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Week 1: August 17 - August 21
TOPIC 1: TOILETING REQUESTS
Q: Can I be required to change a student’s diaper or pull-up?
A: ETA’s position is no. Indiana law provides important protections for teachers and other school employees when it comes to hands-on sanitary care.
Under IC 34-30-14-1, a school or school board may not require a teacher or other school employee who is not employed as a school nurse or physician to provide services that require the employee to place their hands on a student for therapeutic or sanitary purposes.
The law also states that a teacher or other covered employee may not be disciplined for refusing to provide those services.
Full diapering or pull-up changing is hands-on sanitary care.
Based on the language of IC 34-30-14-1, ETA’s position is that teachers and other covered school employees cannot be required to perform full diaper or pull-up changes.
Q: Does this protection apply only to classroom teachers?
A: No. The statute says a “teacher or other school employee” who is not employed as a school nurse or physician. This protection is not limited to the classroom teacher of record.
Q: What if toileting assistance is written into a student’s IEP or other plan?
A: The student’s needs still must be met. If a student’s IEP or other required plan calls for toileting or personal-care assistance, EVSC is responsible for making sure those services are provided and appropriately staffed.
The fact that a student requires the service does not, in ETA’s view, eliminate the protections provided to teachers and other school employees under IC 34-30-14-1.
This is not about allowing a child to remain in a soiled diaper or pull-up. No one wants that. It is about making sure the student receives the care they need while EVSC also follows Indiana law regarding who may be required to provide that care.
Q: What if I want to help a student with toileting?
A: You may choose to help. Nothing in ETA’s guidance is intended to tell a teacher who voluntarily wants to assist a student that they cannot do so.
However, please be careful. Volunteering to provide toileting assistance is different from being required to provide it as part of your job assignment.
Make sure you understand the student’s care plan, the procedures you are expected to follow, and any training or safety protocols involved before volunteering to provide this type of personal care.
Most importantly, your willingness to help should not be interpreted as an obligation—or create the expectation that you or another teacher must provide that care in the future.
Q: What should I do if I am told that changing a student is part of my assignment?
A: Don’t get into an argument with anyone who tells you this. Contact ETA.
If you are told that you are expected or required to perform full diapering, pull-up changing, or similar hands-on toileting care, contact President Lori Young so ETA can address the situation with the appropriate EVSC administrator.
There is a difference between choosing to assist a student and being told that providing full hands-on sanitary care is a required part of your job assignment.
Bottom line: A student’s toileting needs must be addressed—but teachers and other covered school employees also have rights under Indiana law.
TOPIC 2: ETA TEA - DECAF
Q: OK. What is the decaffeinated tea about, Young?
A: Well, since you asked . . .
I, Lori Young, have heard that ISTA is planning a spread featuring some of our ISTA Aspiring Educators who are currently student teaching!
But wait—there’s more!
They’re also interested in getting some action shots of ETA members doing what you do best—working with your students in your classrooms! They would like to have the photos taken by mid-October, so you may be hearing more from me very soon.
Could some of our own ETA members and future educators end up featured by ISTA? I certainly hope so!
See? No scandal. No drama. Just a little decaffeinated ETA tea that was too good not to spill.
Bottom line: I’ll keep you posted!
TOPIC 3: HOME EMAILS
Q: Why did my Association Rep ask me for my home email address?
A: We ask all ETA members to provide a personal email address for two important reasons:
1. Political communications.
There are certain types of political communications that ETA cannot legally send using EVSC-owned resources—including your EVSC email account, school-owned computers, or the EVSC network. Having your personal email allows ETA to communicate this information with members appropriately without using school resources.
2. It’s our fail-safe.
Right now, we send the Weekly Wrap-Up and other ETA communications to your EVSC email. But if there is ever a time when ETA is no longer permitted to use EVSC email to communicate with members, we don’t want to lose our connection with you. Your personal email gives us a secure, reliable way to continue delivering the Weekly Wrap-Up and other important ETA information.
Q: What if I don’t want to receive political communications from ETA?
A: Don’t worry—we’ve got you covered. The $24 Guaranteed Options contribution is voluntary. If you choose not to participate, you ask your building-level AR for the waiver form, complete it, and return it to the AR. The AR will turn it into ETA. ETA uses that information to make sure you do not receive the political communications associated with Guaranteed Options.
Providing ETA with your personal email address does not mean you are agreeing to receive political emails. We still want your personal email on file so we have a reliable way to communicate important Association information with you if EVSC email is ever unavailable to us.
Bottom line: Your home email keeps you connected to ETA. Your Guaranteed Options choice determines whether you receive those political communications.
Week 1: August 6 - August 14
TOPIC 1: MEETINGS WITH DR. HOOVER
Q. Does the ETA President have monthly meetings with the Superintendent this year?
A. Yes. Dr. Hoover and your ETA President Lori Young will be meeting monthly. Meetings occur on Thursdays at 3 pm unless otherwise noted.
Meeting Schedule:
TOPIC 2: Dues
Q. Do you have any information about our dues?
A. Yes. This link has the information on it you are looking for.
TOPIC 3: Weekly Wrap-ups
Q. Is ETA President Lori Young planning to send out Weekly Wrap-ups?
A. Yes. Your ETA President is planning to send out Weekly Wrap-ups. She is planning to send them out on Thursday evenings unless circumstances prevent her from doing so.
TOPIC 4: Duty Free Time
Q. What does Indiana law say about daily duty free time?
A. Indiana Code 20-28-10-19 requires each teacher’s daily working schedule to include at least 30 minutes of duty-free time between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. The law technically calls this “daily free time” rather than a “duty-free lunch.” In most schools, however, this protected time is provided during the teacher’s lunch period.
Q. What does “duty-free” mean?
A. “Duty-free” means just that—free of duties. You should not be assigned teaching, student supervision, meetings, class coverage, or other work responsibilities during this protected time.
Q. Is this 30-minute duty-free period the same as my lunch?
A. In most Indiana school corporations, yes. A teacher’s lunch period is typically when the legally required duty-free time is provided. What matters under Indiana law is that teachers receive at least 30 minutes free of duties between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Q. What if my duty-free time is interrupted by a student issue, meeting, or other responsibility?
A. If you are required to supervise students, attend a meeting, cover a class, or perform another assigned responsibility during your protected time, that time is no longer “free of duties.” Talk with your principal about how your schedule can be adjusted to ensure you receive the duty-free time required by Indiana law.
Q. Can my administrator assign me to cover a class during my duty-free time if we’re short-staffed?
A. Your legally protected duty-free time is supposed to be free of assigned duties. Routine staffing shortages, class coverage, meetings, or other responsibilities should not take the place of the duty-free time required by Indiana law.
PLEASE NOTE: ETA understands that a true emergency may occasionally require everyone to step in and help. However, routine staffing shortages or scheduling problems should not become “emergencies” that regularly interfere with a teacher’s legally protected duty-free time.
Q. My administrator asked if I would mind eating lunch from 9:45 a.m.–10:15 a.m. to make the building schedule work. I really don’t mind. Is that a problem?
A. Yes. While wanting to help make the building schedule work is understandable, 9:45–10:15 a.m. does not provide 30 minutes of duty-free time between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Only the 15 minutes from 10:00–10:15 fall within the time required by law.
This isn’t a protection an individual teacher should be asked to give up to make a building schedule work. The daily schedule should be arranged so every teacher receives the duty-free time required by Indiana law.
Q. What should I do if I’m not getting my legally protected duty-free time?
A. Start by talking directly with your principal. It may be a scheduling oversight that can be corrected quickly.
If the problem isn’t resolved, contact your building-level Association Representative. Your AR can follow up with the principal and, if necessary, contact ETA President Lori Young for assistance.
Before ETA contacts EVSC Human Resources, Lori will check in with you and your AR to make sure the appropriate building-level steps have been taken and to gather the information needed to address the concern.
Remember: Indiana law requires at least 30 minutes of duty-free time between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. each day. This protection applies to every teacher.
TOPIC 5: Planning Period
Q. Are Indiana teachers guaranteed a daily personal planning period?
A. No. Indiana law does not currently guarantee teachers a daily personal planning period. In 2011, the Indiana General Assembly removed the statutory protection for teacher planning time. Today, whether teachers receive a personal planning period—and how that time may be scheduled or used—is generally determined at the local level.