Florida Senate - 2022 SB 1592 By Senator Berman 31-01189B-22 20221592__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to contracts for instructional 3 personnel; amending s. 1001.42, F.S.; deleting a 4 prohibition on the awarding of certain annual 5 contracts by district school boards on the basis of 6 unauthorized contingencies or conditions; amending s. 7 1012.335, F.S.; requiring that the annual contract of 8 instructional personnel who meet certain criteria be 9 renewed; providing an exception; providing 10 responsibilities for district school superintendents 11 who exercise certain authority; making technical 12 changes; providing an effective date. 13 14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 15 16 Section 1.Subsection (24) of section 1001.42, Florida 17 Statutes, is amended to read: 18 1001.42Powers and duties of district school board.The 19 district school board, acting as a board, shall exercise all 20 powers and perform all duties listed below: 21 (24)EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS. 22 (a)If a school district enters into a contract or 23 employment agreement, or renewal or renegotiation of an existing 24 contract or employment agreement, with an officer, agent, 25 employee, or contractor which contains a provision for severance 26 pay, the contract or employment agreement must include the 27 provisions of s. 215.425. 28 (b)A district school board may not award an annual 29 contract on the basis of any contingency or condition not 30 expressly authorized in law by the Legislature or alter or limit 31 its authority to award or not award an annual contract as 32 provided in s. 1012.335. This paragraph applies only to a 33 collective bargaining agreement entered into or renewed by a 34 district school board on or after June 15, 2017. 35 Section 2.Subsection (2) of section 1012.335, Florida 36 Statutes, is amended to read: 37 1012.335Contracts with instructional personnel hired on or 38 after July 1, 2011. 39 (2)EMPLOYMENT. 40 (a)Beginning July 1, 2011, Each individual newly hired as 41 instructional personnel by the district school board shall be 42 awarded a probationary contract. Upon successful completion of 43 the probationary contract, the district school board may award 44 an annual contract pursuant to paragraph (c). 45 (b)Beginning July 1, 2011, An annual contract may be 46 awarded pursuant to paragraph (c) for instructional personnel 47 who have successfully completed a probationary contract with the 48 district school board and have received one or more annual 49 contracts from the district school board. 50 (c)An annual contract may be awarded only if the employee: 51 1.Holds an active professional certificate or temporary 52 certificate issued pursuant to s. 1012.56 and rules of the State 53 Board of Education. 54 2.Has been recommended by the district school 55 superintendent for the annual contract based upon the 56 individuals evaluation under s. 1012.34 and approved by the 57 district school board. 58 3.Has not received two consecutive annual performance 59 evaluation ratings of unsatisfactory, two annual performance 60 evaluation ratings of unsatisfactory within a 3-year period, or 61 three consecutive annual performance evaluation ratings of needs 62 improvement or a combination of needs improvement and 63 unsatisfactory under s. 1012.34. 64 (d)Instructional personnel who receive an effective or 65 highly effective rating at the conclusion of a contract year and 66 are not the subject of any unresolved disciplinary action must 67 have their contract renewed for the following school year unless 68 the district school superintendent exercises his or her final 69 authority to make a determination that the contract be 70 nonrenewed, in which case the superintendent must provide in 71 writing to the nonrenewed individual the reason for the 72 nonrenewal. 73 Section 3.This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.