Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Questions submitted to President Duffy by Psychologists in SESU South.

Answers provided by Bob Ammons

More questions and answers will be forthcoming.

1.         Promotional Opportunities: Why do most promotions, such as to LRE Specialist, require teaching experience?

            Since LRE Specialist is an administrative position, I assume it is administrative positions to which you refer.  Administrators are not in our bargaining unit and as such we are unable to negotiate anything regarding their qualifications.  At least one administrative position does not require teaching experience – the Senior Psychologist position.  You are at least better off than occupational and physical therapists.  They cannot get any certificated administrative position because they do not have a credential, and are therefore supervised by people without a thorough understanding of OT/PT.

2.         Work Space/Resources: A comment that psychologists should have a mandated minimum resource requirement, including an office, a computer, and privacy.

            Items such as these could be the subject of negotiations between UTLA and the District.  I understand that this is one of the three items that psychologists were able to submit directly to the negotiations package this year.  Hopefully some contract language in this area will result.

3.         Seniority/Assignments: Several people submitted questions or comments about seniority, all more or less asking why psychologists do not have it.

            Psychologists, like all certificated itinerant members, do have seniority, perhaps most importantly for lay-offs.  But, psychologists and all other members of our bargaining unit who are itinerants do not have a contractual right to choose their assignments by seniority.  My understanding is that negotiating this right is the number one item suggested for the current negotiations by psychologists and several other itinerant groups.  Hopefully, it will happen.  You should understand that the District very much regrets having given classroom teachers the limited right to request (not choose) their assignment by seniority, and it is constantly trying to limit that right even more.  Still, it is something you and all other itinerants should have.

4.         Assignments: The schools bundled together into an assignment should be no more than 20 miles apart.

            This is a problem that comes up repeatedly.  It is something that could be the subject of negotiations with the District.  Until such time as a limit on the geographic area of an assignment is negotiated, some relief may be obtained on a case by case basis.  If the reason you need such a limit has to do with a physical disability supported by a doctor’s statement, then it may be possible to obtain a reasonable accommodation.  That process can be initiated by calling the District’s reasonable accommodation office, now known as the Office of Risk Management.  The person to ask for initially is Demetrius Patrick and his phone number is (213) 241-7630.  UTLA now has a House Committee, the Capably Disabled Educators Committee, the primary purpose of which is to help UTLA members navigate the District’s reasonable accommodation process.  This Committee is developing a booklet outlining the process.  When it is ready it will be distributed widely.  You can contact Committee Chair Janis Lukstein by e-mail at Calkeypals@aol.com.

5.         Assignment List: Can copies of a list of the psychologists assigned to the various schools be provided to all psychologists?  Can we get a list of District vacancies for psychologists?

            Probably.  These are the kinds of things that might be obtained by your Article XXX Committee.  Your Article XXX Committee includes Geri Kenyon, Jan Murdock, and Linda Baldwin.  This committee is supposed to meet on a regular basis with Rene Gonzalez and other administrators to discuss and find solutions for areas of concern.  It has not been able to meet regularly this year until near the end but hopefully it will continue next year what it has started now.

6.         Supplies: We need protocols and manuals.

            This issue came up earlier this school year in South.  Someone even suggested that they might be forced to photocopy protocols.  As I pointed out in a letter to Rene Gonzalez, psychologists will never photocopy protocols because of the hazard of liability created by such an action, both for the individual and the employing district.  What psychologists will do when they are without protocols is cease assessment – they have no other choice, even though the District will be out of compliance as a result.  He responded immediately that he would ensure that South had enough protocols.  I have since heard from the individual involved that indeed such is the case.  If you cannot get them from your Specialist let me know and I will contact Rene Gonzalez again.

7.         Allocation of time: How is psychologist time allocated to schools?

            This is a question that is currently under discussion in your Article XXX Committee.  It is a complicated process and I cannot say I have a clear understanding of it as of now.  There are two ways in which schools obtain psychologist time.  One is by buying it themselves.  This part seems pretty simple.  Schools spend some of their discretionary money to buy psychologist time for the schools own purposes.  This process is out of the hands of Psyc Services, except that at least theoretically Psyc Services could say to schools that there is no psychologist time left for them to buy if the amount of time purchased by schools were to reach a level that interfered with Psyc Services’ ability to provide the basic allocation of time to schools.  And of course, Psyc Services makes the ultimate decision about which individual psychologist is “sold” to which specific school.

            The other way schools obtain psychologist time is through the basic allocation.  There is now a computer program that allocates psychologist time to each of the Units.  This allocation is based on the total number of students in the Unit.  But the allocation is adjusted based on a complicated set of factors that does take into account the number of special schools served by a Unit, as well as several other factors which are intended to adjust for any unique situations in particular units.  What all of those factors are and how they work is not yet clear to us.  Once the allocation is made to the Unit the Psyc Services Coordinator for the Unit then makes the allocation to the schools, and then makes assignments based on that allocation.  The Units receive more time than they need to cover the basic allocation and Coordinators have some flexibility in how they allocate that additional time.  How much time above the basic allocation the Units receive and exactly what options they have for allocating that time remain unclear to us.  We will continue to seek more detailed explanations of this process at the Article XXX meetings.  Rene Gonzalez has stated that he will tell the Coordinators to issue an explanation of the process to all psychologists at some point early in the next school year.  We are looking forward to this explanation and an answer to whether or not psychologists as a group in each Unit can have an impact on how the allocation is made.  Stay tuned.

8.         Logs: Why can local district 8 require more logs of psychologists than the other local districts require?

            It is a pleasure to say that this example of disparate treatment has been corrected.  Your Article XXX Committee, with back-up from President Duffy, convinced Rene Gonzalez that he had to intervene to stop the requirement of so many logs by Pat Morales.  He did intervene and I am reliably informed that the problem is fixed.

9.         Licenses: Since the District relies on the licenses of those psychologists who have them to obtain Medical reimbursement for eligible services provided by licensed psychologists, why aren’t those psychologists paid at a higher rate?

            The District will not pay you any more than it must pay you.  The same holds true for other members of our bargaining unit with licenses, such as speech therapists.  There is room for a good deal of negotiation with the District around the subject of licenses.  Areas for negotiation could include more salary and additional assistance with obtaining and renewing licenses.  If such items are not placed in the negotiations package, however, they are very unlikely to be negotiated.

10.       On-Site Hours: Does the contract allow a principal to require a psychologist to submit a log documenting work done during the “one hour of after school off-site time?”

            First of all, why is it just one hour?  Are you required to be on site longer than the teachers at the school?  You shouldn’t be.  Are you the only person of whom this log has been requested?  All members of our bargaining unit who work full-time are 8 hour employees.  If no one else at the school is required to submit such a log and if the principal has no grounds for belief that you are not working an average of at least 8 hours per day, then this sounds like inequitable treatment and might be the subject of a grievance.

            Article IX of our contract addresses the hours of our bargaining unit members.  Psychologists are covered by Article IX, Section 3.4 d (do not be fooled by Section 3.4 b, which does refer to psychologists – read on to 3.4 d).  Section 3.4 d states that psychologists “shall observe on-site hours which are to be not less than the hours observed by teachers at the site.”  Psychologists “may depart after the regular departure time for teachers and at the completion of all their on-site job obligations.” (emphasis added).  You can leave at the same time as teachers leave but you, as well as teachers, can be required to stay to carry out the duties covered by Article IX, Section 4.0.  This right was obtained by UTLA through negotiations with the District several years ago, and psychologists are the only persons paid on the special services salary schedule who have this right.

11.       Caseload: What about caseload limits for psychologists?

            This could also be a subject for negotiations with the District.  If it ever is it will be a tough negotiation because the District does not like the caseload/class-size limits that many other special education providers have.  Nevertheless caseload limits are extremely important and my belief is that psychologists and those other providers who also lack this protection should develop proposals and start pressing for them.

12.       Promotional Opportunities: Why can’t UTLA get into the contract a provision requiring the District to announce all openings for “office jobs” that provide the kind of experience needed for promotion?

            This could be the subject of negotiations.  It is not uncommon for union contracts to have this type of provision.  Before UTLA even attempts to negotiate such a provision it must be placed in the bargaining package.  It is not in the current package and to my knowledge it has not been in any previous bargaining proposals.

13.       B, P, R Basis: What is the point of working the additional days at the beginning and end of the school year, when we must hand in our files by the last day of school and cannot test future cases due to Welligent?

            These items are appropriate subjects of discussion for your Article XXX Committee.  Surely the District can see that it is its own best interest to allow you to be productive during those time periods.  Once again, your Article XXX Committee includes Geri Kenyon, Jan Murdock, and Linda Baldwin.  Suggest these items to any of them for inclusion on a future Article XXX agenda.

14.       Restoring Creativity: Given the pressure of constant deadlines and legal mandates, can UTLA do anything to restore room for creativity in our practice?

            The deadlines and mandates are not going away any time soon, if ever.  Progress toward restoration of room for creativity can be made by UTLA only in the sense that you and your colleagues are UTLA.  If you and your colleagues can develop suggestions for changes, along with a rationale for those changes and an argument that they will not damage the District’s ability to be compliant with the law, UTLA leadership can help you try to get those changes implemented.  UTLA may help with the development of these suggestions by providing resources to the developers.

            All groups within UTLA are struggling with this issue.  For example elementary teachers are saddled with the Open Court script and pacing plan.  Some individuals may have been creative and developed partial solutions.  UTLA could help by bringing those individuals together for discussions aimed at wider application of their ideas.  For this to happen for psychologists someone in your group must take the initiative.

15.       Bilingual Differential: What are the requirements for bilingual psychologists to be compensated for using their bilingual skills?

            Article XI-B of our contract spells out the requirements and compensation for bilingual psychologists.  There are a total of eight different differential amounts available, depending on an individual’s particular circumstances, ranging from a high of $5,100 per year to a low of $102 per year.  These different amounts are listed in Article XI-B, Section 3.5 of the contract.  The largest amount is available to a psychologist with a Bilingual Certificate of Assessment Competence (BCAC) earned prior to July 1, 2001, employed by the District prior to that date as well, spending 100% of her work time serving PHABAO/Cap Receiver schools, and delivering appropriate service in the primary language of EL students at least 50% of every work day.  A difference in any one of these requirements causes a reduction in the amount of the differential.  Being hired or obtaining the BCAC after June 30, 2001 reduces the differential from $5,100 to $1,020.  Each day spent working at non-PHABAO/CAP schools reduces the differential by 20%.  Actually using the students’ primary language less than 50% of the work day reduces the differential to zero.