to adopt amended job descriptions by the start of 2024-25 school year — actually June 30, said Powell, but that was difficult to do because of the little time left after being signed into law — and the "reinforcement of the previously enacted requirement that teachers receive at least 45 minutes of unencumbered time each day, or weekly equivalent, for planning."

Unencumbered is interpreted as not having responsibilities with students, he said.

"If teacher are not afforded such planning time, they must be paid for it at their hourly rate," said Powell. "… It changes the law to provide that the salary you pay a teacher or other certified employee only covers the duties specifically listed in their job descriptions."

If teachers are asked to perform duties outside of their job descriptions, they are to be paid $30 per hour net. And the law requires school boards to adopt a supplemental salary schedule or amend a current salary schedule to establish exactly how those sums will be paid.

But there's a catch, said Powell.

"It is important to say that, while this law did pass, the governor did not put any additional funding in the budget to fund this."

The superintendent stressed that new responsibilities or duties are not being added to job descriptions, but the change is being made to be "sure their job descriptions capture the duties which its certified employees performed last year.

"Again, you are not adding additional duties but simply confirming that your job descriptions are accurate. So that’s one of the misconceptions out there," Powell said, adding that districts throughout the state must do the same.

He said no employees have asked him directly about the changes, but he'd heard about "commentary out on social media about some of this, that maybe there was something shady going on."

As for the changes in Rapides, Powell said those are bigger because the district's job descriptions still had language regarding teachers' evaluations under an old system. The changes before the board July 2 reflected those updates, too, he said.

He also asked board President Dr. Stephen Chapman to amend the motion because one item under the "professional responsibilities" in teachers' job descriptions was incomplete.

It reads that teachers are "to perform any other duties assigned by the superintendent and/or evaluator," and Powell added the phrase "within the scope of teaching and learning during contract hours" to it.

He said that spells out that, if teachers are asked to work at ball games, they will be compensated.

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Member Mark Dryden asked Powell to clarify that teachers still will have a planning period and that they'll be compensated if they have to work through those.

"That is the biggest part of the law change. Anything that teachers have to do outside of the scope of their job description, they have to be compensated," said Powell.

Dryden then asked if teachers can refuse to do anything that's outside of their job description. Powell responded that employees can't be made to do work outside their job descriptions unless they are compensated.

Chapman asked about the funding source, and Powell said there is no funding source from either the state or district.

But he suggested that some school events that might have been free in the past could cost an admission fee in the future so teachers could be paid. Powell said his administration hasn't met yet with principals to discuss the new law, though.

Member Sandra Franklin asked Powell about the motion on this topic that was taken off a committee meeting agenda last month. He replied that was only the salary schedules. That motion was removed because the job descriptions weren't ready for discussion yet, he said.

She called this a "major decision" made in limited time with limited discussion. And she wondered if a teacher could be viewed as insubordinate by a principal if they refuse to do something outside of their job description.

Powell said no.

"The key delineation here, why the law even says specifically what’s in the job description. Anything outside of that, you can’t be forced to do it," he said.

But Franklin said it's not what the law says, but how people interpret it. "That's the problem," she said, adding that there could be repercussions for refusing to work events like graduations or on weekends.

Powell countered that things like parent-teacher conferences, open houses and high school graduations are part of teacher job descriptions already. When she asked about other events, like science fairs, Powell said schools might need to find funding sources for those.

He did say that events like reading or science nights could be covered with federal funds.

"In fact, many of our schools do that for those," he said.

As Franklin spoke about concerns she's heard, Powell said he wanted it to be clear that these changes weren't coming from his administration or the board.

"This law was passed just a few weeks ago and signed, and we were put on a time limit and, the truth is, we’re actually beyond it right now."

She said it's a conversation employees are having, though, and Powell responded that was reasonable. He also said it's an opportunity to market the district to potential employees because other districts will be doing the same.

"It’s law. We have to abide by it," said Powell. "We as leaders have to figure out ways to turn it around in a way to motivate folks to help us and to help kids, which is what it’s about."

Franklin says so many unfunded mandates are given to the district, but Powell said the important part is that legislators want to make sure teachers are being paid for things they’ve been expected to do in the past for free.

"And it would have been nice to say, let’s give them a funding source from the state level," retorted Franklin.

Member Linda Burgess said teachers had reached out to her, asking if they would be given time to get their classrooms together before school opens. Powell said yes, that about half of the three professional development days set aside before students return would be for "school-based work."

At least one teacher said that's not enough time to ready her classroom.

"And that might just be a personal preference, but I know we want to make these classes warm and inviting and engaging for our students, and that takes a lot of time and a lot of effort," Courtney Davis told board members.

She also said she was concerned about contracted hours and how parent-teacher conferences will be conducted, asking if teachers will be compensated if they go beyond their hours.

"If not, that is a major concern," she said.

Davis told members she had been a dance line sponsor for five years but quit because her stipend for that was only 1.5% of her salary, which come to about $600 per year.

"I did dance line year round so when I did the math, I wasn’t even making, maybe, $2 an hour," she said.

Programs like that are highly valued, and teachers want to help with them, but she said one of the reasons she quit was to take a second job.

"I know many teachers who have second and third jobs, and if they got paid to be a dance line sponsor or to stay after school for a few events a year and make 30-35 dollars an hour, that would make a significant difference."

Another teacher who did not identify herself said so many things happen in high schools outside of sports.

"It’s busy all the time, let me tell you," she said.

Some schools hold faculty meetings during teacher planning hours, while other schools hold them after classes are done for the day.

"So we’re talking about an extra 20 hours a school year of extra time outside of the school day that’s for faculty meetings that are outside of the school hours but yet they are necessary," she said. "They’re just not done the same across the board."

The substitute motion passed on a vote of 8-1. Franklin was the lone no vote.

The next item on the district's salary schedule didn't get nearly as much conversation after Powell addressed two "substantial changes" because of the law.

"The salary schedule did not change. We added the language about Act 311 of 2024, and it gives the very specific language for certified personnel," he said.

Powell told members that some procedures will have to be established because of the new law, and Chapman asked him if he would report back to the board on those. Powell said yes.

He said the administration has to establish some procedures “but, again, this all just happened” so they still have to work to make sure everything is ready for the start of the new year.

Chapman asked if he’ll give the board a report on those changes, and Powell said yes.

The motion passed unanimously.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: In wake of new law, Rapides School Board OKs changes to job descriptions, salary schedules