Bill Text: CA SB1185 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: School teachers: termination and reappointment: seniority deviation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-04-30 - Set, final hearing. Failed passage in committee. (Ayes 2. Noes 7. Page 3339.) Reconsideration granted. [SB1185 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB1185-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1185 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Huff
FEBRUARY 20, 2014
An act to amend Sections 44955, 44956, and 44957 of the Education
Code, relating to school employees.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1185, as introduced, Huff. School teachers: termination and
reappointment: seniority deviation.
Existing law provides that, when the services of employees are
terminated pursuant to a reduction in workforce, a school district is
required to terminate the employees in order of seniority. Existing
law further provides those employees with a preferred right to
reappointment and an opportunity for substitute service in order of
seniority. Existing law authorizes a school district to deviate from
the order of seniority for those purposes for specified reasons,
including if the school district demonstrates a specific need for
personnel to teach a specific course or course of study and the
certificated employee has special training and experience necessary
to teach that course or course of study that others with more
seniority do not possess.
This bill would provide that the specific course or course of
study for which a school district may deviate from the order of
seniority for purposes of termination, reappointment, and the
opportunity for substitute service includes, but is not limited to, a
career pathways program. The bill would also make numerous
nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 44955 of the Education Code is amended to read:
44955. (a) No A permanent employee
shall not be deprived of his or her position for causes
other than those specified in Sections 44907 and 44923, and Sections
44932 to 44947, inclusive, and no a
probationary employee shall not be deprived of his or her
position for cause other than as specified in Sections 44948 to
44949, inclusive.
(b) Whenever (1) If
in any school year the average daily attendance in all of the
schools of a school district for the first six months in
which school is in session shall have has
declined below the corresponding period of either of the
previous two school years, whenever if
the governing board of a school district determines that
attendance in a the school district
will decline in the following year as a result of the termination of
an interdistrict tuition agreement as defined
described in Section 46304, whenever
if a particular kind of service is to be reduced or
discontinued not later than the beginning of the following school
year, or whenever if the amendment of
state law requires the modification of curriculum, and when
if in the opinion of the governing board of the
school district it shall have has
become necessary by reason of any of these conditions to
decrease the number of permanent employees in the school
district, the governing board of the school district may
terminate the services of not more than a corresponding percentage of
the certificated employees of the school district,
permanent as well as probationary, at the close of the school year.
Except as otherwise provided by statute, the services of no
a permanent employee may
shall not be terminated under the provisions of this section
while any probationary employee, or any other employee with less
seniority, is retained to render a service which said
that the permanent employee is certificated and
competent to render.
In
(2) In computing a decline in
average daily attendance for purposes of this section
subdivision for a newly formed or reorganized
school district, each school of the school district shall
be deemed to have been a school of the newly formed or reorganized
school district for both of the two previous school years.
As
(3) As between employees who
first rendered paid service to the school district on the
same date, the governing board of the school district
shall determine the order of termination solely on the basis of needs
of the school district and the students thereof.
pupils of the school district. Upon the request
of any employee whose order of termination is so determined, the
governing board of the school district shall furnish in
writing no later than five days prior to
before the commencement of the hearing held in accordance with
Section 44949, a statement of the specific criteria used in
determining the order of termination and the application of the
criteria in ranking each employee relative to the other employees in
the group. This The requirement that the
governing board of the school district provide, on
request, a written statement of reasons for determining the order of
termination shall not be interpreted to give affected employees any
legal right or interest that would not exist without such a
requirement.
(c) (1) Notice of such
termination of services shall be given before the 15th of
May 15 in the manner prescribed in Section
44949, and services of such employees shall be terminated in the
inverse of the order in which they were employed, as determined by
the governing board of the school district in
accordance with the provisions of Sections 44844
and 44845. In the event that If a
permanent or probationary employee is not given the notices and a
right to a hearing as provided for in Section
44949, he or she shall be deemed reemployed for the ensuing school
year.
The
(2) The governing board of
the school district shall make assignments and reassignments in
such a manner that employees shall be retained to
render any service which that their
seniority and qualifications entitle them to render. However,
prior to before assigning or
reassigning any a certificated employee
to teach a subject which that he or
she has not previously taught, and for which he or she does not have
a teaching credential or which that is
not within the employee's major area of postsecondary study or the
equivalent thereof, the governing board of the school
district shall require the employee to pass a subject matter
competency test in the appropriate subject.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), a school district may deviate
from terminating a certificated employee in order of seniority for
either of the following reasons:
(1) The school district demonstrates a specific need
for personnel to teach a specific course or course of study,
including, but not limited to, a career pathways program, or to
provide services authorized by a services credential with a
specialization in either pupil personnel services or health for a
school nurse, and that the certificated employee has special training
and experience necessary to teach that course or course of study or
to provide those services, which that
others with more seniority do not possess.
(2) For purposes of maintaining or achieving compliance with
constitutional requirements related to equal protection of the laws.
SEC. 2. Section 44956 of the Education Code is amended to read:
44956. (a) Any A permanent employee
whose services have been terminated as provided in Section 44955
shall have the following rights:
(1) For the period of 39 months from the date of such
the termination, any an
employee who in the meantime has not attained the age of 65
years shall have the preferred right to reappointment, in the order
of original employment as determined by the governing
board of the school district in accordance with
the provisions of Sections 44831 to 44855, inclusive, if
the number of employees is increased or the discontinued service is
reestablished, with no requirements that were not imposed upon other
employees who continued in service; provided, that no probationary or
other employee with less seniority shall be employed to render a
service which said that the employee is
certificated and competent to render. However, prior to
before reappointing any employee to teach a
subject which that he or she has not
previously taught, and for which he or she does not have a teaching
credential or which that is not within
the employee's major area of postsecondary study or the equivalent
thereof, the governing board of the school district shall
require the employee to pass a subject matter competency test in the
appropriate subject.
(2) The aforesaid right to reappointment
described in paragraph (1) may be waived by the employee,
without prejudice, for not more than one school year, unless the
governing board of the school district
extends this right, but such that
waiver shall not deprive the employee of his or her right
to subsequent offers of reappointment.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a school district may deviate
from reappointing a certificated employee in order of seniority for
either of the following reasons:
(A) The school district demonstrates a specific need
for personnel to teach a specific course or course of study,
including, but not limited to, a career pathways program, or to
provide services authorized by a services credential with a
specialization in either pupil personnel services or health for a
school nurse, and that the employee has special training and
experience necessary to teach that course or course of study, or to
provide those services, which that
others with more seniority do not possess.
(B) For purposes of maintaining or achieving compliance with
constitutional requirements related to equal protection of the laws.
(4) As to any such an employee who
is reappointed, the period of his or her absence shall be
treated as a leave of absence and shall not be considered as a break
in the continuity of his or her service, he or she
shall retain the classification and order of employment he
or she had when his or her services were
terminated, and credit for prior service under any state or
school district retirement system shall not be affected by
such the termination, but the period of
his or her absence shall not count as a part of the
service required for retirement.
(5) During the period of his or her preferred right to
reappointment, any such the employee
shall, in the order of original employment, be offered prior
opportunity for substitute service during the absence of any other
employee who has been granted a leave of absence or who is
temporarily absent from duty; provided, that his or her
services may be terminated upon the return to duty of said
the other employee and that said
the substitute service shall not affect the
retention of his or her previous classification and
rights. If, in any school year the employee serves as a substitute in
any position requiring certification for any 21 days or more within
a period of 60 schooldays, the compensation the employee receives for
substitute service in that 60-day period, including his or her first
20 days of substitute service, shall be not
be less than the amount the employee would receive if he or she
were being reappointed.
(6) (A) During the period of the employee's
preferred right to reappointment, the governing board of the
school district, if it is also the governing board of one or
more other school districts, may assign him or her
to service, which he or she is certificated and
competent to render, in said other school district or
districts; provided, that the compensation he or she
receives therefor for the service may
, in the discretion of the governing board of the
school district, be the same as he or she would have
received had he or she been serving in the school
district from which his or her services were
terminated, that his or her service in the said
other school district or districts shall be
counted toward the period required for both state and local
retirement, as defined by Section 22102, as though rendered in the
school district from which his or her services
were terminated, and that no permanent employee in said
the other school district or
districts shall be displaced by him or her .
It
(B) It is the intent of this
subsection paragraph that the employees
of a school district, the governing board of which is also the
governing board of one or more other school districts, shall not be
at a disadvantage as compared with employees of a unified school
district.
(7) At any time prior to before the
completion of one year after his or her return to service,
he or she may continue or make up, with interest, his
or her own contributions to any state or school
district retirement system , for the period of
his or her absence, but it shall not be obligatory on
state or school district to match such
those contributions.
(8) Should he or she become disabled or reach
retirement age at any time before his or her return to
service, he or she shall receive, in any state or
school district retirement system of which he or she
was a member, all benefits to which he or she would have
been entitled had such event occurred at the time of his or her
termination of service, plus any benefits he or she
may have qualified for thereafter, after his
or her termination of service, as though still employed.
SEC. 3. Section 44957 of the Education Code is amended to read:
44957. Any A probationary employee
whose services have been terminated as provided in Section 44955
shall have the following rights:
(a) For the period of 24 months from the date of such
the termination, any an
employee who in the meantime has not attained the age of 65
years shall have the preferred right to reappointment, subject to the
prior rights to reappointment by all permanent employees as set
forth in Section 44956, in the order of original employment as
determined by the governing board of the school district
in accordance with the provisions of Sections
44831 to 44855, inclusive, if the number of employees is increased or
the discontinued service is reestablished, with no requirements that
were not imposed upon other employees who continued in service.
Except as otherwise provided, no a
probationary or temporary employee with less seniority shall not
be employed to render a service which
that such employee is certificated and competent to render and
provided that such an employee shall be given a priority over
employees whose right to a position is derived pursuant to Section
44918. However, prior to before
reappointing any an employee to teach a
subject which that he or she has not
previously taught, and for which he or she does not have a teaching
credential or which that is not within
the employee's major area of postsecondary study or the equivalent
thereof, the governing board of the school district shall
require the employee to pass a subject matter competency test in the
appropriate subject.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a school district may deviate
from reappointing a probationary employee in order of seniority for
either of the following reasons:
(1) The school district demonstrates a specific need
for personnel to teach a specific course or course of study,
including, but not limited to, a career pathways program, or to
provide services authorized by a services credential with a
specialization in either pupil personnel services or health for a
school nurse, and that the employee has special training and
experience necessary to teach that course or course of study, or to
provide those services, which that
others with more seniority do not possess.
(2) For purposes of maintaining or achieving compliance with
constitutional requirements related to equal protection of the laws.
(c) As to any such an employee who
is reappointed, the period of his or her absence shall be
treated as a leave of absence and shall not be considered as a break
in the continuity of his or her service, he or she
shall retain the classification and order of employment he
or she had when his or her services were
terminated, and credit for prior service under any state or
school district retirement system shall not be affected by
such the termination; provided,
however, that the period of his or her absence shall not
be counted as a part of the service required for attaining permanent
status in the school district or, except as provided in
subdivision (e), for retirement purposes.
(d) During the period of his or her preferred right to
reappointment, any such the employee
shall, in the order of original employment, and subject to the rights
of permanent employees as set forth in Section 44956, be offered
prior opportunity for substitute service during the absence of any
other employee who has been granted leave of absence or who is
temporarily absent from duty; provided, that his or her
services may be terminated upon a return to duty of such
the other employee, that such substitute service
shall not affect the retention of his or her previous
classification and rights, and that such an employee shall be given a
priority over employees whose right to a substitute position is
derived pursuant to Section 44918.
(e) At any time prior to before the
completion of one year after his or her return to service,
an employee reappointed under the provisions of
this section may elect to continue or to reinstate his or her
membership and interest in any state or school
district retirement system and to receive retirement benefits as if
no absence from service had occurred. In the event of such
that election the employee shall pay into the
retirement system the amount of his or her share of
contribution and the school district's share of
contribution attributable to the period of absence and the amount of
any contributions withdrawn, plus interest.
