William Kritsonis, School Law, Ch 5 Personnel Law

1
Personnel Issues

• PEDG 5344
• William Allan Kritsonis, PhD

2
Subject to Assignment Clause

• In teachers contracts
• most Texas teacher and administrator contracts
  contain a clause to the effect that the employee
  may be assigned and reassigned at the discretion
  of the superintendent.

3
Jett v. Dallas ISD

• An athletic director/head coach was reassigned to
  another school as a teacher with no coaching
  duties. There was no reduction in salary or
  supplemental pay. Although Jett came out evenly
  financially, he complained that he was unfairly
  deprived of a property right in the position of
  AD/head coach. The reassignment was done without
  any formal hearing and without due process. The
  5th circuit ruled that because Jetts property
  right included only the economic benefits of the
  contract and because he received all of those
  economic benefits even after reassignment, he was
  not deprived of any property right. Therefore,
  he was not entitled to due process.

4
Smith v. Nelson

• The courts ruled that the commissioner did not
  have jurisdiction to hear the appeal of a man who
  was reassigned from head coach/AD to PE teacher.
  There was a written contract involved, but the
  mans salary remained the same after the
  reassignment. He tried the argument that his
  loss of status would make it harder for him to
  find good coaching jobs in the future, but
  allegations of speculative future losses are not
  enough to give the commissioner jurisdiction over
  such a case.

5
Finch v. Ft. Bend ISD

• The principal was reassigned to the maintenance
  department she was told she would be a
  facilitator for staff development of the
  nonprofessional staff. The supervisor gave the
  principal a memo outlining the reasons for the
  reassignment and advising her that she could file
  a grievance over the matter. The principal filed
  a grievance and a lawsuit alleging that she was
  being constructively discharged, retaliated
  against for the exercise of constitutional
  rights, and deprived of both procedural and
  substantive due process. The 5th circuit
  rejected all of the arguments stating the written
  notice and the grievance process was her due
  process.

6
Briggs v. Crystal City ISD

• the school board reassigned the superintendent to
  a teaching position. Briggs sued and won in the
  TX court of appeals held that a superintendent
  occupies a unique position and that any
  reassignment would be a material change in the
  contract. A superintendent is one of a kind.

7
Compensation Disputes

• Penalty-free resignation date
• the date is calculated to be not later than the
  45th day before the first day of instruction of
  the following school year. This usually falls
  around the 1st of July in most districts in
  Texas. This is the date in which a teacher can
  get out of their contract without penalty.

8
Professional Development and Appraisal System
(PDAS)

• The PDAS is based on observable, job-related
  behaviors. It involves a single appraisal by a
  single appraiser, assessing performance in 8
  domains which include (1) active, successful
  student participation in the learning process,
  (2) learner-centered instruction, (3) evaluation
  of and feedback on student progress, (4)
  management of student discipline, instructional
  strategies, time, and materials, (5) professional
  communication, (6) professional development, (7)
  compliance with policies, operating procedures,
  and requirements, and (8) improvement of academic
  performance of all students on the campus, based
  on indicators included in the Academic Excellence
  Indicator System. In each domain each teacher is
  rated as (a) exceed expectations, (b) proficient,
  (c) below expectations, or (d) unsatisfactory.
• The teacher can demand a second appraisal by a
  different appraiser and can file a written
  rebuttal to the appraisal.
• Rules of PDAS require that a teacher be
  identified as a teacher in need of assistance
  if the teacher is evaluated as unsatisfactory in
  one or more domain, or if the teacher is below
  expectations in two or more domains. If the
  teacher is so designated, the supervisor and
  teacher must develop an intervention plan. The
  teacher can be nonrenewed without all this

9
Planning and Preparation Period

• Each classroom teacher is to have at least 450
  minutes within each two week period for
  instructional preparation, parent teacher
  conferences, evaluating students work, and
  planning.
• Each planning and preparation period must be at
  least 45 minutes long, and must be scheduled
  during the school day.

10
Duty-Free Lunch

• Classroom teachers and full-time librarians are
  entitled to at least a 30-minute lunch period
  free from all duties and responsibilities
  connected with the instruction or supervision of
  students, unless
• the district is faced with such dire situations
  as personnel shortage
• extreme economic conditions
• or unavoidable or unforeseen circumstances.
• In any event a teacher may not required to
  supervise students during the duty-free lunch
  more than one time per week.

11
Personal Leave

• There is no limit on the accumulation of personal
  leave, and it moves with the employee from one
  district to another.
• TEC 22.003- A person can use personal leave for
  any reason in fact the law specifically states
  that the local school board may not restrict the
  purposes for which the leave may be used.
• School districts cannot restrict the purposes for
  which employees take personal leave, it can
  impose other restrictions.

12
Personal Leave

• Castelberry ISD
• adopted a policy containing three restrictions
  that were challenged. Employees were (1) not
  permitted to take more than two days of leave
  consecutively (2) not permitted to take personal
  leave if another employee in the same category
  was already on such leave and (3) not permitted
  to take personal leave on the day before a
  holiday. The court of appeals approved the
  districts policy. The policy did not restrict
  the purposes for which leave could be taken, it
  just limited the timing.

13
Health Insurance

• TEC 22.004 requires each school district to offer
  its employees health insurance.

14
Assault Leave

• Assault leave is established for school employees
  who are physically assaulted during the
  performance of their duties. They are entitled
  to take the number of days of leave necessary to
  recuperate from all physical injuries sustained
  as a result of the assault. This paid leave can
  continue for up to two full years. Upon
  investigation of the claim, the district may
  change the assault leave status and charge the
  leave, first against accumulated personal leave,
  and then, if necessary, against the employees
  pay (TEC 22.003(b)).

15
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

• Eligible employees are entitled to up to 12 weeks
  of unpaid leave per year
• (1) to care for newborn, adopted, or foster
  children
• (2) to care for a spouse, child or a parent with
  serious health condition
• (3) or when a serious health condition prevents
  the employee from performing the essential
  functions of the job.
• To be eligible, the employee must have been with
  the district for at least 12 months and must have
  worked at least 1250 hours.