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S1480..........................................................by EDUCATION
TEACHERS - Amends existing law to provide that personnel on renewable
contract status with school districts shall be reviewed every five years by
performance review panels appointed for that purpose by the local board of
trustees.
02/21 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/22 Rpt prt - to Educ
S1480
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-fifth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2000
IN THE SENATE
SENATE BILL NO. 1480
BY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO RENEWABLE CONTRACTS FOR CERTIFICATED SCHOOL DISTRICT EMPLOYEES;
3 AMENDING SECTION 33-515, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT PERSONNEL ON RENEW-
4 ABLE CONTRACT STATUS WITH SCHOOL DISTRICTS SHALL BE REVIEWED EVERY FIVE
5 YEARS BY PERFORMANCE REVIEW PANELS APPOINTED FOR THAT PURPOSE BY THE LOCAL
6 BOARD OF TRUSTEES, TO PROVIDE THAT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES SHALL ESTABLISH
7 CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES FOR PANELS, TO PROVIDE FOR PANEL MEMBERSHIP, TO
8 PROVIDE AUTHORITY OF PANELS, TO PROVIDE THAT THE NUMBER OF PANELS
9 APPOINTED SHALL BE DETERMINED BY THE BOARD AND TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORREC-
10 TIONS; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
12 SECTION 1. That Section 33-515, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
13 amended to read as follows:
14 33-515. ISSUANCE OF RENEWABLE CONTRACTS. (1) During the third full year
15 of continuous employment by the same school district, including any specially
16 chartered district, each certificated employee named in subsection 13. of sec-
17 tion 33-1001, Idaho Code, and each school nurse and school librarian shall be
18 evaluated for a renewable contract and shall, upon having been offered a con-
19 tract for the next ensuing year, having given notice of acceptance of renewal
20 and upon signing a contract for a fourth full year, be placed on a renewable
21 contract status with said school district subject to the provisions included
22 in this chapter.
23 (2) After the third full year of employment and at least once annually,
24 the performance of each such certificated employee, school nurse, or school
25 librarian shall be evaluated according to criteria and procedures established
26 by the board of trustees in accordance with general guidelines approved by the
27 state board of education.
28 (3) In addition to the annual evaluations as required in subsection (2)
29 of this section, there shall also be a review by a performance review panel
30 prior to April 1 during the fifth full year of employment with the district,
31 and at intervals of every five (5) years thereafter.
32 (a) The board of trustees shall establish criteria, procedures and time
33 limits for reviews conducted by a performance review panel.
34 (b) Performance review panels shall be appointed by the board of trustees
35 of the district and shall consist of three (3) persons: one (1) shall be a
36 parent of a student who is currently attending school in the district, one
37 (1) shall be an administrator currently employed by the district but shall
38 not be an administrator who has direct supervision of the employee being
39 evaluated, and one (1) shall be a certificated employee currently employed
40 on a renewable contract by the district.
41 (c) Performance review panels shall have authority to either recommend
42 the reemployment of the certificated employee for the next ensuing school
43 year, or to recommend that the certificated employee be placed on a per-
2
1 formance improvement plan as defined by the panel. The recommendation of
2 the performance review panel shall not be binding on the board of
3 trustees.
4 (d) The number of panels that may be appointed shall be determined by the
5 board.
6 (4) Except as otherwise provided, that person shall have the right to
7 automatic renewal of contract by giving notice, in writing, of acceptance of
8 renewal. Such notice shall be given to the board of trustees of the school
9 district then employing such person not later than the fifteenth day of June
10 preceding the expiration of the term of the current contract. Except as other-
11 wise provided by this paragraph, the board of trustees shall notify each per-
12 son entitled to be employed on a renewable contract of the requirement that
13 such person must give the notice hereinabove and that failure to do so may be
14 interpreted by the board as a declination of the right to automatic renewal or
15 the offer of another contract. Such notification shall be made, in writing,
16 not later than the twenty-fifth day of May, in each year, except to those per-
17 sons to whom the board, prior to said date, has sent proposed contracts for
18 the next ensuing year, or to whom the board has given the notice required by
19 this section.
20 (5) Any contract automatically renewed under the provisions of this sec-
21 tion shall be for the same length as the term stated in the current contract
22 and at a salary no lower than that specified therein, to which shall be added
23 such increments as may be determined by the statutory or regulatory rights of
24 such employee by reason of training, service, or performance.
25 (6) Nothing herein shall prevent the board of trustees from offering a
26 renewed contract increasing the salary of any certificated person, or from
27 reassigning an administrative employee to a nonadministrative position with
28 appropriate reduction of salary from the preexisting salary level. In the
29 event the board of trustees reassigns an administrative employee to a
30 nonadministrative position, the board shall give written notice to the
31 employee which contains a statement of the reasons for the reassignment. The
32 employee, upon written request to the board, shall be entitled to an informal
33 review of that decision. The process and procedure for the informal review
34 shall be determined by the local board of trustees.
35 (7) Before a board of trustees can determine not to renew for reasons of
36 an unsatisfactory report of the performance of any certificated person whose
37 contract would otherwise be automatically renewed, or to renew the contract of
38 any such person at a reduced salary, such person shall be entitled to a rea-
39 sonable period of probation. This period of probation shall be preceded by a
40 written notice from the board of trustees with reasons for such probationary
41 period and with provisions for adequate supervision and evaluation of the
42 person's performance during the probationary period. Such period of probation
43 shall not affect the person's renewable contract status. Consideration of pro-
44 bationary status for certificated personnel is consideration of the status of
45 an employee within the meaning of section 67-2345, Idaho Code, and may be held
46 in executive session. If the consideration results in probationary status, the
47 individual on probation shall not be named in the minutes of the meeting. A
48 record of the decision shall be placed in the teacher's personnel file.
49 (8) If the board of trustees takes action to immediately discharge or
50 discharge upon termination of the current contract a certificated person whose
51 contract would otherwise be automatically renewed, or to renew the contract of
52 any such person at a reduced salary, the action of the board shall be consis-
53 tent with the procedures specified in section 33-513(5), Idaho Code, and fur-
54 thermore, the board shall notify the employee in writing whether there is just
55 and reasonable cause not to renew the contract or to reduce the salary of the
3
1 affected employee, and if so, what reasons it relied upon in that determina-
2 tion.
3 (9) If the board of trustees, for reasons other than unsatisfactory ser-
4 vice, for the ensuing contract year, determines to change the length of the
5 term stated in the current contract, reduce the salary or not renew the con-
6 tract of a certificated person whose contract would otherwise be automatically
7 renewed, nothing herein shall require a probationary period.
8 SECTION 2. This act shall be in full force and effect on and after July
9 1, 2000.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 09408
The purpose of this legislation is to provide a new dimension and the review of
the performance of continuing contract teachers at five-year intervals.
This performance review will increase the performance level of teachers under
contract and thus improve the achievement level of students.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
Contact
Name: Senator Darrel Deide
Phone: 332-1345
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S1480