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S1343..........................................................by EDUCATION
TEACHERS - Amends existing law to provide that certificated employees of a
school district in their first three years of employment in education may
be employed on a special contract status as specified; and to provide the
terms of the special contract status.
01/31 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/01 Rpt prt - to Educ
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2002
IN THE SENATE
SENATE BILL NO. 1343
BY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO CERTIFICATED EMPLOYEES OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS; AMENDING SECTION
3 33-514, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT CERTIFICATED EMPLOYEES IN THEIR FIRST
4 THREE YEARS OF EMPLOYMENT IN EDUCATION MAY BE EMPLOYED ON A SPECIAL CON-
5 TRACT STATUS, AS SPECIFIED, AND PROVIDING THE TERMS OF THE SPECIAL CON-
6 TRACT STATUS.
7 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
8 SECTION 1. That Section 33-514, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
9 amended to read as follows:
10 33-514. ISSUANCE OF ANNUAL CONTRACTS -- SUPPORT PROGRAMS -- CATEGORIES OF
11 CONTRACTS -- OPTIONAL PLACEMENT. (1) The board of trustees shall establish
12 criteria and procedures for the supervision and evaluation of certificated
13 employees who are not employed on a renewable contract, as provided for in
14 section 33-515, Idaho Code.
15 (2) Each school district shall have a support program for certificated
16 employees who are experiencing their first three (3) years with the district
17 in education, under a category 1, or 2 or 3 contract, providing support in the
18 areas of: administrative and supervisory support, mentoring, peer assistance
19 and professional development. In developing support programs, nothing shall
20 prevent districts from joining together to formulate a joint program applica-
21 ble to each member district. Programs shall be submitted for approval to the
22 state department of education in accordance with procedures established by the
23 department. The state department of education is hereby authorized and
24 directed to:
25 (a) Formulate basic guidelines which districts shall use as a model for
26 developing district programs;
27 (b) Approve school district support programs; and
28 (c) Establish procedures for districts to submit programs for approval,
29 to provide for periodic review of previously approved programs, and to
30 allow districts to amend previously approved programs.
31 (3) There shall be three two (32) categories of annual contracts avail-
32 able to local school districts under which to employ certificated personnel:
33 (a) A category 1 contract is a limited one-year contract as provided in
34 section 33-514A, Idaho Code.
35 (b) A category 2 contract is for certificated personnel in the first, and
36 second and third years of continuous employment with the same school dis-
37 trict. While employed under a category 2 contract, the employee shall be
38 provided the services of the district support program referenced in sub-
39 section (2) of this section. Upon the decision by a local school board not
40 to reemploy the person for the following year, the certificated employee
41 shall be provided a written statement of reasons for non-reemployment by
42 no later than May 25. No property rights shall attach to a category 2 con-
43 tract and therefore the employee shall not be entitled to a review by the
2
1 local board of the reasons or decision not to reemploy.
2 (c) A category 3 contract is for certificated personnel during the third
3 year of continuous employment by the same school district. District proce-
4 dures shall require at least one (1) evaluation prior to the beginning of
5 the second semester of the school year and the results of any such evalua-
6 tion shall be made a matter of record in the employee's personnel file.
7 When any such employee's work is found to be unsatisfactory a defined
8 period of probation shall be established by the board, but in no case
9 shall a probationary period be less than eight (8) weeks. After the proba-
10 tionary period, action shall be taken by the board as to whether the
11 employee is to be retained, immediately discharged, discharged upon termi-
12 nation of the current contract or reemployed at the end of the contract
13 term under a continued probationary status. Notwithstanding the provisions
14 of sections 67-2344 and 67-2345, Idaho Code, a decision to place certifi-
15 cated personnel on probationary status may be made in executive session
16 and the employee shall not be named in the minutes of the meeting. A
17 record of the decision shall be placed in the employee's personnel file.
18 This procedure shall not preclude recognition of unsatisfactory work at a
19 subsequent evaluation and the establishment of a reasonable period of pro-
20 bation. In all instances, the employee shall be duly notified in writing
21 of the areas of work which are deficient, including the conditions of pro-
22 bation. Each such certificated employee on a category 3 contract shall be
23 given notice, in writing, whether he or she will be reemployed for the
24 next ensuing year. Such notice shall be given by the board of trustees no
25 later than the twenty-fifth day of May of each such year. If the board of
26 trustees has decided not to reemploy the certificated employee, then the
27 notice must contain a statement of reasons for such decision and the
28 employee shall, upon request, be given the opportunity for an informal
29 review of such decision by the board of trustees. The parameters of an
30 informal review shall be determined by the local board.
31 (4) School districts hiring an employee who has been on renewable con-
32 tract status with another Idaho district or has out-of-state experience which
33 would otherwise qualify the certificated employee for renewable contract sta-
34 tus in Idaho, shall have the option to immediately grant renewable contract
35 status, or to place the employee on a category 3 annual contract. Such employ-
36 ment on a category 3 contract under the provisions of this subsection may be
37 for one (1), two (2) or three (3) years.
38 (5) There shall be a minimum of two (2) written evaluations in each of
39 the annual contract years of employment, and at least one (1) evaluation shall
40 be completed before January 1 of each year. The provisions of this subsection
41 (5) shall not apply to employees on a category 1 contract.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS ll618C1
This legislation amends Idaho Code 33-514 dealing with the
issuance of annual contracts. Idaho’s annual contract law was
amended in 2000 to create three categories of annual contracts
and required school districts to provide a support program during
the first three years of employment in a district in the areas of
administrative and supervisor support, mentoring, peer assistance
and professional development. The amendments offered in this RS
would:
• Create two categories of annual contracts: limited one-year
and a category two contract for teachers in their first
three years of continuous employment with the same district.
Teachers hired under a category two contract would be probationary
employees until the issuance of the fourth contract, as now
provided in 1C33-515.
• Require the support program only for teachers during their
first three years in the profession, not for the first three years
in each district that might employ the teacher. This would allow
districts to focus their resources on the “beginning teachers”
during the first three years, not on all teachers new to the
district. Nothing would prohibit a district from offering a support
system to teachers new to the district; the state requirement would
be removed.
FISCAL IMPACT
There would be no fiscal impact to the state’s general fund.
Contact
Name: Senator Darrel Deide
Phone: 332-1386