As an ATA member who teaches in a public, separate or francophone school division, you have a legal and professional obligation to attend your assigned teachers’ convention.
In some cases, you may wish to request permission from the ATA to
- be released from attendance at part or all of your convention,
- attend an alternate professional development event or
- attend a different convention.
If your situation isn’t detailed here, call 1-800-232-7208 and ask to speak to the ATA’s Professional Development duty officer.
Application, approval and appeal
For each situation, you must complete and submit an online application two weeks before your assigned convention. Late requests may be considered in some cases.
The ATA’s convention lead will review your application and let you know the decision.
You can appeal the decision to the ATA’s associate coordinator of Professional Development, whose decision is final.
Teachers on leave
The Education Act defines convention days as teaching days. That means that you can access medical, bereavement, parental and other leave provisions on convention days, just like you would on any other teaching day.
Conditions
- You do not have to attend convention if you are on leave.
- If you want to, you can attend convention during your leave, as long as you have no outstanding membership dues and your participation doesn’t violate the conditions of your leave.
- Your convention registration fee will not be refunded.
- Salary and benefits may be deducted from your pay (based on the type of leave and provisions specified in your collective agreement).
How to request a leave
You can request leave from your employer on a convention day in the same way you request leave on a regular teaching day. Your employer will approve or deny your request in accordance with your collective agreement and division policy.
If you have any difficulty requesting a leave, contact the ATA’s Teacher Employment Services duty officer at 1-800-232-7208.
Alternate professional development
You can ask to be released from your convention to attend a different professional development activity.
Conditions
- The alternate PD event must be an organized PD event permitted under the Protocol for Convention Attendance (see below).
- The PD event must be held at the same time as your convention and must not be available at another time.
- The PD event must be a learning opportunity that exceeds what is available in your convention program and that will enhance your professional practice.
- You will be responsible for all costs associated with attending the alternate activity.
- Your convention registration fee will not be refunded.
- If your request is approved, you will not be eligible to attend another alternate PD event until you have attended your assigned convention for two consecutive years.
ASAA finals
The ATA and the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association (ASAA) have a formal agreement that allows teacher-coaches to be released from part of their convention attendance obligations.
If you are a teacher-coach of a school team that makes it to the ASAA finals and the competition is scheduled during your convention, the ATA will allow you to be absent from part of your convention. Meanwhile, the ASAA will try to avoid conflict with conventions when scheduling final competitions.
Conditions
- To be released from convention, you must be the coach or assistant coach of the school team.
- Your team must be competing at ASAA finals that are scheduled on the day or night of your convention days. (Typically, these competitions are limited to rural wrestling, provincial wrestling, provincial curling and provincial cheerleading.)
- Your request will not be considered if you are a teacher who
- is a parent of an athlete on a qualifying team,
- wants to support your school team at the finals or
- wants to coach at zone/regional finals or other tournaments.
- Permission to be absent from convention for coaching can be granted only by the ATA. School and division administrators do not have the authority to grant release.
- If your request is approved, you will be released from your convention for the time needed to safely travel to the ASAA finals and to coach your team. You will be expected to attend the rest of your convention.
- Your convention registration fee for the portion of convention you do not attend will not be refunded.
- You will be granted release for the current year only. You must request release to coach at ASAA finals each year (if needed).
- The ATA’s convention lead may determine that you have missed too much of your assigned convention in a given year or over a period of years. In that case, you may be required to attend a different convention that does not conflict with your coaching responsibilities.
Unsafe travel
Bad weather or bad road conditions can make travelling to convention unsafe.
If you find yourself in this situation, your collective agreement may include impassable roads or inclement weather clauses that you can access. Otherwise, you may be able to access personal leave.
Refer to your collective agreement for more information, or contact a Teacher Employment Services duty officer at the ATA.
Attending an alternate convention
Teachers of distance and online learning programs
If you work in distance learning or online learning programs and live outside the geographic boundary of your assigned convention, you can request to attend an alternate convention.
Conditions
- Permission is granted to attend an alternate convention for the current year only. You must request to attend an alternate convention every year (if needed).
- You must arrange substitute release time for the days of your alternate convention through your employer, in accordance with your collective agreement and division policy.
- Your registration fee will be transferred by convention treasurers under the direction of the ATA’s convention lead. No convention registration fees will be refunded to you.
Teachers on secondment
While seconded from your school division, you retain all rights and responsibilities associated with your level of ATA membership.
If you’re an active ATA member, you must still attend convention. If your secondment makes it difficult to attend your assigned convention, you can apply to attend an alternate convention.
Conditions
- Permission is granted to attend an alternate convention for the current year only. You must request to attend an alternate convention every year (if needed).
- You must arrange release time for the days of your alternate convention through the organization to which you’re seconded, in accordance with the terms of your secondment agreement and organization policy.
- Your registration fees will be transferred by convention treasurers under the direction of the ATA’s convention lead. No convention registration fees will be refunded to you.
Attending an additional convention
If you want to attend another teachers’ convention in addition to your assigned convention, you can register as a guest delegate.
Conditions
- You must arrange substitute release time through your employer, in accordance with your collective agreement and division policy.
- You must register with the convention that you wish to attend and pay the guest delegate registration fee.
Teachers who are convention presenters
At your own convention
You are allowed to present at your assigned convention, as long as you attend at least half of your convention.
This requirement can be waived if you’re approved to attend an alternate convention.
At another convention
If presenting at another convention doesn’t conflict with attending your own convention, you should simply arrange substitute release time through your employer, as you would on any normal teaching day.
If the convention you are presenting at is held at the same time as your assigned convention, you must attend your own convention for at least one full day. In other words, you must be able to travel to and present at the other convention within one day so that you can attend your own convention on the other day. This requirement can be waived if you’re approved to attend an alternate convention.
Protocol for Convention Attendance
- All active members of the Alberta Teachers’ Association under contract to public, separate and francophone school divisions have legal as well as professional obligations to attend the annual teachers’ convention to which they are assigned.
- Members are expected to consider their convention dates as a professional priority when planning for the school year and as an essential component of their ongoing professional development.
- School divisions, Association subgroups, school staff and individual teachers shall not organize any activities on convention dates that conflict with members’ obligations to attend their assigned convention. Any activities so scheduled may be contrary to the Education Act.
- No person at the school or division level has the authority to direct a member to not attend their assigned convention. Requests from members regarding the use of negotiated leave provisions may be approved only by those personnel specified in the member’s collective agreement. All other requests concerning convention attendance must be made to the Association.
- Although worthy enterprises, the following are not sufficient reasons for requesting to be absent from convention:
- Attendance at Alberta PD events not explicitly authorized or provided by the Association including sessions outside conventions offered by the Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortium or the College of Alberta School Superintendents
- Travel for school, division or government meetings or events
- Supervision of school field trips, activities or exchanges
- Volunteering or other employment
- Personal meetings, events, travel or recreation
- Self-directed study, university classes, coursework or research
- Individual or group planning, marking, or administrative work
- Diploma exam marking or provincial curriculum writing
- In exceptional circumstances, members may contact the Association to request release from their convention attendance obligations or to seek permission to attend a convention other than the one to which they are assigned. Requests will only be considered from those members who meet all eligibility criteria and application deadlines.
- For the purposes of defining convention attendance in relation to negotiated assignable time limits, Joint Interpretation Bulletin No. 1-2017 (August 25, 2017) between the Association and the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) states, “Six (6) hours are allotted to each day of Teachers’ Convention.”
School districts may impose employment sanctions upon any active member who fails to attend their assigned convention without appropriate release. Teachers who so absent themselves may also be subject to professional conduct processes administered by the Alberta Teaching Profession Commission.
