How Well Do You Know Your District’s Employee Policies?

What can you do as an educator to be informed, prepared, and empowered as you plan your return to work for the upcoming school year? Familiarize yourself with your district’s or charter school’s employee handbook and board policies, particularly the sections that address your employment rights. This information is easily accessible online and in your employee portal.

Educators are ever busy, especially at the start of a new school year, so when the employee handbook is distributed, it is, understandably, often overlooked. But your employee handbook contains a treasure trove of information that you can easily reference when employment concerns arise. For example, school districts are required by law to publish a notification of employee rights related to assault leave in employee handbooks. In most school districts, the employee handbook is the only place where this invaluable information is published. For charter school employees, the employee handbook is often the most convenient place to find information about employee grievances.

Employee handbooks also contain details about protected medical leave and disability accommodations and will include district contacts and local procedures for requesting them. You can find answers to questions such as: “Does my district or charter school provide local leave days? If so, how many? When are they awarded and how can they be used?” Employee handbooks cross-reference school board policy as well, so this can save time and effort when you need to locate documents, such as your district’s grievance form or a copy of the Educators’ Code of Ethics. 

School board policy is generally divided into seven sections: basic district foundations, local governance, business and support services, personnel, instruction, students, and community and government Relations. School districts are required to maintain the board policy manual on the district’s website. Some charter schools make theirs available online as well.

Educator employment rights can be found in the personnel section of your district’s or charter school’s board policy manual. The policy manual contains state law and local policy on key topics, including compensation, assignments, schedules, contracts, illegal harassment, and employee appraisal. Educators can look to the instruction section for the law surrounding special programs such as special education, bilingual education, and career and technical education, as well as state law and local policy regarding grading. The student section also has information relevant to educators, particularly student conduct and student discipline.

Knowing where to find information about your rights and responsibilities as a Texas educator can help you approach employment concerns with confidence.