Policy No. 5475 Preparation Time

Preparation Time

1. Elementary: Educators teaching in the elementary grades (1 through 5) shall be given a preparation period of 150 minutes each week of the school year.
   1. This preparation period will give teachers student-free time to use for the preparation necessary for their teaching assignments and will not be encumbered with any other assigned duties. The administration of this program will be coordinated through each building principal.
2. Special Education: Special educators are encouraged to plan preparation time within their individual schedules.
   1. Preparation time is considered to be time within the regular school day which is free from instructional obligations.
   2. For special educators in secondary settings, preparation time should equal one class period per day.
   3. For special educators in elementary and support settings, preparation time should equal 150 minutes per week.
   4. Administrators will work with special education and regular education teachers to provide preparation time for special education teachers. Where jointly agreed by the teacher and administrator, a special education teacher who teaches during his/her preparation time will be granted monetary compensation or compensatory time according to District formula.
3. Kindergarten: Kindergarten teachers will be granted four days preparation time per year.
   1. A substitute teacher will be provided to teach the kindergarten teacher’s class. The substitute teacher’s fee will be paid by the District. The preparation days will not be charged to the kindergarten teacher’s sick leave, personal leave, or professional leave. The four days per year may be taken as half days during the year. These days may not be accumulated from year to year.

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