I hope you are doing well as we wind down the school year. Spring is here and I would like to share some important year-end information with you. It will be helpful for new and returning members alike.

I appreciate your hard work this school year. The work that we do behind the scenes to support our students is integral to their future success. Thank you for all that you do to make a difference in your students' lives and school community.

If you have any questions, please email them to me. I will intermittently look at my email during the vacation. Have a safe and restful summer!

In solidarity,

Rosemarie Thompson
RThompson [at] uft [dot] org (RThompson[at]uft[dot]org)
 

June 30 is our last day of work and the deadline to complete IPRs

Our last workday of the 2024–25 school year is Monday, June 30. It is also the deadline to complete individual performance reviews (IPRs) for each of our students in grades 6 through 12 in STARS.

The New York State Education Department requires us to complete IPRs to reflect each student's educational progress and career plans. Prior to this new regulation, we used the Guidance Review Card to record student progress at the end of each school year. You may use the card again as a model, but all of your IPRs must be recorded in STARS.

Excessing

When a school reduces the size of its faculty for any reason, staff in a particular title or license area may be excessed. According to the DOE-UFT contract, you must be informed in writing no later than June 15 that you have been excessed, although it is possible to hear later in the summer.

If you have been excessed, pay close attention to support staffing among school counselors and social workers at your site. Our existing arbitration agreement ensures that full-time school counselors will not be excessed first. If excessing takes place at your school, please review our arbitration agreement to ensure that it happens properly across titles.

You should also register on the Open Market Transfer System to provide updated contact information, access a list of current vacancies throughout the city and apply to any or all of them in your license area.

If you have any questions or feel that you have been wrongly excessed, please email me. For more information, you can read the UFT's frequently asked questions about excessing.

Open Market Transfer System is open

The DOE's Open Market Transfer System gives UFT members the opportunity to apply for a position at a different school. You can apply via the DOE's online portal, which is open until Thursday, Aug. 7.

The vacancies posted on the DOE website change as positions are filled and principals add new openings, so it's a good idea to check regularly. More vacancies are listed after principals receive their school budgets for the 2025–26 school year.

For more information, read the Open Market Transfer System Q&A on the UFT website.

Annual performance review for all school counselors

This year, we'll continue to be rated "S" or "U" in our evaluations. Your payroll secretary should access the EIS Web Rating Form System to update online rating forms for school counselors. The EIS rating system will close at the end of June. If you receive a "U" rating and you'd like to file an appeal, you must contact me and your district representative.

You should receive your end-of-year rating sheet from your principal or supervisor before the end of the school year. If you do not, please reach out to me.

Contact your district rep if you are pressured to sign an extension of probation

Probationary employees whose principals want to extend their probation do not have to sign the extension of probation immediately. Members have a right to have one of the union's lawyers look it over. In fact, every extension of probation should be submitted to the UFT for a NYSUT attorney to review before a member makes the decision to sign or not. Please contact your district rep if you have received an extension of probation or if your principal urges you to sign the extension without the proper time for it to be reviewed.

Employees must give 30 days' notice before resigning

Resigning DOE employees must give at least 30 calendar days' notice. When you resign or retire and have CAR days, please fill out the OP44 Application for Termination Pay and submit it to your school payroll secretary.

Recently, chapter leaders have reported that principals are asking members to add the word "irrevocable" to their letters of resignation. This is unnecessary. UFT members have a contractual right to withdraw their resignation at a later date should they want to return to the DOE.

Please call the UFT at 212-311-6311 if you need assistance.

Official school files

Throughout the school year, members apply for “per session” activities conducted either before school, after school, on the weekend or holidays, or during the summer. Upon completing two consecutive years of satisfactory service in the same activity, you gain “retention rights,” giving you priority for hiring in future years in the same activity. For more information, read the UFT's FAQ.

Graduation

Throughout the school year, members apply for “per session” activities conducted either before school, after school, on the weekend or holidays, or during the summer.  See the guidelines.

2025-26 school year calendar

The academic calendar for the 2025-26 school year is available to view.