Frequently Asked Questions
Position of Responsibility (POR) FAQs
A Position of Responsibility (POR) is a leadership role within the school and within your subject department. A department must have a minimum of 6-sections to have a POR, except in the case of a new school. A POR term is 4-years, with the exception of Interim (one year or less with quals) or Acting (one year or less, without quals) PORs which are only one year in length.
Our Collective Agreement outlines most FAQ about PORs.
Roles and Responsibilities: See L.D.2.0
POR Levels, Allowances, and Assistant POR: See L.B.4.0
APA Maximum for PORs: See L.E.2.2.1.1
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Since a POR term is only 4-years, each year, beginning in November, PORs which come due that June will be posted as vacancies. Any full time secondary teacher with the qualifications (specialist or honours specialist in one area of the subject grouping) may apply. Current PORs should be notified by their school administration. Incumbents may reapply for their POR. As a courtesy, the D16 T/OT office typically puts out a request for current PORs to contact us and indicate if they are reapplying. Those seeking a POR may also call in to find out in the incumbent is reapplying or not.
Acting PORs are members who fill the role of a POR but do not hold the qualifications. A POR vacancy must be posted multiple times before unqualified members can apply. See the current year Staffing Timelines to find out what the current number of
Board Powerpoint: Application Process and Role Expectations (2023) (BWW)
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Mutual Agreement: Teaching Outside of your Qualifications
Teacher qualifications are an indication that they have the knowledge and skills needed to provide the best possible program in a particular subject and to ensure the safety and well-being of students.
In certain circumstances, the assignment of a teacher who does not have the required qualifications is possible as long as the principal and the teacher are in agreement about the assignment and the assignment has the approval of the appropriate supervisory officer. (Teacher Assignment in Ontario Schools: A Resource Guide, March 2011)
Mutual Agreement: When a teacher does not have the specific subject qualifications but at the request of the school administration, they are willing to teach a course outside of their OCT qualifications, this is done on Mutual Agreement. They must sign off on a specific course code for the semester. This is a one-time agreement and needs to be completed each time a request is made. In certain circumstances, a TLA may be required.
Temporary Letter of Approval (TLA): A TLA requires Ministry approval and the purpose is to allow a teacher to teach in a division or a specific area of need (Technological Education, French as a Second Language (FSL), Special Education). TLAs are generally considered in June after the search for a qualified candidate has resulted in the need. TLAs are not used to secure an existing teacher in a school during the staffing cycle, however, this may become necessary once no qualified candidate can be found. The school administrator must request a TLA through Human Resource Services which is then sent to the Ministry of Education for approval.
School Surplus / System Surplus
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School Surplus: Based off each schools enrolment and a request of sections from each schools ISC team, the board distributes staffing allocations (the number of FTE teachers) to each school. Each school compares their current staff list to their staffing allocation to determine if they have more or fewer teachers than they have been allocated. If they have more, they have a school surplus. School surplus teachers have not lost their job, they will be placed at another school in the board. Should a position become available at the school a teacher was declared surplus from, the teacher has a right to recall for up to two years. At the time of surplus, a recall letter must be completed if you would like to be called back when a position opens.
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System Surplus (Redundancy): The board compares board level enrollment and funding to determine the number of teaching staff they need for the system. If they have more contract teachers than the system needs, there is a system surplus. When declared a surplus to the system, the board does not have a full-time teaching position for you.
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Should the board not have a position for you, whether through a system surplus, or during the school surplus placement meetings, as per our Collective Agreement: L.D.7.4.4.4, the board will find a permanent alternative assignment at full regular salary and benefits for at least one year (if employed with the board less than 5 years) or for two years (if employed with the board for 5 years or more).
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