PROFESSIONAL GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE 20.1 Any teacher, or the Association, having a complaint or dispute resulting from an interpretation or application of this Agreement or of the policies and procedures of the Board, shall use the following procedure in a pursuit of settlement of such complaint or dispute hereinafter referred to as a grievance. All time limits are working days and are to be computed from the day the prior step was completed. At any point or step in the procedure where the Association is satisfied with the results of action taken, the grievance shall be considered settled. Such satisfaction at any point shall be indicated by the Association. The Association shall be represented at all steps in this Article.
Step 1 The teacher shall have verbal discussion with the administrator involved and/or the building principal. Such discussion shall take place within ten (10) days of occurrence or knowledge of occurrence of such a grievance.
Step 2 The Association shall furnish the administrator involved a written copy of the grievance within ten (10) days. (Forms furnished by the Association.)
Step 3 The administrator involved shall contact the Association within five (5) days and shall schedule a meeting unless by mutual agreement it is determined that a meeting is not necessary. The administrator shall respond in writing to the Association within ten (10) days of receipt of the written grievance. The Association shall respond to the administrator in writing within five (5) days expressing satisfaction or desire to proceed to the next step.
Step 4 The Superintendent, or his designee, shall meet within seven (7) days with representatives of the Association. The Superintendent will give his decision, in writing, within five (5) days to the Association. The Association shall respond within five (5) days indicating satisfaction or desire to proceed to the next step.
Step 5 In the event that a grievance cannot be resolved at Step 4 of the grievance procedure, then such grievance arising out of or relating to the interpretation or the application of this Agreement shall be submitted to arbitration under the Voluntary Labor Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association. The parties further agree to accept the arbitrator's decision as final and binding upon them. Notification of intent to use arbitration must be filed with the other party within thirty (30) days. The arbitrator shall have no power or authority to add to, detract from, alter, or modify the terms of this agreement. Each party will bear the full costs for its side of the arbitration and will pay for one-half the costs of the arbitrator.
20.2 The griever may be excused from any step of this grievance procedure by mutual agreement.
20.3 Time limits indicated shall be observed by the Board and the Association, except that a grievance regarding an event occurring during summer recess may not be limited by Step 1 of the procedure for initiation, but must be commenced within ten