Contract Programs

(Definition, Policy, Procedure for Setting Up Course, How to Create a Course, Following up on

Created Course, Duplicating Course, Enrolling Students in Course, Dropping Student from Course)

Definition

A. Contract Programs (CP) refers to the process by which a learning experience such as a CP course, tutoring, or a Group Educational Activity (GEA) is set up in WEBfiles

B. It is either a CP course which a school instructor or a vendor is providing for a group of only our charter school students, or it is a Group Educational Activity (GEA).

C. No sectarian or denominational instruction may be given in any course/activity paid for by the school

D. The initiation of CP Courses/GEAs are based on the student’s educational needs.

E. CP courses can only run for the duration of one semester, and if desired, may be set up for the next semester.

F. To learn more about GEA’s please go to Group Educational Activity.

G. CP courses, HQT courses, tutoring, and GEAs are posted in the same location in WEBfiles.

Types of Courses:

Courses may be restricted or unrestricted.

· Restricted Courses: If the course request for a student falls under #4 in the Restricted Course Policy and needs additional requirements, it may NOT be set up as a CP course, but must be submitted as Service PO. Those particular activities may only be done with a school approved commercial vendor. If it is a restricted course that can be set-up as a CP course, be sure to follow the information on the documents linked above.

Student information:

1. A student is officially enrolled in and may attend a course after the office has received the ES’s approval for the dollar amount stated in ES WEBfiles for the course. (The ESs Instructional Funding budget will be encumbered for that student.)

2. After enrolling in a course in Webfiles, the ES must print a copy of his/her ES Webfiles screen showing the ES approval. The student will give this paper approval to the instructor of the course, who will then allow the student to attend the course.

3. Once a student is officially enrolled in a class, he is committed to paying for one calendar month's worth of that CP course at a time

Times and locations of courses

· Courses may be held in a variety of locations. The school may request proof of insurance.

· Courses may be held on Monday through Friday. Make up courses may be scheduled as needed. Courses may not be scheduled exclusively on weekends, holidays, school breaks, prior to the first day of school or continue after the last day of school unless approved by IEM.

Course Instructors:

· Course instructors must be approved by the ES setting up the course prior to instruction and the instructor must complete the employment or vendor process before he/she may provide instruction to students enrolled in this charter school.

· Instructors will be given a copy of Employee Instructor Policy. Even if the instructor was an employee of the school before the contract was received, the beginning date of the class can not be before the office gets the contract back from the instructor. That date is the official approval date for that course.

· Instructors with relatives in their classes must have a least an equal number of enrolled school students as relatives in order for the class to be approved.

· Instructors must follow Conflict of Interest Protocol .

ES as CP Instructor

· An ES who is also a school CP instructor may not be paid from the Instructional Funding account they control for their own children or other children who reside in their household. But, the ESs children may attend the class they teach for free, ordering any required materials separately on a PO for the child. Be sure to take this into consideration when stating the maximum number of students allowed in a CP course.

· An ES may not require any of the students on ES student list to enroll in the CP courses they instruct. If an ES feels that a student would benefit from one of the above activities, and the parent disagrees, the ES can only require it of them if approved in writing by the ES's Advisor. (This does not limit a parent’s ability to choose to participate in any of these situations).

· An ES must follow Conflict of Interest Protocol .

Class Size

· The instructor may state the minimum and maximum number of students they will allow in their courses.

· The instructor’s contract for each course will be based on a per student rate, times the maximum amount of students they will accept. The school will only pay the per student rate for each student actually enrolled in that course each calendar month.

· An instructor may cancel a class with 5 days written notice to Contract Programs that falls below their stated minimum number of students.

Cost of Class

· The ES who sets up the course will identify the instructor’s knowledge and training related to the subject the instructor will be teaching.

· CP courses will be set-up based on a per student rate.

· The 15 % employment costs for classified instructors will be included in the per student rate that is encumbered in the ES’s budget for the course.

· The encumbered cost for a course may be less than that approved by the ES for their student, but never may more be deducted from an ES’s if account for a student for a course than what the ES has approved in ES webfiles.

· A separate amount may be encumbered in the ES IF account for materials for a course and a course facility fee. That amount will be charged out evenly over students taking the course and must be stated in the signed contract with the instructor.

Materials for courses may be obtained by:

· The ES: for his/her individual student. He/she submits a purchase order and the individual charge for these material will be made to the ES’s IF account as with any other student order.

· Purchased by the instructor: The funds will be reimbursed to the instructor when the receipt has been sent to the office. A list of these materials must be submitted with a course set-up worksheet.

Important Information

· Books are the property of the school they were purchased from and must be returned to the school at the end of the course. Instructors must see that materials are returned to the school at the end of the course.

· Under no circumstances may a contract program course begin or will an instructor be paid for any classes taught prior to a signed contract with the school. A contract between the school and the instructor of a course will be in effect after:

1. the course has been educationally approved by the ES who set up the course.

2. the service contract has been signed and returned to the office

3. the ES for each student has approved enrollment and funds encumbrance in ES WEBfiles

· For a group educational activity that will be held outside of the normal course location, an Educational Activity Permission Slip form must be sent for each student to their ES prior to the PO/Check being released. (Follow instructions on the form)

· Anyone who will be providing transportation to an Educational Activity for students other than their own children must submit a Volunteer/Employee Vehicle Usage-Transporting Students form to their ES. (Follow instructions on the form)

Cancelling/dropping student from course

· A course may be cancelled for safety reasons or if the instructor is not fulfilling their contract with 5 days written notice.

· A student may drop from a CP course, but their instructional funding will be committed to paying for the rest of that calendar month unless the course is officially cancelled.

· The ES is responsible to make sure that the CP instructor is notified when one of their students drops from a class. A phone call to them is sufficient. If they find that an instructor has billed for that student, after they have been notified of the drop, e-mail ap@ieminc.org and the charge will be adjusted.

For Sky Mountain Procedure, please click here

OG/SS Procedure for CP course

1. The ES whose student’s parent has requested the CP course is responsible for setting up the course. The ES needs to contact the instructor before completing the WEBfiles form.

2. Gather information to complete Course set-up.

3. The Contract Programs Course Request Form, will assist you in gathering required information, such as:

· Instructor’s knowledge and training level for the specific course that is being set up,

· Information about the course so that he/she will be able to select the growth area, school standards, and state standards applicable to this course from the drop down list

· Specific elements the course will contain for entry into the Course LR info box

4. Create the new CP course; be sure to identify yourself, the ES creating the CP course as the Contact Person

· If this is a new instructor, Vendor Relations will contact the instructor and send him/her the employment packet

· If this is a returning instructor, the course will be posted on WEBfiles.

5. Go into WEBfiles and add your students to the course; be sure to approve their participation in the course

6. ESs IF account is encumbered for the cost of the entire course

7. Office will mail a contract to the instructor

8. Instructor will mail the contract back to the office

9. Office will notify instructor that he/she may begin the course

10. Instructor contacts the students and the course begins

11. Instructor teaches students and sends a rollsheet monthly to accounting to be paid

12. Accounting will mail the instructor a monthly check

13. ESs need to speak to students and parents to identify learning which occurred as well as collecting required student samples; enter (CP) when identify student taking a CP course

14. IF accounts will remain encumbered until the instructor has submitted all the required attendance forms

How to Create a new CP course

· It is important to have all the required information to create a new course request. Incomplete forms will prevent the course request from being processed. To help you identify and collect the required CP information, use Contract Programs Course Information form in the forms section of the Handbook.

· The ES who is creating the course in WEBfiles will need to speak to the instructor of the class. The ES needs to be sure how little the instructor is willing to be paid to teach the course. The maximum the instructor can be paid is determined by knowledge and training levels.

· The course set up page in WEBfiles looks like this Sample Page. Once you begin the set up in WEBfiles, you will need to have all of the information at hand in order to fill it out correctly.

· The red alert notice across the page must be resolved before the course is set up.

Directions:

· Log onto ES Web files

· Go to Create/CP Course

· Select Host School code

· Enter course title, grade level, select course type, Class Street, Class City and county. (Never put a student's name or home address in this section. Please use "student's home" in the address section, and leave the course title generic.)

· Select Growth Area for course.

· Select Instructor from drop down list

· If the instructor’s name is not on the list then complete the instructor or vendor name, phone #, and email address information. (The vendor status will show up as “approved” when the vendor is cleared to work.)

· Select Instructor Knowledge level based on their expertise in the subject matter: You will need to talk to the instructor before selecting the appropriate knowledge level for the specific course to be taught:

1. Has the instructor volunteered or worked less than 5 years in the subject he/she will be providing instruction?

2. Does the instructor have work experience between 5-10 years or have professional experience less than 10 years or have teaching/training less than 10 years?

3. Did the instructor have Special Training in the subject that he will be providing instruction? Is the instructor considered an expert in subject he/she will be teaching?

· Instructor Training Level selection is based on experience teaching or training in subject. You will need to talk to the instructor before selecting the appropriate training level for the specific course to be taught:

1. Does the instructor have less than 5 years teaching or training in subject he/she will be giving instruction?

2. Does the instructor have 5-10 years teaching or training in subject he/she will be giving instruction?

3. Does the instructor have more than 10 years with credential/degree/ or equivalent in the subject he/she will be giving instruction?

· Enter information in the drop down list stating “yes” or “no” if instructor has a current CA credential.

· Fill out Contact person, contact phone #, and contact email. The ES who is creating the CP course is the contact person for that course.

· Fill in proposed start date, start time and stop time for class, days of week for class, minimum and maximum class size for instructor. Maximum size should not be more than the facility can easily accommodate. Minimum size should be the smallest number the instructor will take to teach the class—but not less than what would be minimum wage.

· Enter the total number of classes to be taught, and the proposed per student per class rate (negotiated with the instructor). Note: If an alert comes up while entering this information, read the information about alerts in red. You will need to make adjustments before the contract can be mailed.

· Notes: Calculation Information: After entering the information for Instructor Training and Instructor Knowledge, discuss with instructor the hourly rate that he/she expects to receive.

o There is a maximum hourly rate the instructor can receive based on his/her Knowledge/Training. For example, if you entered 1 in training and Knowledge areas, the instructor will not be allowed to be paid the same amount as a credentialed teacher can be paid.

o You need to discuss how many students the instructor is willing to work with for how much money, and how few students for how little money.

· Enter the materials used for course and their total cost for entire class only if there is a charge to the class for the materials. (The instructor must submit receipts to be reimbursed for the materials).

· Enter the facility Name/ address/ phone # only if there is a charge to the class for usage of the facility.

o A Request for Certificate of Insurance must be filled out and is available through vendor relation.

o REMINDER: Facility must be an approved vendor or fill out Vendor Request Form.

o Enter the dollar amount for the total facilities cost for entire course session.

· Write any ES comments.

· ES code and ES Name are automatic

· Enroll your students’ by selecting student number from drop down list and select X in ES approval if your student has available funds for course.

· Type in ES approval date.

· Select state standards appropriate for course from drop down list.

o Click on the small bottom left-hand box and select the grade level/course in the box.

o Once the grade level/course is selected, the state standards and grade level will automatically come up.

· Enter a syllabus or other information about specific topics and activities the course will contain into the “Course LR info” box.

· This will aid ESs in writing more complete LRs for their students, and to allow ESs to make better choices about whether this course fits the needs of their students prior to enrolling them.

· Mark “Done”

Following up on CP course You created

IMPORTANT REMINDER: A course will not be approved to begin until ALL the required information has been entered on the CP Course setup page in ES Web files.

· After a course is approved (allow one month for a new vendor, and a couple weeks for a returning vendor), it will be shown in ES Web files under Search/Courses-GEAs.

· Need to know information regarding process after created course DONE:

1. There is a field on the set-up page (upper right corner) that says "Contract mailed". If there is a date in there, that means that vendor relations has sent a contract to the teacher.

2. If there is no date there, then there is a hold up in their employment packet at personnel (may still need their TB test results, etc.),

3. When the office gets the contract back from the instructor, they will mark "approved" in the status box and change the start date of the class if the start date was before the approval date.

4. Even if the instructor was an employee of the school before the contract was received, the beginning date of the class can not be before the office gets the contract back from the instructor- the course approval date.

How to duplicate a previous CP course you originally created

· Log onto ES Web files.

· Go to the course you want to duplicate

· Choose Duplicate button

· Enter information changes for the new course

· Mark “Done” button

How to enroll students to a CP and SME course with open space

Remember: No student should attend any course until it has been approved by Vendor Relations. The ES needs to let their parents know when they can and cannot attend a class that will be paid for by the school (a date after the class is approved and the instructor is ready to start). No student should be enrolled in a course that would be considered a conflict of interest. They also should only attend if there is an open space in the course for them, and they have a printed form from you for the instructor that authorizes them for the course. Attendance at any course prior to this is the responsibility of the parent and will not be paid for by the school.

1. Log onto ES Web files. Go to Search/Courses GEAs. Click start find, choose your school, and click complete find.

2. Click on the course title you wish to enroll a student in. This will take you to the page with more information and enrollment.

3. Check to see if there are any open spaces in the course. If the number in that space is 0, do not attempt to enroll a student. The course is FULL.

o Check back later, or contact the instructor to see if another course may be started.

4. If there are open spaces, click on the box under student number in the enrollment section on the bottom right of the page, and select your students name from the drop down box.

o The student’s name will fill in automatically.

o Then select the X under ES Approval. This step reserves the space for your student, and encumbers the funding.

o Without an X in this space, another ES could enroll their student ahead of yours, and yours would lose the space.

5. If the course status box shows this course as “approved”, print out the form (making sure that your student’s name is visible in the box on the bottom right) and give to your student to take with them to class to give to their instructor as proof of their enrollment and that the school will be paying for their attendance at this course. The ES may also give the form to the instructor if desired.

6. If the course status box does not yet say, “approved”, continue to check back until the course is approved. Then proceed with step #5.

7. If this course requires extra items for approval (see notes area), the ES is responsible to see that their students have completed all forms, documentation, etc. prior to giving them their attendance approval printout.

8. When enrolling a student, keep in mind that a course can run for the duration of one semester, and if the student and the ES wish to continue in the course for the next semester, the student will need to be re-enrolled.

How to drop your student from a CP course

· A student may drop from the course

· The ES must mark the Red X on the CP course page in WEBfiles prior to marking approval of funding.

· If funding has been approved, then email CP@ieminc.org to notify them of the date of drop for your student.