SECOND REGULAR SESSION

[P E R F E C T E D]

SENATE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE BILL NO. 968

92ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY


INTRODUCED BY SENATOR SHIELDS.

Offered March 4, 2004.



Senate Substitute adopted, March 4, 2004.



Taken up for Perfection March 4, 2004. Bill declared Perfected and Ordered Printed, as amended.



TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.

3402S.08P


AN ACT

To repeal sections 168.104, 168.124, 168.126, 168.303, and 169.712, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof five new sections relating to teachers.


Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Sections 168.104, 168.124, 168.126, 168.303, and 169.712, RSMo, are repealed and five new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 168.104, 168.124, 168.126, 168.303, and 169.712, to read as follows:

168.104. The following words and phrases when used in sections 168.102 to 168.130, except in those instances where the context indicates otherwise, mean:

(1) "Board of education", the school board or board of directors of a school district, except a metropolitan school district, having general control of the affairs of the district;

(2) "Demotion", any reduction in salary or transfer to a position carrying a lower salary, except on request of a teacher, other than any change in salary applicable to all teachers or all teachers in a classification;

(3) "Indefinite contract", every contract heretofore or hereafter entered into between a school district and a permanent teacher;

(4) "Permanent teacher", any teacher who has been employed or who is hereafter employed as a teacher in the same school district for five successive years and who has continued or who thereafter continues to be employed as a teacher by the school district or any supervisor of teachers who was employed as a teacher in the same school district for at least five successive years prior to becoming a supervisor of teachers and who continues thereafter to be employed as a certificated employee by the school district; except that, when a permanent teacher resigns or is permanently separated from employment by a school district, and is afterwards reemployed by the same school district, reemployment for the first school year does not constitute an indefinite contract but if he is employed for the succeeding year, the employment constitutes an indefinite contract; and except that any teacher employed under a part-time contract by a school district shall accrue credit toward permanent status on a prorated basis. Any permanent teacher who is promoted with his consent to a supervisory position including principal or assistant principal, or is first employed by a district in a supervisory position including principal or assistant principal, shall not have permanent status in such position but shall retain tenure in the position previously held within the district, or, after serving two years as principal or assistant principal, shall have tenure as a permanent teacher of that system;

(5) "Probationary teacher", any teacher as herein defined who has been employed in the same school district for five successive years or less. In the case of any probationary teacher who has been employed in any other school system as a teacher for two or more years, the board of education shall waive one year of his probationary period;

(6) "School district", every school district in this state, except metropolitan school district as defined in section 162.571, RSMo;

(7) "Teacher", any employee of a school district, except a metropolitan school district, regularly required to be certified under laws relating to the certification of teachers, except superintendents and assistant superintendents but including certified teachers who teach at the pre-kindergarten level in a non-metropolitan public school.

168.124. 1. The board of education of a school district may place on leave of absence as many teachers as may be necessary because of a decrease in pupil enrollment, school district reorganization or the financial condition of the school district. In placing teachers on leave, the board of education shall be governed by the following provisions:

(1) No permanent teacher shall be placed on leave of absence while probationary teachers are retained in positions for which a permanent teacher is qualified;

(2) Permanent teachers shall be retained on the basis of performance-based evaluations and seniority (however, seniority shall not be controlling) within the field of specialization;

(3) Permanent teachers shall be reinstated to the positions from which they have been given leaves of absence, or if not available, to positions requiring like training and experience, or to other positions in the school system for which they are qualified by training and experience;

(4) No appointment of new teachers shall be made while there are available teachers on unrequested leave of absence who are properly qualified to fill such vacancies;

(5) A teacher placed on leave of absence may engage in teaching or another occupation during the period of such leave;

(6) The leave of absence shall not impair the tenure of a teacher;

(7) The leave of absence shall continue for a period of not more than three years unless extended by the board.

2. Should a board of education choose to utilize the mechanism for reducing teacher forces as provided in subsection 1 of this section in an attempt to manage adverse financial conditions caused at least partially by a withholding of, or a decrease or less than expected increase in, education appropriations, then the district additionally shall follow the provisions of subsection 3 of this section.

3. If a school district has an unrestricted combined ending fund balance of more than ten percent of current expenditures in its teachers' and incidental funds, and in the subsequent fiscal year such district, because of state appropriations, places a contracted teacher on leave of absence after forty days subsequent to the governor signing the elementary and secondary education appropriation bill, the district shall pay the affected teacher the greater of their salary for any days worked under the contract, or a sum equal to three thousand dollars.

168.126. 1. A board of education at a regular or special meeting may contract with and employ by a majority vote legally qualified probationary teachers for the school district. The contract shall be made by order of the board; shall specify the number of months school is to be taught and the wages per month to be paid; shall be signed by the probationary teacher and the president of the board, or a facsimile signature of the president may be affixed at his discretion; and the contract shall be attested by the secretary of the board by signature or facsimile. The board shall not employ one of its members as a teacher; nor shall any person be employed as a teacher who is related within the fourth degree to any board member, either by consanguinity or affinity, where the vote of the board member is necessary to the selection of the person.

2. If in the opinion of the board of education any probationary teacher has been doing unsatisfactory work, the board of education, through its authorized administrative representative, shall provide the teacher with a written statement definitely setting forth his alleged incompetency and specifying the nature thereof, in order to furnish the teacher an opportunity to correct his fault and overcome his incompetency. If improvement satisfactory to the board of education has not been made within ninety days of the receipt of the notification, the board of education may terminate the employment of the probationary teacher immediately or at the end of the school year. Any motion to terminate the employment of a probationary teacher shall include only one person and must be approved by a majority of the members of the board of education. A tie vote thereon constitutes termination. On or before the fifteenth day of April in each school year, the board of education shall notify in writing a probationary teacher who will not be retained by the school district of the termination of his employment. Upon request, the notice shall contain a concise statement of the reason or reasons the employment of the probationary teacher is being terminated. If the reason for the termination is due to a decrease in pupil enrollment, school district reorganization, or the financial condition of the school district, then the district shall in all cases issue notice to the teacher expressly declaring such as the reason for such termination. Nothing contained in this section shall give rise to a cause of action not currently cognizant at law by a probationary teacher for any reason given in said writing so long as the board issues the letter in good faith without malice, but an action for actual damages may be maintained by any person for the deprivation of a right conferred by this act.

3. Any probationary teacher who is not notified of the termination of his employment shall be deemed to have been appointed for the next school year, under the terms of the contract for the preceding year. A probationary teacher who is informed of reemployment by written notice shall be tendered a contract on or before the fifteenth day of May, and shall within fifteen days thereafter present to the employing board of education a written acceptance or rejection of the employment tendered, and failure of such teachers to present the acceptance within such time constitutes a rejection of the board's offer. A contract between a probationary teacher and a board of education may be terminated or modified at any time by the mutual consent of the parties thereto.

168.303. The state board of education shall adopt rules to facilitate job-sharing positions for classroom teachers, as the term "job-sharing" is defined in this section. These rules shall provide that a classroom teacher in a job-sharing position shall receive paid legal holidays, annual vacation leave, sick leave, and personal leave on a pro rata basis. "Job-sharing position" shall mean any position:

(1) Shared with one other employee;

(2) Requiring employment of at least [seventeen] fifteen hours per week but not more than twenty hours per week on a regular basis; and

(3) Requiring at least seventy percent of all time spent in classroom instruction as determined by the employer;

provided that, job-sharing position shall not include instructional support or school services positions including, but not limited to, guidance counselor, media coordinator, psychologist, social worker, audiologist, speech and language pathologist, and nursing positions.

169.712. 1. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any person duly certificated under the law governing the certification of teachers in Missouri who, after August 28, 1997, is first employed in a position which would otherwise qualify the person for membership in the nonteacher school employee retirement system pursuant to the provisions of sections 169.600 to 169.710 shall be a member of the public school retirement system pursuant to the provisions of sections 169.010 to 169.141, and shall receive creditable service on a pro rata basis in that system for subsequent certificated services which would otherwise have been creditable in the nonteacher school employee retirement system. Any such person shall have the option of being a member of the nonteacher school employee retirement system. The option election must be filed with the board of trustees of the public school retirement system within ninety days of first such employment following August 28, 1997.

2. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any person duly certificated under the law governing the certification of teachers in Missouri who, on or after August 28, 2003, is employed by a public school, as defined in section 169.010, for at least [seventeen] fifteen but less than twenty hours per week on a regular basis shall be a member of the public school retirement system pursuant to the provisions of sections 169.010 to 169.141, and shall receive creditable service on a pro rata basis in that system. Any such person shall have the option of being a member of the nonteacher school employee retirement system. The option election must be filed with the board of trustees of the public school retirement system within ninety days of first such employment or within ninety days of August 28, 2003, whichever later occurs.

3. Any person who is a member of the public school retirement system or the nonteacher school employee retirement system pursuant to subsection 2 of this section may purchase credit in such system for service after August 28, 1991, that would have qualified such person for membership in either retirement system pursuant to subsection 2 of this section had such subsection been in effect prior to August 28, 2003; provided that such purchase of credit in the public school retirement system shall be subject to the provisions of section 169.056 and such purchase of credit in the nonteacher school employee retirement system shall be subject to the provisions of section 169.655.






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