DOCUMENTATION “HCISD’s WAY”

1. DOCUMENTATION “HCISD’s WAY” Striving to help all HCISD employees be “the best of the best” Administrator Training 2010-2011

2. Agenda I. Introduction II. Documentation…..Why? When? How? • Investigative Process • Grievances 101 • Contracts, non renewals, non-extensions, terminations • Questions

3. DocumentationWHY • Board Policy: FFH(LOCAL) DIA(LOCAL) STUDENT AND EMPLOYEE WELFARE FREEDOM FROM DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT, AND RETALIATION. • The District prohibits discrimination, including harassment, against any student or employee on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability, or any other basis prohibited by law. Retaliation against anyone involved in the complaint process is a violation of District policy.

4. WHEN • Reports of prohibited conduct shall be made as soon as possible after the alleged act or knowledge of the alleged act. A failure to promptly report may impair the District’s ability to investigate and address the prohibited conduct. • Any District employee who receives notice that harassment or any illegal or inappropriate act is occurring shall immediately notify the appropriate District official and take any other steps required by this policy. • The District official or designee shall promptly notify the parents of any student alleged to have experienced prohibited conduct by a District employee or another adult. FFH (LOCAL), DIA (LOCAL) ACTIVITY: SCENARIOS YEA or NAY

5. HOW: The Investigative Process • Administrative Leave: If students or employees are in danger or it is believed that an employee will interfere with an investigation, the office of Human Resources will evaluate and decide whether the employee will be placed on administrative leave and an H.R. administrator will meet with the employee and provide the appropriate documentation for administrative leave. • Investigative Procedures: All interviews shall be conducted with an administrator and a witness present, preferably a second administrator, if possible. One person should ask questions while the other scribes or types the questions and answers. • Explain to all employees interviewed that you will be typing up their statements and they will be called in one more time to review, correct, and sign the statement. Use the Sample Interview Statement Template from the Administrator’s Toolkit.

6. HOW: The Investigative Process (continued) Complainant: Campus/ Department administration conducts a thorough investigation. Interview the complainant first and all witnesses identified by the complainant. Gather all facts prior to interviewing the accused employee. Accused: Campus/ Department administration conducts a thorough investigation. Interview the accused last and all witnesses identified by the accused. ACTIVITY: INTERVIEWING & SCRIBING ROLEPLAY

7. Process…interviewing & statements Interviews and Statements: Type up the statement. Bring in the interviewee to review and make any corrections. Allow them to make hand written changes to your typed interview. This allows you to keep a record of the interview and any changes they made from their previous statement. Interviewing Employees: When interviewing the accused employee, provide them the opportunity to give their side of the story. We recommend that you gather information on the review of events. After gathering this information, then you state each allegation pending against the employee and have them respond to each allegation.

8. Interviewing & Statements…(continued) A sample opening statement would be: “A concern has been brought to the attention of administration. As an administrator I am obligated to look into any concern. So, I will be conducting a review of events. I have a few questions to ask. I always begin my meeting by making the following statement: Sample Interview Statement Template Conclusions: Review all information and come up with conclusions and recommendations. Share your recommendation withHuman Resources prior to moving forward.

9. Now what? Verbal Recommendations/Directives Meeting: Set up a meeting with the accused employee, yourself, and a witness, preferably the person who worked with you on the investigation. Explain to the employee the allegations, your conclusions and your recommendations or directives. Ask them if there is anything else they feel you need to consider before finalizing your decision/report. If they provide more information, you need to look into that information. If not, you’re ready for the next step which is to schedule a meeting with the employee explaining that you will be following the conference with a written memo addressing your recommendation or directives. Written Memorandum Meeting: Final Memorandum given. Use the Sample Directives Memo Templates from the Administrator’s Toolkit. ACTIVITY: ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE/DIRECTIVES MEMO http://www.harlingen.isd.tenet.edu/toolkit_login.html

10. Final Conference • Read the Memo Together: Meet with the employee with your witness present. Give the employee a copy of the memo as you read it to them aloud. If this is a directives memo, make sure the employee understands the directives and have the employee sign two copies of the directives memo. One copy is for your records, the other is for the employee. • Termination: If termination has been approved through HR, then your memo would advise a time when the employee reports to HR to discuss • your recommendations and any options that are available to the • employee. Meet the employee at the HR Department to discuss • this memo.

11. Grievances 101 • DGBA(LOCAL) PERSONNEL-MANAGEMENT RELATIONS EMPLOYEE COMPLAINT S/GRIEVANCES • The Board encourages employees to discuss their concerns and complaints through informal conferences with their supervisor, principal, or other appropriate administrator. Concerns should be expressed as soon as possible to allow early resolution at the lowest possible administrative level. • What does this mean? • What if I’ve tried to resolve informally? Then what?

12. Grievances FORMAL PROCESS: If an informal conference regarding a complaint fails to reach the outcome requested by the employee, he or she may initiate the formal process described below by timely filing a written complaint form. How do I handle a Level I Grievance? Follow the Level I administrator’s script. See Administrator's Toolkit Script Level 1 conference wo audio Sample Level I Response Administrator Toolkit\Grievance DGBA EXIBITS.docx Sample Administrative Report

13. HR Planning Calendar TEACHERS MUST RECEIVE WRITTEN NOTICE OF PROPOSED NON-RENEWAL FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT 45 CALENDAR DAYS PRIOR TO THE LAST DAY OF INSTRUCTION OF THE CURRENT YEAR – DFBB(LOCAL) 2010-2011 HR PLANNING CALENDAR TEACHERS (CHAPTER 21 EMPLOYEES) MAY RESIGN WITHOUT PENALTY 45 CALENDAR DAYS PRIOR TO THE FIRST DAY OF INSTRUCTION OF THE FOLLOWING YEAR. – DFE(LEGAL)

14. Contracts, Non-Renewals, Non-Extensions, Terminations

15. Contracts, Non-Renewals, Non-Extensions, Terminations

16. Contracts, Non-Renewals, Non-Extensions, Terminations

17. SUMMARY • 1. Try to resolve all issues at the lowest administrative level • Utilize “Administrator Toolkit” • 3. Follow timelines and deadlines • Keep Human Resources “in the loop” as you go through the documentation process. • 5. DOCUMENT….DOCUMENT….DOCUMENT