General Employee Information

New employees need come to the Human Resources Office, 89 Wellesley Street (Case House), Weston to fill out new employee paperwork. At that time, employees will receive information regarding benefits available to them through the Town of Weston as well as a school directory and copy of their union contract, if applicable. The offer of new hire is contingent upon satisfactory findings as determined by the Superintendent, for the Massachusetts CORI and national criminal background check.

All teachers and administrators are required to hold a license issued by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) in order to be eligible to teach in the Massachusetts Public Schools. The Educator Licensing and Recruitment (ELAR) system allows current and prospective Massachusetts educators to complete most licensure related transactions on the Internet (http://www.doe.mass.edu/). Within ELAR, individuals may apply for new licenses, renew Professional licenses, check licensure status, edit personal information, and more.

Types of Licenses:

• Temporary – valid for 1 year of employment; cannot be extended or renewed; for experienced teachers from another state. Requires 3 years teaching under a valid out-of-state license; possession of a valid educator license/certificate from another state/jurisdiction that is comparable to at least an Initial license in Massachusetts.
• Provisional – valid for 5 years of employment and cannot be extended or renewed. Requires a Bachelor’s Degree; passing score(s) on Massachusetts Test for Educator Licensure (MTEL); seeks a license as a core academic teacher and does not hold the Sheltered English Immersion Endorsement (SEI).
• Preliminary – valid for 5 years of employment; for people who have not completed an Approved Educator Preparation Program. Requires a Bachelor’s Degree; passing score(s) on Massachusetts Test for Educator Licensure (MTEL); additional coursework for some licenses.
• Initial – valid for 5 years of employment (may be extended one time for five additional years of employment); requires a Bachelor’s Degree; passing score(s) on MTEL; the Sheltered English Immersion Endorsement (SEI); completion of an Educator Preparation Program.
• Professional – valid for 5 calendar years and renewable every 5 years thereafter. Requires 3 years of employment under an Initial license; completion of a Teacher Induction Program and 50 hours of mentoring beyond the induction program.

A personnel folder for each present and former employee is maintained in the Human Resource Office.  The Superintendent/designee will be the official custodian for personnel files and will have overall responsibility for maintaining and preserving the confidentiality of the files within the provisions of the law.  Each employee has the right, upon written request, to review the contents of his/her own personnel file.  Records cannot be removed from the Human Resource office; however, employees who wish to obtain copies of documents contained in their personnel file must first submit a written request with the Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations.

Employees have an obligation to report any change of name, address, telephone number or emergency contact must be sent to the Human Resource Office.

Statewide Applicant Fingerprint Identification System (SAFIS) 

Weston Public Schools shall have access to and shall obtain all criminal offender record information prior to employment from the criminal history systems board of any prospective employee or intern, who may have direct and unmonitored contact with children, including any individual who regularly provides school related transportation to children and all contractors hired by the district.  To schedule an appointment with MorphoTrust USA™, please go to www.IdentoGo.com.  Fingerprints are taken by appointment only.  The district code for Weston Public Schools is 03300000.  The fee is $55 for staff who hold a position which requires a DESE license and $35 for those who hold positions that do not require a DESE license. You can pay with a credit card while online or pay by check at the time of your appointment. (Cash is not accepted)  Please note that the Weston Public Schools may make employment decisions based on SAFIS information.  Click here to learn more about SAFIS.

Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) 

Weston Public Schools shall have access to and shall obtain all criminal offender record information every three years from the criminal history systems board of any prospective employee or volunteer of the school department, who may have direct and unmonitored contact with children, including any individual who regularly provides school related transportation to children and all contractors hired by the district.  Weston Public Schools is also required by law to obtain and review the criminal offender record information of all current employees at least every three years.  Please note that the Weston Public Schools may make employment decisions based on CORI information.

W-4

The W-4 form is used so that an employer can withhold the correct Federal Income Tax from an employee’s wages.  W-4 forms may be revised as necessary.

M-4

The M-4 form is used so that an employer can withhold Massachusetts Income Tax from an employee’s wages.  If the employee claims the same number of exemptions for Massachusetts and Federal Income Taxes, only the W-4 needs to be completed.

I-9

The Immigration Reform and Control Act legally mandates that U.S. employers verify employment eligibility status (I-9) of newly hired employees and make it unlawful for employers to knowingly hire or continue to employ unauthorized workers.

Direct deposit saves time, eliminates lost, stolen, or forged checks, and an employee’s money is deposited even if an employee is away on payday.  Direct Deposit allows the Town to credit an employee’s net pay to his/her account and to correct any over or under deposits to an employee’s account.  The initiation of Direct Deposit takes two payroll cycles after receipt of the authorization form.  An employee will receive a Direct Deposit Statement verifying the amount of the deposit on each payday.  To change banks or accounts, an employee will need to fill out a new authorization form.  Contact Payroll at 781-786-5262 for forms or further information.

Administrators, teachers, and administrative assistants are paid on a semi-monthly basis.  Paychecks are distributed on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month.  Custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, aides and paraprofessionals, and learning assistants are paid on a weekly basis.  Payroll checks are sent to the employees’ corresponding buildings when school is in session.  All checks, whether direct deposit or live, are mailed when school buildings are closed for vacations, holidays, and/or inclement weather.

To sign up for the “RetireeListserv”, click here.

Each school district in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is mandated to provide annual training on topics affecting the safety, civil rights, and emotional well-being of the students whom we serve, as outlined by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Each module includes

• a short introduction
• documentation (Web page, PowerPoint, or video)
• a review quiz or sign off
• optional additional material.

Review the documentation (PowerPoint, policies, videos,etc.) contained under each module and complete the online quiz or sign off. Quiz attempts may be repeated.  It should take between 5-30 minutes for each module. You can complete them all at once, or one module at a time.  Faculty and staff will be provided access to the moodle site to complete the regulatory training.  All modules should be completed by October 1st.

For Employees:

Appropriate Uses: The Weston Public Schools (“WPS”) information technology (“IT”) resources shall be used in a manner consistent with the educational mission as well as providing citizens with better and more efficient services. The user shall show respect of the shared resource, software, intellectual property rights, ownership of information and system security. Professional behavior and means of communication are expected. Use contrary to this policy or rules is unacceptable and prohibited.

Prohibited Uses: Each WPS employee is responsible for his/her actions involving information technology and his/her computer files, passwords and accounts. Examples of prohibited use of school IT include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Any use that violates any federal, state or local law or regulation, including copyright laws, or violates a School Committee policy;
2. Any use to harass, discriminate, threaten, defame, demean or intimidate;
3. Any use that involves material or language that is profane, obscene, fraudulent, offensive, sexually explicit or sexually suggestive, or vulgar;
4. Any use for private financial gain, advertising, or solicitation purposes;
5. Conducting private business;
6. Fundraising for any non-school sponsored purpose, whether non-profit or for-profit;
7. Downloading, using or copying software in violation of a license agreement or copyright;
8. Infringing on intellectual property rights;
9. Connecting any device not owned and managed by the WPS to the network (other than the “Open” wireless network);
10. Obtaining confidential information about student and/or their families for non-school related activities or sharing confidential information about students or WPS employees for non-school related activities;
11. Wasteful use of the schools IT resources by, among other things, sending mass mailings or chain letters, excessive printing, spending excessive amounts of time on the Internet, or otherwise creating unnecessary network traffic. For the purposes of this section “excessive amounts of time” is time that interferes with the employee’s official duties and responsibilities;
12. Revealing one’s password to anyone else, using another’s password, or pretending to be someone else when sending information over the school network;
13. Forgery or attempted forgery;
14. Gaining or attempting to gain unauthorized access to any computer or network;
15. Any misuse or disruption of school IT, including intentional physical misuse or damage, or any breach or attempt to breach the security features of school IT;
16. Any communication that represents personal views as those of the schools or that could be misinterpreted as such;
17. Any communication that violates generally accepted rules of electronic mail or computer etiquette and/or professional conduct;
18. Posting pictures, audio, or video of school personnel, students, or school related activities to the Internet without the permission of administration, faculty, and the parents of all students involved; and
19. Failure to report a breach of school IT security to the Director of Information Technology and School Libraries.

WPS employees who need further clarification or have a question should seek guidance from their
building Principal and/or the Director of Information Technology and School Libraries.

Privacy: The use of school IT resources varies greatly from personal home use. All actions including, but not limited to, information stored, accessed, viewed or written are logged and accessible by the Administration. The WPS has the right to monitor, quarantine, backup, move, archive and/or delete, and access all electronic files, local or remote, on systems managed by the district. WPS employees
should have no expectation or guarantee of privacy when using the school’s IT resources whether their use takes place during or outside working hours.

All actions performed by WPS employees in regards to the schools’ IT resources are legally discoverable and could be subpoenaed by a court of law.

Data Confidentiality: Some WPS employees, as part of their jobs, have access to confidential information such as personal data about identifiable individuals. WPS employees are expected to use appropriate judgement and caution in communications concerning students and staff to ensure personally identifiable information remains confidential. WPS employees are strictly prohibited from acquiring access to and/or disseminating such confidential information unless access to and/or dissemination is authorized and required by their jobs.

Resources, such as websites, blogs, wikis, assessments, etc., used or created as part of an employee’s responsibilities with the WPS should be known by and assessable by the appropriate administrator (Department Head, Director, Principal, or other District Administrator) and pre-approved by the Director of IT for continuity, safety, and liability. Resources provided by the WPS are always preferred to external options unless none are available.

Email and the Public Records Law: Email messages concerning official school business are generally considered public record information that is subject to disclosure under the Massachusetts public records law. [G.L. c. 66 section 10; G.L. c. 4, s. 7 (26)]

Documents prepared in anticipation of litigation or to reply to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) should not be disclosed without prior approval from the Superintendent.

Etiquette: Use of all communications (electronic or written) reflect upon the Town of Weston and Weston Public Schools. WPS employees should communicate in a professional manner with proper spelling and grammar. Modeling for students is expected of all staff in and outside of the classroom. Be mindful of your use of social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) as parents, students, and community members, rightfully or not, may conduct their own search of you. Such searches may result in discovery of personal postings and/or and your comments made about work, fellow faculty/staff, and/or students. Therefore, WPS employees are held to a higher standard of conduct that reflects on your reputation and that of WPS.

Supervisors may, in their discretion, require that work-related e-mail messages be approved as to form and content prior to dissemination.

Responsibility for Laptops Issued to Faculty and Staff: An employee who has been issued a laptop is responsible for the laptop at all times in school and outside of school. There should be no expectation that stolen or damaged laptops will be replaced with similar equipment. Negligent or excessive damage to WPS equipment may result in repair/replacement charges. Only software with appropriate licenses owned by WPS can be installed on the laptop.

Responsibility for Unauthorized Charges, Costs or Illegal Uses: WPS assumes no responsibility for any unauthorized charges made by WPS employees, including but not limited to credit card purchases, subscriptions, long distance telephone charges, equipment and line costs, or for any illegal use of its computers, such as copyright violations.

Disclaimer on Liability: WPS assumes no responsibility for any loss or corruption of data resulting from the use of the schools IT resources.

Violation of the Policy: Violation of any portion of this policy may result in disciplinary and/or legal action, and/or including possible suspension or dismissal.

WESTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS GBEE-REGULATION
March 2010