G-9300     ©     GDQD  
DISCIPLINE,  SUSPENSION,  TERMINATION
AND  DISCHARGE  OF 
SUPPORT  STAFF  MEMBERS

General  Provisions  for  Discipline are as follows:

•     Informal consultation.  Nothing contained herein will limit a supervising administrator's prerogative to engage in informal consultation with an employee to discuss matters of concern related to the employee's performance, conduct, etc.

•     Persons authorized to impose discipline.  Any supervising licensed administrator who is the immediate or primary supervisor of a staff member is authorized to impose a penalty or penalties, short of termination.

•     Administrative discretion.  In adopting these policies/procedures, it is the intention of the District that they be interpreted and applied in a reasonable fashion.  The policies are not intended to restrict or eliminate the discretion traditionally afforded to supervising administrators to determine whether discipline is appropriate.  Administrators are therefore directed to continue to use reasonable discretion in determining whether a particular alleged violation merits discipline.

•     Right not to impose discipline.  The District reserves the right not to discipline a staff member for conduct that violates this policy.

•     Additional reasons for discipline.  A staff member may be disciplined for conduct that has occurred but that, at or near the time of misconduct, was not the subject of or identified as a reason for a specific proceeding under this policy.

•     Amendments.  The District reserves the right to amend this policy in any way at any time.  Any amendment shall have prospective application only.

•     Severability.   If any provision of this policy is held to be invalid for any reason, such action shall not invalidate the remainder of this policy.  If any provision of this policy conflicts with any provisions in any other policies adopted by the District, the provisions of this policy shall prevail.

Minor  Discipline

Minor disciplinary action includes, without limitation thereto, removal from the grounds, written warning, written reprimand, or suspension.  Minor disciplinary action shall be imposed by the staff member's administrative supervisor upon informing the employee of any violations of state or federal statutes, policies, rules or the New Mexico code of ethics and offering a hearing and opportunity to express the employee's side of the issue before implementing the disciplinary action.  The disciplinary action shall be confirmed in writing to the employee.  The discipline may only be appealed to the next level of administration.  The hearing procedure shall be as follows.

Step 1 - Notice and Hearing:

•     Upon the supervising administrator's determination of the existence of cause to impose discipline, the supervising administrator shall notify the staff member of intent to impose discipline, the conduct or omission on the part of the staff member that constitutes the reason for discipline, and provide the employee an opportunity to explain the employee's side of the issue.  A reasonable effort to determine the circumstances of the incident will be made. The discipline may be imposed immediately or following any further investigation.

Step  2- Decision (in writing):

•     At the hearing, or within seven (7) working days following the hearing, the supervising administrator shall inform the employee in writing of the disciplinary action, if imposed and summarize the discussion at the hearing.

Appeal  of  Minor  Discipline

A staff member who wishes to object to a minor disciplinary action shall submit a written appeal request to the supervisor's superior within five (5) work days of receiving notice of the disciplinary action.  Failure to request the appeal in the time frame indicated will be considered acceptance of the discipline imposed.  The discipline shall be suspended if the appeal is timely made.  The appeal shall specifically describe the part of the determination with which the staff member disagrees, such as:

•     Determination was founded upon error of construction or application of any pertinent regulations or policies.

•     Determination was unsupported by any evidence as disclosed by the entire record.

•     Determination was materially affected by unlawful procedure.

•     Determination was based on violation of any statutory or constitutional right.

•     Determination was arbitrary and capricious.

•     The penalty was excessive.

The appeal shall be based on the staff member's submission as listed above and the summary of the hearing made by the supervisor.  The supervising administrator, the Superintendent, or, when appropriate, the Governing Authority may, at the conclusion of the appeal, uphold the discipline, modify the decision, or refer the matter back to the level from which it was appealed for rehearing and additional information.  Such decision, along with specific direction as to the effective date of any discipline, shall be communicated to the staff member within a reasonable amount of time following the appeal, not to exceed seven (7) working days.  The decision upon appeal is final for all minor disciplinary actions.

Termination  Pursuant  to 
22-10A-24  NMSA (1978)

The following procedures will be used to impose any termination permitted under 22-10A-24 NMSA (1978) except that it does not apply to:

•     A noncertificated school employee employed to perform primarily District-wide management.  (22-10A-26 NMSA)

Step 1 - Notice:

•     Upon the Superintendent's determination of the existence of cause to terminate, the Superintendent shall notify the staff member of intent to terminate.  The notice shall be in writing and shall be delivered in person or by first-class mail.  The notice shall include the following:

§     The statement that the employee has the right to request written reasons for the decision to terminate and such reasons shall be provided within five (5)) working days of such request.

•     A local Board may terminate a nonlicensed school employee with less than one (1) year of employment for any reason it deems sufficient.

§     For a nonlicensed school employee who has been employed for more than one (1) year the following appeal procedure shall apply.

Step 2-3 Appeal Requirements and Content:

•     Termination may be appealed to the Governing Authority by a nonlicensed school employee who has been employed for more than one (1) year by making a request to the Superintendent within five (5) working days of the date of receipt of the notice of termination requesting reasons for the termination decision and a meeting with the Governing Authority.

§     The appeal shall be granted if the employee responds to the Superintendent in writing within ten (10) working days of receiving the reasons for termination with the following information:

©     A statement of contention that the employee believes the decision is without just cause.

©     A brief statement of the reason(s) why the staff member believes the decision is without just cause.

©     A statement of the facts that the employee believes support this contention.

Step 4 - Appeal Procedure:

•     The Governing Authority shall meet to hear the employee's statement in no less than five (5) or more than fifteen (15) working days after receipt of the statement.

•     The hearing shall be conducted informally in accordance with the provisions of the Open Meeting Act.

§     Hearing Procedure:

©     The employee and the Superintendent may each be accompanied by a person of their choice.

©     The Superintendent shall present the factual basis for determination that just cause exists for the termination, limited to the reasons provided to the employee.

©     The employee shall present contentions, limited to the reason(s) why the staff member believes the decision is without just cause.

©     Rebuttal to the employee's presentation may be presented as deemed relevant by the Governing Authority.

©     Witnesses called may be questioned by the Governing Authority, the Superintendent or an appointed representative, and the employee or an appointed representative.

©     The Governing Authority may consider only such evidence as is presented at the hearing and need consider only such evidence as it considers reliable.

§     The Governing Authority shall take such action as is necessary in accordance with the Open Meeting Act to uphold or deny the recommendation to terminate.  The Governing Authority shall notify the employee and the Superintendent of its decision in writing within five (5) working days from the conclusion of the meeting.

Termination - Arbitration  Appeal  Pursuant
to  22-10A-25  NMSA (1978)

An employee still aggrieved by a decision of the Governing Authority may appeal the decision to an arbitrator by doing the following:

•     Submitting a written appeal to the Superintendent within five (5) working days from receipt of the Governing Authority's written decision or refusal to grant a hearing on the issue of termination.

•     Accompanying the written appeal shall be a statement of particulars specifying the grounds on which it is contended that the decision was impermissible pursuant to subsection E of Section 22-10A-24 NMSA (1978).

•     Including in the contentions a statement of facts supporting the contentions.

Failure of the employee to submit a timely appeal or a statement of particulars with the appeal shall disqualify the employee for any appeal and render the Governing Authority's decision on termination final.

If the arbitration appeal request is timely and complete, the Governing Authority and the employee shall meet within ten (10) working days from the receipt of the request for an appeal and select an independent arbitrator, qualified in accord with the applicable statute, to conduct the appeal.  If the parties fail to agree on an arbitrator, they shall request the presiding judge in the judicial district in which the employee's public school is located to select an independent arbitrator within five (5) working days of the date of the request.

A de novo (new) hearing shall be conducted within thirty (30) working days of selection of the independent arbitrator.  The arbitrator shall give written notice of the date, time and place of the hearing, sending such notice to the employee and Governing Authority. 

The parties shall be provided a copy of the relevant portion of this policy which shall include:

•     Discovery shall be limited to depositions and requests for production of documents on a time schedule to be established by the arbitrator.

•     The arbitrator may issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses and to produce books, records, documents and other evidence at the request of either party and has the power to administer oaths.  Subpoenas issued shall be served and enforced in the manner provided by law for the service and enforcement of subpoenas in a civil action or in the manner provided by the American Arbitration Association's voluntary labor arbitration rules if that entity is used by the parties.

•     The Governing Authority shall be required to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that just cause to discharge the employee existed at the time of the notice of intent to discharge the employee by the administration.

•     Hearing Procedure:

§     The employee and the Governing Authority may each be accompanied by counsel.

§     The Governing Authority shall present the basis for determination that just cause exists for the discharge.

§     The employee shall present reason(s) why the recommendation is without just cause.

§     Either party shall be permitted to call witnesses and to introduce documentary evidence.

§     Witnesses called may be questioned by, the Governing Authority or a representative, and the employee or a representative.

§     Technical rules of evidence shall not apply, but, in ruling on the admissibility of evidence, the independent arbitrator may require reasonable substantiation of the statements or records tendered, the accuracy of truth of which is in reasonable doubt.

§     Either party desiring a record of the arbitration proceedings may, at the party's own expense, record or otherwise provide for a transcript of the proceedings; provided, however, that the record so provided shall not imply any right of automatic appeal or review.

•     The arbitrator shall notify the employee and the Governing Authority of the decision in writing within ten (10) working days from the conclusion of the arbitration hearing.  The decision shall contain findings of fact and conclusions of law affirming or reversing the action of the Governing Authority.

The parties shall be guided by the statute and arbitrator as to the conduct of the hearing, each bearing their own costs.  The arbiter's fees and other expenses in the conduct of the arbitration shall be assigned at the discretion of the independent arbitrator.

Adopted:     August 10, 2021