File:  GCQA-R - Instructional Staff Reduction in Force

The following procedures will be followed in effecting a reduction in the professional staff work force:

1.    Notice to individual teacher

Teachers will be given notice of a contemplated reduction in force in writing.  Notice will be mailed or delivered at the option of the District.  The notice will inform the teacher of the contemplated reduction, the reasons for the reduction, the reason for selecting the teacher for reduction and the right to seek a review of the proposed reduction under Board policy.  A copy of Board policy and this regulation will be provided with the notice.

2.    Re-employment rights

Those teachers whose contracts were canceled due to a reduction in force will be notified of vacancies in the endorsement area in which they served and for which they are qualified for a period of two years from the effective date of contract cancellation.

The District will not interview persons not laid off until all teachers who were terminated due to the reduction in force from that endorsement area and who have a right to re-employment under Board policy have been re-employed or offered re-employment.  Teachers will be eligible to be appointed to any vacant position in an area from which they were terminated provided they are qualified.

Teachers are entitled to be considered for vacancies in areas outside of the endorsement area from which they were terminated provided that they may legally be assigned to such position under law and Board policy and regulations, and that they qualify on the basis of the following:

a.  They have at least one year of successful teaching experience in the District outside of their area of endorsement within the last two years.

b.  They have endorsement and at least one year of successful teaching in the area of endorsement within the last five years.

c.  They have endorsement and 10 semester hours of education in the area of endorsement within the last two years.

Notice of recall

Teachers will have a right to recall for a period of two years from the effective date of contract cancellation.  Written notice of recall will be sent to a teacher at his/her last known address by certified letter, return receipt requested.  It is the teacher's responsibility to notify the superintendent of any change in address.  A copy of the notice will be sent to the Summit County Education Association.  The teacher will have 10 calendar days from the mailing of the notice to reply to the District.  A teacher's name may be removed from the recall list for the following reasons:

1.    No reply has been received to the recall notice within 10 calendar days of mailing the notice regarding the recall.

2.    The teacher is no longer at the last known address.

3.    The teacher refuses to accept recall to two different positions offered by the District.

Benefits

When a teacher is reinstated due to a recall as outlined by Board policy, the teacher's sick leave balance at the point of contract cancellation or reduction in force will be reinstated in full.  Teachers may claim credit for salary advancement according to Board policy in effect during the period the teacher was not employed and those in effect at the time of reinstatement.  This provision will be interpreted and construed to treat teachers who were reduced like those who remained employed to the extent practical.  Sick leave benefits will not be earned during any period not employed by the District.

Record of reason

The District will note the reason for termination in the teacher's personnel file.  The information will be reviewed by the teacher and the teacher may submit a response which will be filed in the personnel file.

Hearings

Probationary teachers whose contracts are proposed to be canceled during a school year instead at the end of the school year and non-probationary teachers whose contracts will be canceled either during or at the end of the school year will have the right to a hearing prior to such cancellation.  If such a hearing is desired, the teacher must submit a written request to the superintendent within 10 days after the mailing or delivering of the notice of the proposed contract cancellation.  If a hearing is requested, the Board will appoint a hearing officer selected by the teacher or teachers requesting the hearing from a list of hearing officers prepared and maintained by the superintendent in consultation with the Association.  The procedural rules to apply at such a hearing will be specified.  The Board may direct that hearings be combined when common issues appear or are likely to arise.  The Board may act at its next regularly scheduled meeting or at a special meeting called for that purpose.  The Board will attempt to follow the timeline set forth in Board policy when practical.

The teacher may represent himself/herself or may be represented by a person of his/her choice at the hearing.  He/she may present evidence as to the following as reasonably necessary:

1.    There is not a rational basis for the decision that a justifiable decrease in the number of certificated positions is warranted.

2.    The procedures and conditions of Board policy have not been properly followed.

3.    There is not any evidence to support the cancellation of the employee's contract rather than those of other teachers in the District.

Following the hearing, the hearing officer promptly will issue a decision and inform the teacher and the District.  The Board will render its final decision on the teacher's contract at its next regularly scheduled Board meeting following receipt of the decision of the hearing officer.

These procedures apply only to contracts canceled under a reduction in force and do not apply to a decision by the Board not to renew the employment contract of a probationary teacher or to any other decision by the Board to terminate the employment of an employee that is not governed by laws regarding reductions in force.

When referring to working conditions, salary or benefits, the negotiated contract, which is currently in effect will prevail.  If an approved contract is not in place, these attached policies, regulations and exhibits will take its place.

Approved February 23, 1993

Revised: January 8, 2003

CROSS REF.: Current Professional Contract