Frequently Asked Questions

Teachers may take up to 5 working days at full pay with no deduction from sick or personal time for a death in the teacher’s immediate family if the death occurs during the regular school year. (Article XXXI).

Immediate Family means a teacher’s parent, child, brother, sister, grandparent, husband, wife, parent of husband or wife, or any relative permanently residing in the personal household in which employee resides. (Article III).

A death of an immediate family member during the summer months and/or outside of the regular school year does not qualify the teacher to any death of an immediate family member leave except when services are scheduled for a later date, estate closings are delayed, etc.

No. The Death in the Immediate Family days do not need to be used consecutively. However, the teacher must provide adequate documentation and information to the District if the days are not taken consecutively. For example, if there is a memorial scheduled further out from the death, Death in the Immediate Family days can be taken at that time with proper documentation.

A teacher can use 2 days of their personal leave with approval of their administrator for the funeral of a friend or relative. If the teacher is out of personal days, they can use their sick days with approval. (Article XXIX).

Yes, Delta Dental is the insurance carrier of your dental plan. This is a traditional plan in which teachers may choose any dentist they desire and the dentist submits your claim(s) to the Delta Dental insurance company. Dentists are reimbursed directly following submission of claims. Any difference between the scheduled allowance and the dentist’s charge is the teacher’s responsibility.

Your dental coverage begins on the first day of your employment. Coverage ends on the last day you are compensated by the Board, except for retired teachers whose coverage continues for 60 days from the day they retire.

1. Buffalo Public School teachers working 15 hours or more a week.
2. Your spouse, unless legally divorced.
3. Unmarried dependent children under the age of 26.

No person is a dependent if they are eligible for the plan as a member.

NOTE: If your child is mentally challenged or physically handicapped when his/her dental coverage would terminate from the age rule, said child may be eligible to continue coverage under certain circumstances. For complete information call the SBF.

Covered dental charges are charges incurred for any service, supply or treatment included in the Schedule of Dental Procedures in this plan. A list of the most common dental procedures and the maximum amount paid for each is shown on subsequent pages for dentists who participate in the Delta Dental network and those dentists who do not.

There is a $40.00 family deductible. This applies to teachers submitting claims for a spouse or other eligible dependents. This deductible is subtracted from the actual benefits paid. There is no deductible for single teachers (with no dependents). A teacher who qualifies for family coverage may choose individual coverage and avoid the $40.00 deductible. Call the SBF for complete information.

An eligibility period is the period of time during which an insured person is eligible for benefits. It begins January 1st or the first day of your employment and ends December 31st or the date the insurance terminates, whichever comes first.

Delta Dental does not pay a percentage of what you are charged. Allowances are paid in accordance with the in-network and out-or network status of your dentist.

The maximum dental benefit payable per person per calendar year is $1,600.00 for teacher members and $960.00 for dependents. Benefits for orthodontic and periodontal services are not included in calculating the maximum per year. See the following rate schedule for these services.

Yes, you must submit your claim for benefits within six months of the date the services were performed. It is the responsibility of all teachers to see that their dentist has submitted that claim within the six-month period.

1. Expenses for services, supplies and treatment unless they were prescribed by a dentist.
2. Expenses for services, supplies and treatment incurred in a Veterans’ Administration Hospital, or which in absence of insurance would have been furnished without cost, or which are furnished under conditions which the insured person has no obligation to pay, or if the expense is reimbursable by any local or other government agency.
3. Expenses for services, supplies and treatment incurred on account of war, declared or undeclared, including armed aggression.
4. Expenses for services, supplies and treatment for cosmetic purposes, including the alteration or extraction and replacement of sound teeth to change appearance.
5. Expenses for services, supplies and treatment due to loss or theft of dentures or bridgework originally covered by the SBF, unless a period of at least five years has elapsed since the expense was incurred.
6. Expenses for services, supplies and treatment incurred on account of replacement or alteration of full or partial dentures or fixed bridgework originally covered by the SBF, unless such charge is required due to one of the following events:
   1. An accidental injury requiring oral surgery
   2. Oral surgery involving the repositioning of muscle attachments, or the removal of a tumor, cyst, torus or redundant tissue
   3. The lapse of 5 years

Replacement or alteration must be completed within 12 months of the events listed in a & b.

If a person’s insurance terminates before the completion of dental work which began before such termination, benefits will be payable with respect to covered dental charges incurred for such unfinished dental work, as though they had been incurred while insured.

Those charges shall include services requiring more than one visit.

In no event shall such benefits be payable for covered dental charges incurred more than one month after the dental insurance terminates.

There is a dual coverage policy for those individuals so situated. For complete information call Delta Dental 1 (800) 932-0783.

Non-duplication of Benefits

Co-ordination of Benefits & The “Birthday Rule”

When Insurance Terminates

How to File a Claim

All claims will be submitted to DELTA DENTAL by your dentist. Provide the information represented on your DELTA DENTAL membership ID card prior to or at the time of your appointment.

You decide how much you want to receive during the summer of 2026. Assuming there are no difficulties, payroll deductions occur from 20 paychecks during the 2025-26 school year. The amount you receive will depend on how much you have deducted from each check.

You must receive your summer payments as direct deposits. (Please see the Direct Deposit Section.)

The exact amount of deduction is determined by you and will be withheld from 20 of your 22 paychecks. The minimum deduction per paycheck allowable is $40. You may increase this amount in $5 units (i.e. $45, $50, $55, $60, etc.).

Option 1: One direct deposit issued during the summer recess.
Formula: to determine the exact amount of the summer direct deposit under Option 1, multiply the amount deducted each paycheck times 20.
Example: $100 withheld per paycheck times 20 equals $2,000. If you saved $100 per paycheck and selected Option 1, your one summer direct deposit would total exactly $2,000.

Option 2: Two direct deposits issued during the summer recess.
Formula: to determine the amount per deposit under Option 2, multiply the amount deducted each paycheck times 20 and divide by 2.
Example: $100 withheld each paycheck times 20 equals $2,000 divided by 2 equals $1,000. If you saved $100 per paycheck and selected Option 2, your two summer direct deposits would each total exactly $1,000.

Option 3: Four direct deposits are issued at two-week intervals during the summer recess.
Formula: To determine the amount per direct deposit under Option 3 multiply the amount deducted each paycheck times 20 and divide by 4.
Example: $100 deducted per paycheck times 20 is $2,000 divided by 4 equals $500. If you saved $100 per paycheck and selected Option 3, your four summer direct deposits would each total exactly $500.

Currently more than 2,000 teachers are participating.

You must complete an Extended Pay Plan card. The Extended Pay Plan card is divided into 3 cards. Be sure to complete the top two cards as instructed. Be sure the amount that you would like to have deducted from each paycheck is listed. The third card is for direct deposit (please see the direct deposit section below). Cards are not available online. Contact your building delegate for an application form or call Joseph Montante or his assistant, Jackie Newton, at the BTF Office (881-5400). ALL CARDS MUST BE RETURNED TO THE BTF OFFICE.

Submit your form during the months of May, June, and July for the following September. New teachers may enroll when they receive their New Membership Packet.

An advance withdrawal is available to you should you need funds before the summer. One withdrawal per school year is allowed. Call the BTF and ask to speak with either Joseph Montante or Jackie Newton and they will take the necessary information over the telephone. Please be advised that it may take three to five days to process a check.

Yes, however, if a second withdrawal is taken, you will be asked to discontinue your paycheck deduction for the remainder of the school year.

No. To keep our records accurate, up to date and provide sufficient time for our accountants to review the accounts, there will be no withdrawals after June 1st of each school year unless there is an extraordinary circumstance, which we will ask be accompanied by appropriate documentation.

A Reduction-in-Force results from a budgetary decision to reduce a particular tenure area or position within a school.

First, the principal must canvass the building for volunteers to accept a reduction-in-force. If there are no volunteers, the teacher with the lowest BTF Contractual Seniority in the reduced tenure area will be involuntarily transferred from the building and included in the transfer process.

BTF Contractual Seniority is the total number of consecutive years a teacher has been employed by the Buffalo Public Schools since probationary appointment, regardless of time spent in a particular tenure area. See “Types of Seniority” tab for further information.

In the event of a Reduction-in-Force where there are no volunteers, the teacher with the lowest BTF Contractual Seniority will be involuntarily transferred from the building.

The involuntarily-transferred teacher will remain a district employee entitled to all benefits of employment. They will be added to the transfer list at the end of the school year and have the opportunity to select a new position in order of BTF Contractual Seniority.

No. A layoff results in the loss of employment from the district. A Reduction-in-Force results in the loss of position within a particular building, but not a loss of district employment.

Potentially but it depends on what type of delegate, when they were elected, and when the Reduction-in-Force takes place.

For a Reduction-in-Force which happens in the middle of a school year, all building committee members (includes the Delegate Chair) and two additional delegates with the most BTF Contractual Seniority, in office at the time the transfer is set to take place, shall be the last persons considered for an involuntary transfer regardless of their seniority. Article XIV(G).

For a Reduction-in-Force which will be effective after the end of the school year and starting the next school year, all building committee members (includes the Delegate Chair) and two additional delegates with the most BTF Contractual Seniority, who served in that capacity prior to the BTF building election at the end of the school year, shall be the last persons considered for an involuntary transfer regardless of their seniority. Article XIV(G).

Example: Henry is a reading teacher and has been an elected building committee member at Sunshine School for three school years.

Isabella is also a reading teacher at Sunshine School and has been an alternate for two years. She is not on the building committee.

Jacob (another reading teacher) has concerns that there will be a reduction in force at Sunshine School. He runs for building committee at the end of the school year with the hope of staying at Sunshine School.

Sunshine School has a Reduction-in-Force of reading teachers for the next school year. Henry would be the last person considered for a reduction because he was already a building committee member. Isabella would not receive transfer protection as she is not a building committee member or one of the two delegates with the greatest BTF Contractual Seniority. Jacob would not receive transfer protection as he was not a building committee member for the current school year.

If you were previously tenured in the District in a particular area, but you left that tenure area for another tenure area, you have given up tenure in the original area. Should you ever choose to return to the original area, it would be at the District’s discretion to accept you into the original tenure area regardless of prior years in that tenure area.

Note: If you were accepted back into the original tenure area with Buffalo Public Schools and you had previously achieved tenure in that area with Buffalo Public Schools, you would be entitled to a shortened probationary term of three years instead of four years.

If there is a Reduction-in-Force in a building, the teacher with the lowest BTF Contractual Seniority in the reduced tenure area will be involuntarily transferred from the building and included in the transfer process.

BTF Contractual Seniority is the total number of consecutive years a teacher has been employed by the Buffalo Public Schools since probationary appointment, regardless of time spent in a particular tenure area. A maximum of two years of temporary time would count towards BTF Contractual Seniority if that service counted toward the completion of one’s probationary appointment. See “Types of Seniority” tab for further information.

As such, the number of years you have spent in your current tenure area is not the metric by which you are reduced in force.

Example: Edith has worked as a teacher with Buffalo Public Schools for 6 years. She first earned tenure as an elementary education teacher after 4 years. She then applied for and was accepted as a special education teacher. She has been a SPED teacher for 2 years.

Francis has worked for Buffalo Public Schools for 3 years as a SPED teacher and works in the same building as Edith.

If there was a Reduction-in-Force in the building, Francis would be reduced from the building before Edith. Edith has 6 years of BTF Contractual Seniority. Francis has 3 years of BTF Contractual Seniority. 

The more senior TOSA has the right to the title, using BTF Contractual Seniority.

As long as the TOSA has payroll location rights to a position within their tenure area in the building, and is more senior than the least senior teacher in that tenure area, they will retain a position in the building within their tenure area.

The TOSA would be reduced and the least senior teacher in that tenure area would also be reduced. The newly-open TOSA position would be posted and filled subject to the interview process.

Example: Gregory is a TOSA with an elementary school as his payroll school. Gregory’s tenure area is in Elementary Education. That school has four elementary education teachers: Henry, Ingrid, James, and Kelsey.

The teachers have the following BTF Contractual Seniority (total years employed by Buffalo Public Schools since probationary appointment):

* Gregory – 3 years
* Henry – 19 years
* Ingrid – 13 years
* James – 9 years
* Kelsey – 4 years

The school needs to reduce one elementary education position. Gregory is a TOSA but has the lowest BTF Contractual Seniority. Gregory is reduced out of the TOSA position and out of the school. However, because the school still needs to reduce an elementary education position, Kelsey is also reduced out of the building. The TOSA position is vacant. Gregory will need to re-interview for the TOSA position.

The TOSA does not have the right to remain at a particular school, but instead would automatically be included in the transfer process.