ARTICLE TWENTY-FOUR

PERSONNEL FOLDERS

A.  Evaluations

Employees shall receive a copy of any evaluatory statement of their work performance or conduct which is placed in their permanent personnel folder.  Employees shall be given an opportunity to answer any such evaluatory statement placed in their folder, and their written answer shall be attached to the evaluatory statement in the folder. 

B.  Counseling Memos

Effective September, 2002, supervisors may issue counseling memos.  Counseling memos are not disciplinary.  Counseling memos provide the opportunity for supervisors, in a non-disciplinary setting, to point out to employees areas of work that the supervisor believes need improvement.  Counseling memos should include the supervisor’s proposals for how such improvement may be achieved.  Any employee who receives a counseling memo may request from the supervisor either suggestions for how to improve or requests for the supervisor to model such improvement for the member.  Counseling memos are a vehicle for supportive improvement.

1.   A counseling memo may only be written to an employee to make him/her aware of a rule, regulation, policy, procedure, practice or expectation.  A counseling memo cannot include any disciplinary action or threat of disciplinary action.

a.   “Counseling Memo” must appear at the top of the memo in bold print and capital letters. At the conclusion of the memo the following must appear in bold print:  “A counseling memo is not disciplinary in any manner and cannot be used in action against an employee except to prove notice if the employee denies notice.”  If the language required in this paragraph a) is not included in the memo, it must be added.

b.   A counseling memo must be presented to an employee within one (1) month of the latest incident recounted in the memo.  The memo may only reference similar prior incidents that occurred no more than four (4) months from the date of the latest incident. 

2.   Counseling memos may not be used in any action or evaluation involving an employee in the bargaining unit (“U” rating, per session job, etc.) except to establish that the employee who denies knowledge of a rule, regulation, policy, procedure, practice or expectation was given prior notice of it, or to impeach factual testimony.

a.   Counseling memos may not be used in the rating of an employee in the bargaining unit.

b.   Counseling memos may not be referred to in, or attached to, any other letter sent to an employee for their official school file.

3.   Counseling memos may not be grieved.  Any employee who receives a counseling memo shall have the right to answer within one (1) month of receipt of the counseling memo and the answer shall be attached to the file copy of the counseling memo.

4.   All counseling memos will be permanently removed from employee’s official school files three (3) years after the latest incident referred to in the memo.

C.  False Accusations

Knowingly false accusations of misconduct against employees will not be tolerated.

If an accusation of sexual misconduct or physical abuse against an employee is found by the Board or Special Commissioner of Investigation to have been knowingly false when made, the Board will take the following actions to restore the falsely accused employee’s reputation: removing all references to the charges from the employee’s personnel file(s) and adding evidence of the unfounded nature of the charge to any Board files that may have to be maintained to satisfy other legal requirements, if any; and restoring any back pay owed with interest and, at the employee’s request, confirming to any regulatory agency the finding that the employee was falsely accused.  In addition, where the knowingly false accusation was made by a student of the employee, absent compelling and extraordinary circumstances the student will be permanently reassigned from the employee’s class.