California Senate Bill SB559 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 559INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Huff FEBRUARY 22, 2013 An act to amend Sections 44949 and 44955 of the Education Code, relating to school employees. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 559, as introduced, Huff. Certificated employees: layoff notices. Existing law requires that, when a reduction in the number of certificated employees employed by a school district is authorized for specified reasons, the notice of termination of the services of an employee in the subsequent school year be given to the employee before May 15. Existing law further requires the superintendent of the school district to give written notice, no later than March 15, to the governing board of the school district and the employee that it has been recommended that the notice of termination described above be given to the employee. This bill would revise the deadline for the notice of termination of services to the employee to before August 1, and would revise the deadline for the notice the superintendent of a school district is required to provide to no later than June 1. The bill would make various findings and declarations relating to the issuance of the notices specified above. 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. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a)Each year, the May revision of the proposed state budget, and the annual Budget Act, provide more predictive information for purposes of the district's budgetary and personnel decisions than the January budget proposed by the Governor. (b) Existing law requires school districts to issue preliminary reduction in force notices by March 15 and final reduction in force notices by May 15 of each year. (c) As a result of this existing law and in order to guarantee that it will remain fiscally solvent, school districts have relied on the January budget proposed by the Governor to determine the number of layoff notices that it must give to its employees. This results in thousands of teachers receiving notices that are later rescinded when more accurate information is available in May when the proposed budget is revised and later when the annual Budget Act is enacted. (d) According to the Legislative Analyst Office, this practice unnecessarily costs taxpayers $706 per teacher, amounting to millions of dollars annually that could be spent in the classroom and employing teachers. (e) Given the evidence that the existing statutory deadlines hurt schools across the State of California, it will be more productive for the schools, pupils, and teachers if the deadlines for giving notice to certificated employees that the school district may terminate their services are extended by two and one-half months. SEC. 2. Section 44949 of the Education Code is amended to read: 44949. (a)  (1)   No later than  March 15   June 1  and before an employee is given notice by the governing board that his or her services will not be required for the ensuing year for the reasons specified in Section 44955, the governing board and the employee shall be given written notice by the superintendent of the district or his or her designee, or in the case of a district  which   that  has no superintendent by the clerk or secretary of the governing board, that it has been recommended that the notice be given to the employee, and stating the reasons  therefor   for the notice  .  Until   (2)     Until  the employee has requested a hearing as provided in subdivision (b) or has waived his or her right to a hearing, the notice and the reasons  therefor   for the notice  shall be confidential and shall not be divulged by any person, except as may be necessary in the performance of duties. However,  the   a  violation of this requirement of confidentiality, in and of itself, shall not in any manner be construed as affecting the validity of any hearing conducted pursuant to this section. (b) The employee may request a hearing to determine if there is cause for not reemploying him or her for the ensuing year. A request for a hearing shall be in writing and shall be delivered to the person who sent the notice pursuant to subdivision (a), on or before a date specified in that subdivision, which shall not be less than seven days after the date on which the notice is served upon the employee. If an employee fails to request a hearing on or before the date specified, his or her failure to do so shall constitute his or her waiver of his or her right to a hearing. The notice provided for in subdivision (a) shall advise the employee of the provisions of this subdivision. (c)  In the event   If  a hearing is requested by the employee, the proceeding shall be conducted and a decision made in accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code and the governing board shall have all the power granted to an agency therein, except that all of the following shall apply: (1) The respondent shall file his or her notice of defense, if any, within five days after service upon him or her of the accusation and he or she shall be notified of this five-day period for filing in the accusation. (2) The discovery authorized by Section 11507.6 of the Government Code shall be available only if request is made therefor within 15 days after service of the accusation, and the notice required by Section 11505 of the Government Code shall so indicate. (3) The hearing shall be conducted by an administrative law judge who shall prepare a proposed decision, containing findings of fact and a determination as to whether the charges sustained by the evidence are related to the welfare of the schools and the pupils thereof. The proposed decision shall be prepared for the governing board and shall contain a determination as to the sufficiency of the cause and a recommendation as to disposition. However, the governing board shall make the final determination as to the sufficiency of the cause and disposition. None of the findings, recommendations, or determinations contained in the proposed decision prepared by the administrative law judge shall be binding on the governing board. Nonsubstantive procedural errors committed by the school district or governing board of the school district shall not constitute cause for dismissing the charges unless the errors are prejudicial errors. Copies of the proposed decision shall be submitted to the governing board and to the employee on or before  May 7   July 24  of the year in which the proceeding is commenced. All expenses of the hearing, including the cost of the administrative law judge, shall be paid by the governing board from the district funds. The board  may adopt   ,  from time to time  such   , may adopt  rules and procedures  not inconsistent   consistent  with  provisions of  this section as may be necessary to effectuate this section. (d) Any notice or request shall be deemed sufficient when it is delivered in person to the employee to whom it is directed, or when it is deposited in the United States registered mail, postage prepaid and addressed to the last known address of the employee. (e) If after request for hearing pursuant to subdivision (b) any continuance is granted pursuant to Section 11524 of the Government Code, the dates prescribed in subdivision (c)  which   that  occur on or after the date of granting the continuance and the date prescribed in subdivision (c) of Section 44955  which   that  occurs after the date of granting the continuance shall be extended for a period of time equal to the continuance. SEC. 3. Section 44955 of the Education Code is amended to read: 44955. (a) No permanent employee shall 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 probationary employee shall be deprived of his or her position for cause other than as specified in Sections 44948 to 44949, inclusive. (b)  (1)    Whenever in any school year the average daily attendance in all of the schools of a district for the first six months in which school is in session shall have declined below the corresponding period of either of the previous two school years, whenever the governing board determines that attendance in a district will decline in the following year as a result of the termination of an interdistrict  tuition   education  agreement as  defined   set forth  in Section 46304, whenever a particular kind of service is to be reduced or discontinued not later than the beginning of the following school year, or whenever the amendment of state law requires the modification of curriculum, and when in the opinion of the governing board of the district it shall have become necessary by reason of any of these conditions to decrease the number of permanent employees in the district, the governing board may terminate the services of not more than a corresponding percentage of the certificated employees of the 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 for a newly formed or reorganized school district, each school of the district shall be deemed to have been a school of the newly formed or reorganized 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 shall determine the order of termination solely on the basis of needs of the  school  district and the  students thereof   pupils of the district  . Upon the request of  any   an  employee whose order of termination is  so  determined, the governing board shall furnish in writing no later than five days prior to 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 requirement that the governing board 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  that  requirement. (c)  (1)    Notice of  such  termination of services shall be given before  the 15th of May   August 1  in the manner prescribed in Section 44949, and services of  such   those  employees shall be terminated in the inverse of the order in which they were employed, as determined by the board 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 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 assigning or reassigning any 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 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 district demonstrates a specific need for personnel to teach a specific course or course of study, 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 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.