4119.1a
Policy
Reduction-In-Force
(
Reductions-in-force of certified
staff member may be required due to decreasing enrollments, limited financial
support, changing programs, or other changes in circumstances. If such changes occur and a reduction of
certificated staff is necessary, the Superintendent (or his designee) shall
recommend to the Board of Education those certificated employees to be reduced
under the reduction-in-force provisions of the continuing contract laws;
provided, however, that no permanent employee may be reduced through a
reduction-in-force while a probationary employee is retained to perform a
service in a position that the permanent employee is qualified by certification
and endorsement to perform or where certification is not applicable, by reason
of college credits in the teaching area.
Due to the often intimate,
confidential, and unique personal working relationship necessary between the
administration and the Board of Education, a
certificated employee who is not currently serving in a predominantly
administrative capacity shall have no rights under this policy to any
administrative position within the school system.
The selection of personnel to be
reduced shall be made with consideration given to the following: (1) programs to be offered, (2) areas of certification and endorsement,
(3) state and federal regulations which
may mandate certain employment practices, (4) special qualifications that may
require specific training and/or experience, (5) contributions to activity
programs, (6) qualifications based on past performance and competence as
determined by the Principal and/or Superintendent through employee evaluation
procedures, (7) the organizational and
educational impact created by multiple part time certificated employees, and
impact created by multiple part time certificated employees, and (8) any other
reasons which can be rationally related to the instruction in or administration
of the school system.
Employee evaluations (including
frequency of evaluations, evaluation forms, and number and length of classroom
observations, if applicable) used for purposes of this policy shall conform to
the board policies and administrative rules, regulations, and practices ( in effect at the time) related to the periodic evaluation
of certificated staff members.
If, after consideration of the
above, it is the opinion of the Superintendent that no significant difference
exists between certificated employees being considered of reduction-in-force,
then the employee with the longest uninterrupted service to the district shall
be retained. Uninterrupted service time
shall accrue the same for all certificated employees regardless of their full
time equivalency. Uninterrupted service
time for employees employed less than a full school year shall accrue according
to the number of contractual days worked.
Uninterrupted service time shall not accrue for certificated employees
on leave of absence for more than forty (40) days.
Any certificated employee whose
contract is terminated because of reduction-in-force shall be considered to
have been dismissed with honor and shall, upon request, be provided a letter to
that effect. Such employee shall have
preferred rights to re-employment for a period of twenty-four months commencing
at the end of the contract year and the employee shall be recalled on the basis
of length of uninterrupted service to the school to any position for which he
or she is qualified by endorsement or college preparation to teach. The employee shall, upon reappointment,
retain any benefits which had accrued to said employee prior to the reduction,
but such leave of absence shall not be considered as a year of employment by
the district. An employee under contract
to another educational institution may waive recall but such waiver shall not
deprive the employee of his or her right to subsequent recall.
It shall be the responsibility of
such certificated employee to file (with the Superintendent of Schools) a copy
of said employee’s teaching certificate (including endorsements) upon initial
employment with the district. On or
before March 15th of each year thereafter (for so long as the
employee is employed in the school system or has rights of recall) evidence of
any changes in said employee’s certification or endorsements which have
occurred (since March 15th of the previous year) or are pending
shall be filed with the Superintendent of Schools.
Any certificated employee whose
employment contract is reduced as a result of reduction-in-force shall (during
his/her period of recall) report his/her current address to the Superintendent
of Schools and shall inform said Superintendent of any changes or address
thereafter. If a vacancy in the system
occurs for which said employee has rights of recall, the offer of such
employment may be sent by said Superintendent to said employee’s last known
address. If no acceptance of such offer
is received from said employee within fourteen days of mailing and the
Superintendent has no personal knowledge of the whereabouts of said employee
(other than said last known address), the employee shall be deemed to have
waived his/her rights to recall to said employment position.
Anything in this policy to the
contrary notwithstanding, this policy shall specifically permit and allow
reductions in force to occur which deal with total elimination or termination
or amendment of contracts or positions, which deal with reductions in force
from full-time to part-time, which deal with reductions in force from part-time
to a lesser part-time, or which deal with any other reductions in force which
result in the termination or amendment of a certificated employee’s contract or
employment position,
Adopted:
July 21, 1997