Schedule Votes

What to do? Hold a virtual union meeting via Zoom or other non-CPS conference platform. Invite all union members at your school and notify them in advance that the schedule/flex-days for next year will be discussed. Look at the schedule alternatives. The voting between the default and the option your school is considering must be completed as soon as possible once remote voting procedures are finalized, however, no later than June 5, 2020. Labor Relations and CTU Grievance Department Director, Sara Echevarría should be notified. If your principal wants to propose a unique model schedule that would require a contract waiver, follow the guidelines in Appendix C of the contract or contact your field rep. Waiving a part of the contract is a serious decision and should be undertaken only after sharing the language and consulting with your field rep.

In addition to the guidance below, the Grievance Department has developed handy flow charts to aid your decision-making.
Model Schedule Vote Flowchart
Flex PD Vote Flowchart

Skip to High School Guidance

Decisions to Make – Elementary School

Do you want to keep everything (school hours, flex days, schedule, 15-minute preps) as it was this past year? Discuss with colleagues in a union meeting.

Keeping Everything the Same

If your answer is yes: Hold a PPC meeting and discuss with your principal; note it in the minutes and you are done.

Making Changes

If the answer is no: follow the directions in the sections below.

Weekly Prep Periods

There are four options on the two 15-minute prep periods per week for elementary school teachers. They are outlined in the Easy Reference Guide put out by CPS.

If you wish to select either Model 1 (non-classroom supervision model) or to continue with the option you have used this year, make sure to note this in the PPC minutes and move on to the flex day decision.

If you want to make a change, you may hold a schedule vote (teacher CTU members only) to select between two of the set models (non-classroom supervision, academic enrichment model or, early start with early dismissal model). The result of this vote must be reported to Labor Relations and to modelschedulevote@ctulocal1.org.

If your administrator wants to propose a unique model (option 4 in the Easy Reference Guide), you’ll need to hold a waiver vote (all CTU members can vote) where you vote yes or no on the proposed unique model and, if the waiver is voted down, you will default to Model 1.

Before conducting a waiver vote, your delegate should contact your field rep to share the proposed waiver wording to ensure that you aren’t giving away other hard-won rights inadvertently. The results of waiver votes must be reported to Labor Relations and to modelschedulevote@ctulocal1.org.

Flex Days

If, after consulting with members as above, you wish to maintain your current flex-day usage, note this in the PPC minutes and the process is finished. If, after consulting with the members as above, you want to make a change in your use of the three flex-days scheduled for August 31, 2020, September 1, 2020 and June 24, 2021, you will need to hold a waiver vote. You can choose to redistribute all or any one or two of the three days through a a waiver vote. Reminder: A waiver vote is an up or down/yes or no vote; it’s not a choice between two options. Again, before conducting a waiver vote, your delegate should contact your field rep to share the proposed waiver wording to ensure that you aren’t giving away other rights inadvertently. If your waiver vote (all CTU members can vote) passes, that becomes the plan for next year. If it fails, you default to using the flex-days on the dates above. Results of the waiver vote must be reported to Labor Relations and to modelschedulevote@ctulocal1.org.

Daily Start and End Times

If your principal, in consultation with the PPC and seeking faculty concurrence, wants to propose different starting and ending times for your school, they must reach out to the Department of Transportation for approval of any changes. Schools cannot decide to change these times on their own.

Resources for Elementary Schools

The documents for download are available in Word or PDF format from this site, but to access the Google Forms used for reporting you must be signed into the CPS Google system (i.e. Drive, GMail).

2020-21 Elementary School Schedule Guide (PDF)
2020-21 Elementary Easy Reference Guide (PDF)
2020-21 ES Voting Forms (MS Word)
2020-21 Elementary School Schedule form (Google Form)
Elementary School Schedule Vote form (Google Form)

Decisions to Make – High School

Do you want to keep everything (school hours, flex days, schedule) as it was this past year? Discuss with colleagues in a union meeting.

Keeping Everything the Same

If your answer is YES: Hold a PPC meeting and discuss with your principal; note it in the minutes and you are done.

Making Changes

If the answer is NO: follow the directions in the sections below.

Bell Schedule & Flex Time

High schools will be voting on their bell schedules and flex times. For a bell schedule, the union delegate/s should solicit faculty input, preferably in a virtual union meeting. The PPC and principal should meet. If there is agreement to maintain the current bell schedule or to select the default (model 1 – 50 minute periods) for next year, notify Labor Relations and modelschedulevote@ctulocal1.org.

If there is not consensus, a schedule vote can be held between two of the models (#1-4) in the High School Easy Reference Guide. Should your principal, in consultation with members and the PPC, wish to propose a unique schedule, you must hold a waiver vote on that proposal.

Reminder: A waiver vote is an up or down/yes or no vote; it’s not a choice between two.

Resources for High Schools

The documents for download are available in Word or PDF format from this site, but to access the Google Forms used for reporting you must be signed into the CPS Google system (i.e. Drive, GMail).

2020-21 High School Schedule Guidance (PDF)
2020-21 High School Easy Reference Guide (PDF)
2020-21 High School Model Schedules (Appendix B) (PDF)
2020-2021 High School Voting Forms (MS Word)
High School Schedule Response Form (Google Form)
(Must be signed in to CPS G Suite System)