Congratulations – you’ve decided to try and start up an activity in your school.  Here’s the important information you need to make your activity a success. 

Before we get started, please realize that the best time to plan an activity for a school year is towards the end of the previous school year.  You need support and funds from your building principal.  Your funds must be budgeted in advance.  Therefore, hoping to start a club in any school year after the annual budgeting process is not a good idea. 

1) Will your activity be a club, a sport, or an intramural? 

As you begin this process, you’ll want to have a copy of our contract at hand.  Turn towards the back of the contract called Schedule “B”.  All clubs, intramurals, and sports are classified as Schedule “B” since this section follows the salary portion of our contract, which is technically known as Schedule “A”. 

Whether your activity is designed for elementary, intermediate, or high school students, you may find it already listed here with the amount of money our district compensates. 

Clubs and sports are generally year-round activities that are paid one non-hourly sum.  On the other hand, intramural activities are paid for at an hourly rate.  Intramural activities have a fixed amount of hours (general maximum is 48 hours in a school year) to be determined by the building principal. 

You may wish to consider if you want your activity to be year-round (club or sport) or an intramural based on time constraints.  Ultimately, though, this decision belongs to your building principal.  Your official Schedule “B” position will be “Club Advisor” or “Intramural Advisor”. 

2) Could your activity be eligible for longevity in the future? 

Longevity is a $250 stipend above a base salary for experienced coaches of designated activities.  Consult the Schedule “B” portion of your contract.  If the activity you wish to conduct is listed with an asterisk (*), your activity will eventually reward you extra if you meet the eligibility terms.   

3) Create a formal proposal to discuss with your principal. 

In order to start the process, you’ve got to determine how your activity will function.  Some questions you’ll need to answer include the following:   

* What skills will students learn and practice at your activity? 

* Will students make any sort of project/product as a result of your activity?  If so, what it? 

* What is the maximum amount of students you’d be willing to take into your activity at one time? 

* How long would you like to run your activity throughout the school year? 

The more details you can anticipate and provide, the stronger your proposal.   

Don’t reinvent the wheel – if someone in the school or someone you know has run this activity before, get all the information, resources, and commitment details before you finalize your proposal. 

4) Schedule a time to meet with your principal – be prepared to take notes. 

Ideally, this meeting will take place towards the end of a school year before you wish your activity to begin in the following year. 

It is imperative to realize that your activity will be funded through your building principal’s funds if it becomes approved.  Therefore, your activity must exist through your principal’s terms. 

If your principal tells you that no money is available to budget for your activity, you may wish to ask your principal if PTO might be able to fund your activity.  If this is still not possible, you may wish to reapply for your activity in the future when a pre-existing activity ceases to exist.  The demise of an activity might mean available funds for your activity. 

ESEA does not recommend that you offer or accept the condition to conduct your activity without compensation.  There is no “retroactive payment” for teachers who knowingly choose to conduct an activity without compensation and later sign for compensation for future activities. 

If your principal states that funds are available for your activity, work with the your principal to determine if your activity will be a club, intramural, or sport.  Then you’re ready for the next step… 

5) Complete and submit an Extra Responsibility Application/ Recommendation form. 

You might receive this form via e-mail in late April/early May of the school year.  You might also ask one of your building secretaries for this form around the same time frame if you do not receive a digital copy.  You can also download these forms at  HYPERLINK "http://www.esasd.net" www.esasd.net.  On the long thin blue bar stretching across, move the mouse atop the word “Employees”.  From the drop-down menu that appears, click on “Forms”.  Find the forms you need six items down, labeled “Extra Responsibility”. 

Despite the fact that you can apply for more than one Schedule “B” position on just one form, it is highly recommended that you submit only one position per form. 

Remember when Step 2 of this process asked you to determine if your activity would be eligible for longevity?  This information is crucial here – there are two different versions of the Extra Responsibility Application/ Recommendation form – one is labeled “Longevity” and the other “Non-Longevity”.  Be sure to complete and submit your activity on the appropriate form.  See an ESEA Building Representative for help, or consult with your building secretaries or your principal. 

Completing and returning this form to one of your building secretaries in a timely fashion is crucial to the process of creating and maintaining an activity.  All teachers who conduct clubs, intramurals, and sports must complete and submit this form for approval every year.  Yearly renewal of activities is not automatic, nor is it guaranteed. 

When you complete the form, you’ll need to supply the following information: 

“B” position, your name and home contact information, whether or not you are an ESASD teacher or support staff member, amount of payment** (must be determined in accordance with contract and terms of principal’s budgeting) 

Before submitting the form, you are strongly advised to make and keep a copy for your records. 

6) Watch the ESASD School Board minutes to see if your activity has been officially approved. 

You can access the School Board minutes via Boardportal on  HYPERLINK "http://www.esasd.net" www.esasd.net 

If you submit forms for activities in late April/early May, your activity will most likely appear on the regular School Board minutes sometime between June and September. 

7) Sign and return your Salary Agreement for Schedule “B” Position. 

In August, September, or October, you will receive a Salary Agreement for Schedule “B” Position from the Superintendent.  You may receive this in your school mailbox or at your home mailing address.  The Agreement contains the date the Board of Education approved your position, the name of your position, any hour limitation placed upon it (i.e. “Not to exceed 12 hours”), and the compensation you will receive.  Sign and date this form, make a copy for your records, and return the original to Human Resources.  You have now made a formal commitment to conducting your activity! 

IN SUMMARY -- Your building principal approves your activity based on available funding and classifies it as a club or an intramural.  It is necessary for your building principal and the Board of Education to approve you in the title of the Schedule “B” paid-for position of “Club Advisor” or “Intramural Advisor”.   

How to Maintain an After School Activity for the East Stroudsburg Area School District 

You’ve successfully proposed an activity in the East Stroudsburg Area School District.  You’ve earned a Schedule “B” position.  The challenge isn’t over.  Here’s what you need to do to maintain your activity: 

1) Develop posters, signs, loudspeaker announcements and informational permission slips for distribution. 

You’ll need to get the word out to students and your school community about your new activity.  Having continuous student involvement in your activity is crucial to its existence.  It is District policy that you need to have at least 10 students regularly attend each meeting of your activity. If you regularly have less than 10 students in attendance, the District has the right to cancel your after school activity. 

Help build student enthusiasm and interest by developing posters, signs, loudspeaker announcements, and informational permission slips for distribution.  Each item should let students know the name of your activity, where and when it will be held, how frequently you will meet, and what they will be expected to do.  Include your name as advisor so students know who to contact.  Do you need your students to bring any special items or equipment with them when they arrive?  Be sure to mention this as well. 

Before you release any of these promotional items as listed above, be sure to have your building principal review and approve them.  Also, take a moment to carefully edit your item for any errors.  This is important so students can show up at the proper dates and times and location that you intend.  Just as important as when your activity will meet is when your activity will NOT meet.  If there are certain dates/times you know that you cannot conduct your activity, try to incorporate these dates/times into your materials and clearly label them as such. 

As you create your permission slip, designate areas for students and parents/guardians to sign.  You may wish to write a disclaimer that only students who return signed permission slips may attend your activity.  You may wish to ask parents/guardians to provide an emergency contact number, since some times they may forget to pick up their child on time. 

It is recommended that you print copies of your school’s Activity Bus Routes and incorporate them into your permission slips.  (You’ll find more on this in the following section). 

To truly be successful with your activity, students will need the option to be picked up from school or to take one of the East Stroudsburg Area School District’s Activity Buses.  Reflect this option for parents/guardians to read and complete on the permission slip so you know how students will get home after each meeting.  This leads us directly to our next step: 

2)  Connect with your building secretaries for awareness and Activity Bus scheduling. 

Your building secretaries will be valuable allies in the development and maintenance of your activity.  Give them multiple copies of all pertinent activity information – rules, permissions slips, etc.  By doing this, you help them become aware of your scheduling and give them items to hand out to students or parents who stop by the office looking for information.  Also, parents may call your school looking for information, and the building secretaries are usually the first to answer that call.  Help them be prepared! 

Meet with your building secretaries BEFORE you release any activity meeting dates to insure that after school Activity Buses are available.  Your secretaries will need to schedule the Activity Buses for you in advance – at least one month ahead. 

Did you know that Activity Buses do not run the same routes or stop at all the same stops as all after school buses?  Did you know there are no Activity Buses available on Fridays?  Learn more about Activity Bus routes by heading to  HYPERLINK "http://www.esasd.net" www.esasd.net.  Click on the purple “Transportation” button, and then click on the blue hyperlinked text on the left for “Activity Bus Routes”.  As previously stated, it is recommended that you print copies of your school’s Activity Bus Routes and incorporate them into your permission slips. 

3) Create Activity Bus passes and parent sign-out sheets for your students. 

You’ve advertised, you’ve got a minimum of 10 students signed up.  In accordance with District policy, you need to prepare Activity Bus passes for your students who will take the bus from school.  You can obtain a template for these passes from your building secretaries, but you are responsible for copying them, cutting them, and keeping them handy.  Each Activity Bus pass needs you to fill out student name, day(s) of your activity, your signature for authorization, and an expiration date for the pass. 

As you are preparing these passes for your bus students, you need to be prepared for your pick-up students.  District policy states that you must have a ready-made sign-out sheet for parents to sign their students out from your activity.  This policy is meant to promote safety.  Even though students/parents may have told you they will ride a bus home, be sure to incorporate their names on your sign-out sheet in case of parent pick-up. 

4) Maintain a timesheet, submit it in a timely fashion, and monitor your hours/payments. 

As you being to hold meetings of your activity, fill out a timesheet with the dates and times of each meeting.  If your activity is a paid-by-the-hour intramural, keeping an accurate timesheet is essential.  It is still a good idea to keep a timesheet if your activity is a lump sum payment for your own records, especially if your activity is longevity-eligible. 

You can obtain a timesheet through your building secretaries.  Each timesheet has enough room to document 12 meeting dates/times.  When your timesheet is filled and fully completed, be sure to make a copy for your records and submit it to your building payroll secretary immediately.  Allow at least one two-week pay period for processing.  Submit only one completed timesheet per activity per pay period. 

Throughout this process, be sure not to exceed any time limitations your building principal may have imposed upon your activity.  For example, your principal may have allowed you to create an Intramural with a maximum of 24 hours of activity operation.  The ESASD business office has copies of all Extra Responsibility Forms and will detect any hours you try to submit beyond your allotted hours.  They will contact you at once to let you know you’ve exceeded your limits.  To avoid this, carefully document your own hours, but contact payroll personnel if you’re concerned you might have miscalculated to find out how many hours you have remaining. 

When your pay stub arrives, verify that your Schedule “B” position is listed and the payment amount is accurately reflected.  Contact the Payroll Department at Administration if necessary.   

5) Create an “emergency system” in case you have to cancel your activity. 

There may be times when the District must cancel after school activities due to inclement weather.  Beyond this, there may be times when you must cancel your activity.  Develop an “emergency system” cancellation policy for your activity. 

If you know days in advance that you will cancel, send participating students a memo to take home regarding the matter. Provide a copy of the memo to your building secretaries.  Ask them to make a reminder announcement on the morning of the cancellation. 

If your activity must be cancelled at a “moment’s notice”, immediately contact your building secretaries.  Ask them to announce the cancellation and tell students to phone their parents/guardians to make alternate arrangements. 

6) Publicize your activity or hold community events involving it. 

This step is optional, and must be undertaken with your building principal.  You might wish to publicize your activity to bring attention to the exciting things your students are doing.  Furthermore, you might want the community to see your students in action, or perhaps even have your students interact with community members.  If so, speak with your building principal and plan it out together. 

7) During the end of the school year, reapply for your Schedule “B” Extra Responsibility Position. 

Completing and returning this form to one of your building secretaries in a timely fashion is crucial to the process of creating and maintaining an activity.  All teachers who conduct clubs, intramurals, and sports must complete and submit this form for approval every year.  Yearly renewal of activities is not automatic, nor is it guaranteed. 

When you complete the form, you’ll need to supply the following information: 

Schedule “B” position, your name and home contact information, whether or not you are an ESASD teacher or support staff member, amount of payment** (must be determined in accordance with contract and terms of principal’s budgeting) 

Before submitting the form, you are strongly advised to make and keep a copy for your records.