Teacher and employee handbooks typically provide general information about employment with a local education agency (LEA). Some districts may have separate teacher and employee handbooks. Others combine all the information into a single employee handbook.

Most teacher/employee handbooks provide information on standard policies and procedures related to employment with a local school district, such as employee standards of conduct, emergency procedures, etc. However, due to site visit requirements and unique employer collaboration needs, career preparation and practicum teachers should pay particular attention to their LEA's policies regarding

• teacher work load;
• teacher work hours;
• duty assignments; and
• teacher planning and preparation time.

REMINDER

By Texas law, a teacher assigned to teach career preparation or practicum courses must be provided time within his or her schedule to visit each student’s training site at least six times each school year. The training site visits may not be conducted during the teacher’s planning and preparation period. These rules can be found in the Student Attendance Accounting Handbook (SAAH 5.7.5) and Texas Education Code §21.404.

Student/parent handbooks are a good reference tool for a district’s policies and expectations for parents and students, such as

• 
  academic requirements;
• student attendance;
• student conduct;
• student records;
• student health;
• student governance;
• safety and security;
• extracurricular activities;
• parental rights and responsibilities; and
• discipline management policies.

Knowing the content of the district’s student/parent handbooks will help teachers set clear expectations for students and respond appropriately to situations when they arise.

NOTE
If the district’s student/parent handbooks do not include policies and procedures for all these topics, learn where to find the district’s current written policies and review them.