(Reprinted with amendments adopted on April 24, 2023)
FIRST REPRINT S.B. 292
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SENATE BILL NO. 292–SENATOR PAZINA
MARCH 15, 2023
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Referred to Committee on Education
SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to school administrators.
(BDR 34-554)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact.
Effect on the State: No.
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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to education; providing that certain principals are
employed at will; and providing other matters properly
relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Section 2 of this bill provides that during the first 3 years of employment by a 1
school district, a principal is employed at will. Section 2 also provides that if a 2
principal completes the 3-year probationary period, the principal again becomes an 3
at-will employee if, in 2 consecutive school years: (1) the rating of the school to 4
which the principal is assigned pursuant to the statewide system of accountability 5
for public schools is reduced by one or more levels; and (2) fifty percent or more of 6
the teachers assigned to the school request a transfer to another school. Section 2 7
further provides that such a principal is subject to immediate dismissal by the board 8
of trustees of the school district on recommendation of the superintendent of the 9
school district. 10
Sections 4-10 of this bill make changes to conform with the changes made by 11
section 2. 12
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Chapter 391 of NRS is hereby amended by adding 1
thereto the provisions set forth as sections 2 and 3 of this act. 2
Sec. 2. 1. During the first 3 years of his or her employment 3
by a school district in the position of principal, a principal is 4
employed at will in that position. A principal who is reassigned 5
pursuant to this subsection is entitled to a written statement of the 6
reason for the reassignment. If the principal was previously 7
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employed by the school district in another position and is 1
reassigned pursuant to this section, the principal is entitled to be 2
assigned to his or her former position at the rate of compensation 3
provided for that position. 4
2. A principal who completes the probationary period set 5
forth in NRS 391.820 by a principal is again employed at will if, in 6
each of 2 consecutive school years: 7
(a) The rating of the school to which the principal is assigned, 8
as determined by the Department pursuant to the statewide system 9
of accountability for public schools, is reduced by one or more 10
levels; and 11
(b) Fifty percent or more of the teachers assigned to the school 12
request a transfer to another school. 13
3. If the events described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of 14
subsection 2 occur with respect to a school for any school year: 15
(a) The school associate superintendent or other administrator 16
of the school district who oversees the school must provide 17
mentoring to the principal of the school; and 18
(b) The school district shall conduct a survey of the teachers 19
assigned to the school to evaluate conditions at the school and the 20
reasons given by teachers who requested a transfer to another 21
school. The results of the survey do not affect the employment 22
status of the principal of the school. 23
4. A principal described in subsection 2 is subject to 24
immediate dismissal by the board of trustees of the school district 25
on recommendation of the superintendent and is entitled, on 26
dismissal, to a written statement of the reasons for dismissal. 27
Sec. 3. (Deleted by amendment.) 28
Sec. 4. NRS 391.650 is hereby amended to read as follows: 29
391.650 As used in NRS 391.650 to 391.826, inclusive, and 30
section 2 of this act, unless the context otherwise requires: 31
1. “Administrator” means any employee who holds a license as 32
an administrator and who is employed in that capacity by a school 33
district. 34
2. “Board” means the board of trustees of the school district in 35
which a licensed employee affected by NRS 391.650 to 391.826, 36
inclusive, and section 2 of this act is employed. 37
3. “Demotion” means demotion of an administrator to a 38
position of lesser rank, responsibility or pay and does not include 39
transfer or reassignment for purposes of an administrative 40
reorganization. 41
4. “Immorality” means: 42
(a) An act forbidden by NRS 200.366, 200.368, 200.400, 43
200.508, 201.180, 201.190, 201.210, 201.220, 201.230, 201.265, 44
201.540, 201.560, 207.260, 453.316 to 453.336, inclusive, except an 45
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act forbidden by NRS 453.337, 453.338, 453.3385 to 453.3405, 1
inclusive, 453.560 or 453.562; or 2
(b) An act forbidden by NRS 201.540 or any other sexual 3
conduct or attempted sexual conduct with a pupil enrolled in an 4
elementary or secondary school. As used in this paragraph, “sexual 5
conduct” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 201.520. 6
5. “Postprobationary employee” means an administrator or a 7
teacher who has completed the probationary period as provided in 8
NRS 391.820 and has been given notice of reemployment. The term 9
does not include a person who is deemed to be a probationary 10
employee pursuant to NRS 391.730. 11
6. “Probationary employee” means: 12
(a) An administrator or a teacher who is employed for the period 13
set forth in NRS 391.820; and 14
(b) A person who is deemed to be a probationary employee 15
pursuant to NRS 391.730. 16
7. “Superintendent” means the superintendent of a school 17
district or a person designated by the board or superintendent to act 18
as superintendent during the absence of the superintendent. 19
8. “Teacher” means a licensed employee the majority of whose 20
working time is devoted to the rendering of direct educational 21
service to pupils of a school district. 22
Sec. 5. NRS 391.655 is hereby amended to read as follows: 23
391.655 1. The demotion, suspension, dismissal and 24
nonreemployment provisions of NRS 391.650 to 391.826, inclusive, 25
and section 2 of this act do not apply to: 26
(a) Substitute teachers; or 27
(b) Adult education teachers. 28
2. The admonition, demotion, suspension, dismissal and 29
nonreemployment provisions of NRS 391.650 to 391.800, inclusive, 30
do not apply to: 31
(a) A probationary teacher. The policy for evaluations 32
prescribed in NRS 391.685 and 391.725 applies to a probationary 33
teacher. 34
(b) A principal described in subsection 1 of section 2 of this act 35
with respect to his or her employment as a principal. 36
(c) A principal who is employed at will pursuant to subsection 37
2 of section 2 of this act. 38
(d) A new employee who is employed as a probationary 39
administrator primarily to provide administrative services at the 40
school level and not primarily to provide direct instructional 41
services to pupils, regardless of whether licensed as a teacher or 42
administrator, including, without limitation, a principal and vice 43
principal. [The] 44
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Insofar as the policy is consistent with the provisions of section 1
2 of this act, the policy for evaluations prescribed in NRS 391.700 2
and 391.725 applies to [such a probationary] any administrator [.] 3
described in this subsection. 4
3. The admonition, demotion and suspension provisions of 5
NRS 391.650 to 391.800, inclusive, do not apply to a 6
postprobationary teacher who is employed as a probationary 7
administrator primarily to provide administrative services at the 8
school level and not primarily to provide direct instructional 9
services to pupils, regardless of whether licensed as a teacher or 10
administrator, including, without limitation, a principal and vice 11
principal, with respect to his or her employment in the 12
administrative position. The policy for evaluations prescribed in 13
NRS 391.700 and 391.725 applies to such a probationary 14
administrator. 15
4. The provisions of NRS 391.650 to 391.800, inclusive, do not 16
apply to a teacher whose employment is suspended or terminated 17
pursuant to subsection 3 of NRS 391.120 or NRS 391.3015 for 18
failure to maintain a license in force. 19
5. A licensed employee who is employed in a position fully 20
funded by a federal or private categorical grant or to replace another 21
licensed employee during that employee’s leave of absence is 22
employed only for the duration of the grant or leave. Such a licensed 23
employee and licensed employees who are employed on temporary 24
contracts for 90 school days or less, or its equivalent in a school 25
district operating under an alternative schedule authorized pursuant 26
to NRS 388.090, to replace licensed employees whose employment 27
has terminated after the beginning of the school year are entitled to 28
credit for that time in fulfilling any period of probation and during 29
that time the provisions of NRS 391.650 to 391.826, inclusive, and 30
section 2 of this act for demotion, suspension or dismissal apply to 31
them. 32
Sec. 6. NRS 391.660 is hereby amended to read as follows: 33
391.660 Excluding the provisions of NRS 391.730, and 34
section 2 of this act, the provisions of NRS 391.650 to 391.826, 35
inclusive, do not apply to a teacher [, administrator] or other 36
licensed employee who has entered into a contract with the board 37
negotiated pursuant to chapter 288 of NRS if the contract contains 38
separate provisions relating to the board’s right to dismiss or refuse 39
to reemploy the employee . [or demote an administrator.] 40
Sec. 7. NRS 391.700 is hereby amended to read as follows: 41
391.700 Except as otherwise provided in section 2 of this act: 42
1. Each board, following consultation with and involvement of 43
elected representatives of administrative personnel or their 44
designated representatives, shall develop an objective policy for the 45
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objective evaluation of administrators in narrative form. The policy 1
must provide for the evaluation of those administrators who provide 2
primarily administrative services at the school level and who do not 3
provide primarily direct instructional services to pupils, regardless 4
of whether such an administrator is licensed as a teacher or 5
administrator, including, without limitation, a principal and a vice 6
principal. The policy must also provide for the evaluation of those 7
administrators at the district level who provide direct supervision of 8
the principal of a school. The policy must comply with the statewide 9
performance evaluation system established by the State Board 10
pursuant to NRS 391.465. The policy may include an evaluation by 11
the administrator, superintendent, pupils or other administrators or 12
any combination thereof. A copy of the policy adopted by the board 13
must be filed with the Department and made available to the 14
Commission. 15
2. The person charged with the evaluation of an administrator 16
pursuant to NRS 391.705 or 391.710 shall hold a conference with 17
the administrator before and after each scheduled observation of the 18
administrator during the school year. 19
Sec. 8. NRS 391.730 is hereby amended to read as follows: 20
391.730 [A] Except as otherwise provided in section 2 of this 21
act, a postprobationary employee who receives an evaluation 22
designating his or her overall performance as: 23
1. Ineffective; or 24
2. Developing during 1 year of the 2-year consecutive period 25
and ineffective during the other year of the period, 26
for 2 consecutive school years shall be deemed to be a 27
probationary employee for the purposes of NRS 391.650 to 391.826, 28
inclusive, and section 2 of this act and must serve an additional 29
probationary period in accordance with the provisions of 30
NRS 391.820. 31
Sec. 9. NRS 391.775 is hereby amended to read as follows: 32
391.775 Except as otherwise provided in section 2 of this act: 33
1. At least 15 days before recommending to a board that it 34
demote, dismiss or not reemploy a postprobationary employee, the 35
superintendent shall give written notice to the employee, by 36
registered or certified mail, of the superintendent’s intention to 37
make the recommendation. 38
2. The notice must: 39
(a) Inform the licensed employee of the grounds for the 40
recommendation. 41
(b) Inform the employee that, if a written request therefor is 42
directed to the superintendent within 10 days after receipt of the 43
notice, the employee is entitled to a hearing before a hearing officer 44
pursuant to NRS 391.765 to 391.800, inclusive, or if a dismissal of 45
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the employee will occur before the completion of the current school 1
year or if the employee is deemed to be a probationary employee 2
pursuant to NRS 391.730 and dismissal of the employee will occur 3
before the completion of the current school year, the employee may 4
request an expedited hearing pursuant to subsection 3. 5
(c) Refer to chapter 391 of NRS. 6
3. If a postprobationary employee or an employee who is 7
deemed to be a probationary employee pursuant to NRS 391.730 8
receives notice that he or she will be dismissed before the 9
completion of the current school year, the employee may request an 10
expedited hearing pursuant to the Expedited Labor Arbitration 11
Procedures established by the American Arbitration Association or 12
its successor organization. If the employee elects to proceed under 13
the expedited procedures, the provisions of NRS 391.770, 391.785 14
and 391.795 do not apply. 15
Sec. 10. NRS 391.820 is hereby amended to read as follows: 16
391.820 Except as otherwise provided in section 2 of this act: 17
1. A probationary employee is employed on a contract basis for 18
three 1-year periods and has no right to employment after any of the 19
three probationary contract years. 20
2. The board shall notify each probationary employee in 21
writing during the first, second and third school years of the 22
employee’s probationary period whether the employee is to be 23
reemployed for the second or third year of the probationary period 24
or for the fourth school year as a postprobationary employee. Such 25
notice must be provided: 26
(a) On or before May 1; or 27
(b) On or before May 15 of an odd-numbered year so long as the 28
board notifies the employee of the extension by April 1. 29
3. Failure of the board to notify the probationary employee in 30
writing on or before May 1 or May 15, as applicable, in the first or 31
second year of the probationary period does not entitle the employee 32
to postprobationary status. 33
4. The employee must advise the board in writing during the 34
first, second or third year of the employee’s probationary period of 35
the employee’s acceptance of reemployment. Such notice must be 36
provided: 37
(a) On or before May 10 if the board provided its notice on or 38
before May 1; or 39
(b) On or before May 25 if the board provided a notice of an 40
extension pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection 2. 41
5. If a probationary employee is assigned to a school that 42
operates all year, the board shall notify the employee in writing, in 43
the first, second and third years of the employee’s probationary 44
period, no later than 45 days before his or her last day of work for 45
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the year under his or her contract whether the employee is to be 1
reemployed for the second or third year of the probationary period 2
or for the fourth school year as a postprobationary employee. Failure 3
of the board to notify a probationary employee in writing within the 4
prescribed period in the first or second year of the probationary 5
period does not entitle the employee to postprobationary status. The 6
employee must advise the board in writing within 10 days after the 7
date of notification of his or her acceptance or rejection of 8
reemployment for another year. Failure to advise the board of the 9
employee’s acceptance of reemployment pursuant to this subsection 10
constitutes rejection of the contract. 11
6. A probationary employee who: 12
(a) Completes a 3-year probationary period; 13
(b) Receives a designation of “highly effective” or “effective” 14
on each of his or her performance evaluations for 2 consecutive 15
school years; and 16
(c) Receives a notice of reemployment from the school district 17
in the third year of the employee’s probationary period, 18
is entitled to be a postprobationary employee in the ensuing year 19
of employment. 20
7. If a probationary employee is notified that the employee will 21
not be reemployed for the school year following the 3-year 22
probationary period, his or her employment ends on the last day of 23
the current school year. The notice that the employee will not be 24
reemployed must include a statement of the reasons for that 25
decision. 26
8. A new employee who is employed as an administrator to 27
provide primarily administrative services at the school level and 28
who does not provide primarily direct instructional services to 29
pupils, regardless of whether the administrator is licensed as a 30
teacher or administrator, including, without limitation, a principal 31
and vice principal, or a postprobationary teacher who is employed as 32
an administrator to provide those administrative services shall be 33
deemed to be a probationary employee for the purposes of this 34
section and must serve a 3-year probationary period as an 35
administrator in accordance with the provisions of this section. If: 36
(a) A postprobationary teacher who is an administrator is not 37
reemployed as an administrator after any year of his or her 38
probationary period; and 39
(b) There is a position as a teacher available for the ensuing 40
school year in the school district in which the person is employed, 41
the board of trustees of the school district shall, on or before 42
May 1 or May 15, as applicable, offer the person a contract as a 43
teacher for the ensuing school year. The person may accept the 44
contract in writing on or before May 10 or May 25, as applicable. If 45
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the person fails to accept the contract as a teacher, the person shall 1
be deemed to have rejected the offer of a contract as a teacher. 2
9. An administrator who has completed his or her probationary 3
period pursuant to subsection 8 and is thereafter promoted to the 4
position of principal must serve an additional probationary period of 5
1 year in the position of principal. If an administrator is promoted to 6
the position of principal before completion of his or her 7
probationary period pursuant to subsection 8, the administrator must 8
serve the remainder of his or her probationary period pursuant to 9
subsection 8 or an additional probationary period of 1 year in the 10
position of principal, whichever is longer. If the administrator 11
serving the additional probationary period is not reemployed as a 12
principal after the expiration of the probationary period or additional 13
probationary period, as applicable, the board of trustees of the 14
school district in which the person is employed shall, on or before 15
May 1 or May 15, as applicable, offer the person a contract for 16
the ensuing school year for the administrative position in which the 17
person attained postprobationary status. The person may accept the 18
contract in writing on or before May 10 or May 25, as applicable. If 19
the person fails to accept such a contract, the person shall be deemed 20
to have rejected the offer of employment. 21
Sec. 11. Insofar as they conflict with the provisions of such an 22
agreement, the amendatory provisions of this act do not apply 23
during the current term of any contract of employment or collective 24
bargaining agreement entered into before July 1, 2023, but do apply 25
to any extension or renewal of such an agreement and to any 26
agreement entered into on or after July 1, 2023. For the purposes of 27
this section, the term of an agreement ends on the date provided in 28
the agreement, notwithstanding any provision of the agreement that 29
it remains in effect, in whole or in part, after that date until a 30
successor agreement becomes effective. 31
Sec. 12. This act becomes effective on July 1, 2023. 32
H