Administrative Procedure 420.1
CATHOLICITY OBLIGATIONS IN TEACHER CONTRACTS Background Within Calgary Catholic School District, we define our mission as living and learning in our Catholic faith. It is foundational to our belief that all members of our community are sacred and must be treated with dignity and respect. We value excellence in Catholic education, guided by shared responsibility and the moral authority of the Church. As a Catholic school district, we are responsible for creating an environment which promotes an authentic Catholic education in which everyone belongs. We are entrusted with the care of students, whose parents/guardians, as primary educators, expect that we will both uphold the Catholic teachings and minister to all in a pastoral way. The Catholic identity of our schools is largely dependent on the collective leadership within Catholic schools. In particular, Catholic teachers are called to live as faithful disciples—as witnesses to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our Catholic faith is integrated into every program and every aspect of school life, and we are called by baptism to live our faith every moment of every day. Because the concept of permeation recognizes that Catholic identity finds expression in every dimension of a Catholic school, all day-to-day activities will be experienced as authentically Catholic. To this end, Catholic teachers are responsible for witnessing to their faith in all areas of school life. Definitions For the purposes of this Administrative Procedure: “act” includes omission; “District” means the Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School District No. 1; “teacher” means a teacher, as defined in the School Act, who is employed by the District as a teacher, and includes a teacher who the District has designated to an administrative, supervisory, or consultative position; and “teacher contract” means the contract of employment between a teacher and the District and includes any terms and conditions under which the District has designated the teacher to an administrative, supervisory, or consultative position. Procedures 1.
The District will include Catholicity obligations in the teacher contract for each Catholic teacher and each non-Catholic teacher.
Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School District No. 1 Administrative Procedures Manual
June 2018 Page 1 of 2
2.
The District may include Catholicity obligations in a teacher contract with a Catholic teacher that are different from the Catholicity obligations in a teacher contract with a non-Catholic teacher.
3.
Each teacher is responsible to review and to understand the Catholicity obligations in his or her teacher contract.
4.
The District is responsible to provide a copy of the teacher contract currently in force to a teacher who requests to review his or her teacher contract at a given time.
5.
The District may take the position that a breach of a Catholicity obligation in a teacher contract is a breach of the teacher contract, which can lead to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of the contract of employment with the teacher, a designation of the teacher, or both.
6.
Without limiting the District’s right to enforce a teacher contract, when the District considers whether to take the position that an act was a breach of a Catholicity obligation in a teacher contract, the District may consider one or more factors including, but not limited to, the gravity of the act, the intention of the teacher who committed the act, the public nature of the act, and the willingness of the teacher to reconcile himself or herself to others and the Catholic Church.
7.
Before the District may take the position that an act was a breach of a Catholicity obligation in a teacher contract, the District must provide the teacher with an opportunity, and offer assistance to the teacher, to take steps to reconcile himself or herself to others and the Catholic Church.
Approval Date:
June 5, 2018
References: Board Policy Handbook, Calgary RCSSD #1 Administrative Procedure 201—Permeation of Catholicity: Instructional Programming and School Culture Administrative Procedure 205—Dealing with Sensitive Issues in Schools Teaching Employment Contracts with the Calgary Catholic School District School Act – sections 97, 98, 99, 101, 102 and 103 Vatican documents: The Catholic School, The Religious Dimensions of Education in a Catholic School, The Catholic School on the Threshold of the Third Millennium, General Directory for Catechesis (available at www.vatican.ca) The Code of Canon Law (Catholic Education: 793-821)
Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School District No. 1 Administrative Procedures Manual
June 2018 Page 2 of 2
