Level Change Form/Waiver Request: Teacher/Nurse/Associate

Send Completed form to:

Department of Human Resources

Educational Leadership and Support Center: 2500 Edgewood Road NW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52405

Directions: Employees requesting a salary level change must complete Part I below. A signed hard copy must be sent to Human Resources. If the employee’s transcript(s) and/or other verification of completion of the coursework are unavailable by September 15, he/she MUST complete Part II on or before September 15.

Part I: Level Change Request

I, ______, request a salary level change. By signing this request, I verify that I have read and understand the attached “Important Level Change Information” document and am adhering the guidelines contained therein. I understand that if my transcripts are not available on or before September 15, I will then complete Part II below and provide additional data that verifies, per the discretion of the Executive Director of Human Resources: a.) completion of said coursework/degrees prior to the start of the current school year per the guidelines in “Important Level Change Information” and, b) the inability to provide the transcript(s) is due to circumstances outside the control of the employee.

I will be making level change

From ______

To ______.

I have requested official transcripts from:

Signature Today’s Date

By signing the Level Change Request, the employee verifies that he/she completed all coursework prior to September 1st of the yearin which the level change is being sought and that he/she has read and understands the “Important Level Change Information” data. (Please contact the Human Resources office if there are any questions.)

Current Assignment

Note: Upon verification and approval by the CRCSD Board of Education of the requested level change salary adjustment, a revised contract will be sent to the employee. A revised contract will be sent to the employee’s home address if school is not in session.

Part II: Waiver Request Form

Directions: If a transcript(s) or other verification of completed coursework is not available on or before September 15, the employee must complete a request for waiver of the September 15 deadline. By signing the waiver request, the employee verifies that 1. the transcript(s) or other verification were NOT available prior to September 15 due to circumstances outside his/her control AND that 2. he/she understands that if the transcript(s) or other verification are not in the possession of the office of human resources on or before November 1 for educational credits (or February 1 for teachers with National Board Certification), the level change will not apply to the current school year.

I, ______, request a waiver of the September 15 deadline. I understand the granting of this waiver is per the sole discretion of the Executive Director/designee.

Coursework completed for which verification that is not currently available:

Explanation as to why waiver is requested:

Signature Today’s Date

Human Resources office use only: / Signature of Executive Director of HR / Date:
_____ waiver granted
_____ waiver not granted

Important Level Change Information

  1. The credit/course must not be a duplicate of any credit/course for which one has previously received credit.
  2. Credit/course attendance and work may not be done during assigned work time, unless using one’s personal day or unpaid leave with prior approval from the Executive Director of Human Resources. (Remember that neither unpaid nor personal leave will be granted during the first 10 or the last 10 working days in any school year.) Assigned work time INCLUDES the eight hours of professional development (contract Article III) and/or any workshops/credit/courses underwritten by the district. The District must not have contributed to the cost of any tuition or supplies to facilitate taking the class. (e.g. one cannot be on professional leave while earning level credit; one CAN be on personal leave or unpaid leave, if approved)
  3. Credit/course pre-approval from the Executive Director of Human Resources is urged.
  4. Prior pre-approval from the Executive Director of Human Resources may be sought for student teaching in one’s own classroom and for being awarded level change credit for this credit/coursework.
  5. Only credit/courses that are directly related to one’s present teaching assignment with the Cedar RapidsCommunitySchool District will be accepted. Credit/courses that relate to a Schedule C/extracurricular assignment alone will NOT be accepted. Credit/courseworktaken to obtain an administrative degree has been determined to be related to all teachers’ assignments.
  6. Credit/courses must be offered through an accredited university, college, or an entity with the right to offer certification credit in Iowa.
  7. Professional growth credits may be used for a level adjustment only if they may be used to recertify one’s teaching license with the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners. This means they are offered by a state of Iowa-approved recertification credit provider (such as an AEA or the CRCSD recertification credit credit/courses). The CRCSD is one of only two school districts in Iowa that is licensed to offer professional growth credit, so credit/courses taken from our district will count toward both level changes and recertifying one’s license. It is important to know that some otherwise accredited colleges/universities offer professional development credit that is NOT accepted the Board of Educational Examiners and thus may not be used for level change credit. (Advice: be very wary of any credit/course offered by any institution that is advertised for a lesser rate than graduate credit or that is promoted as “professional credits” or “graduate level credit” rather than graduate credit.)
  8. All credit/coursework for a level change must be completed on or before September 1st of the year in which the level change is sought. This means that the provider institution must officially record the credit/course or degree on or before September 1st. Turning in homework or otherwise completing the requirements to complete a class will NOT be considered as meeting the district timelines UNLESS the institution lists the credit/course on an official transcript as completed/taken prior to September 1st. (for example, if one is taking an independent study credit/course and one turns in all work in August, but the institution shows the credit was granted in the fall term—which goes from August 1 until September 15th--then the credit/course will not be counted as completed by September 1st.)
  9. A Salary Level Change form must be completed by the employee and submitted to Human Resources before September 15th of the school year for which the level change is being requested. The form can be found on the District Intranet.
  10. If transcripts are not available before September 15th of the school year in which oneis requesting the change, one must complete a Waiver for Salary Level Change and submit it to Human Resources before September 15th. The waiver forms are found at the bottom of the Salary Level Changeform.
  11. An official transcript(s) must be provided on or before November 1st of the contract year. The only exception to this deadline is for those achieving National Board Certification. As one does not receive verification that one has earned the certification until December or January, one must complete a Waiver for Salary Level Change form and then, upon receiving and submitting to the Human Resources office official verification in December or January, one may earn a level change retroactive back to the start of the school year.
  12. Level change, as for all changes in compensation, must receive board approval. The Department of Human Resources typically brings to the board level changes one time in the month of October. Since this means that level change requests are approved after the start of the work year, the salary increases will be applied to employees’ remaining pay periods in a manner that provides them the increase for the entire year. (The increase will be spread over fewer pay periods but will be larger than if spread out starting at the beginning of the year.)
  13. A failure to adhere to deadlines will mean that a level change will not be granted for that contract year. However, one may reapply for a level change the following year.
  14. It is the employee’s sole responsibility to see that all application materials including transcript(s) arrive within the prescribed timelines. It is recommended that the employee have his/her transcript(s) sent to his/her residence and then personally deliver it/them to Human Resources. In this way, the employee knows if the transcript has been delivered within the prescribed timelines.
  15. The salary percentage increase for completing additional credit/coursework is, per the master contract with the CREA are:
  16. 4.5% of one’s salary for the new school year for moving from BA to BA+12, and from BA+12 to BA+24.
  17. 5.0% for moving from BA+24 to MA, MA to MA+15, MA+15 to MA+30, and MA+30 to MA+45.
  18. 10.0% for achieving a PhD and 5% for achieving National Board Certification.
  19. Beginning in 2006-07, employees who are credited with the maximum eligible credits at BA+24, MA+45 and PHD have an opportunity to earn an additional salary percentage increases for new hours of approved credit/credit/coursework. To be “new”, the hours must be taken after June 8, 2006. Employees in the BA+24 level may earn two additional 2% salary increases. 12 new credit hours are necessary for each of these 2% increases in the BA+24 level. Employees at the MA+45 level may earn three additional 3% salary increases and employees with a PhD may earn an unlimited number of 5% salary increases. 15 new credit hours are necessary for the salary increases at the MA+45 and PhD levels.
  20. The TOTAL for moving from BA+24 to MA, no matter how many increments, is 5%. In calculating this salary percentage increase for moving from BA+24 to MA, one could earn 2% for going from BA+24 to BA+36, then another 2% for moving from BA+36 to BA+48, then 1% for moving from BA+48 to MA OR one could earn 2% for going from BA+24 to BA+36 and then 3% for moving from BA+36 to MA.

NOTE: Decisions regarding the applicability of any course toward level credit/course is the sole discretion of the Executive Director of Human Resources/designee.