H. B. 2823
(By Delegates Tucker and Yost)
[Introduced February 5, 2007; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-2-2 and §18A-2-13 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend said code by adding
thereto a new section, designated §18A-2-14; to amend and
reenact §18A-4-8 and §18A-4-15 of said code; and to amend said
code by adding thereto a new section, designated §18A-4-8j,
all relating generally to school service personnel; making
school service personnel eligible for early notification of
retirement payments; making guidelines for scheduling cooks
mandatory; requiring county boards of education to employ a
custodian IV at each school and office building under its
control; providing supplemental salary increases for certain
substitute service personnel; and providing general and
longevity salary increases for school service personnel.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-2-2 and §18A-2-13 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that said code be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §18A-2-14; that
§18A-4-8 and §18A-4-15 of said code be amended and reenacted; and
that said code be amended by adding thereto a new section,
designated §18A-4-8j, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
§18A-2-2. Employment of teachers; contracts; continuing contract
status; how terminated; dismissal for lack of need;
released time; failure of teacher to perform contract
or violation thereof; early notification of
retirement payments.
(a) Before entering upon their duties, all teachers shall
execute a contract with their boards of education, which contract
shall state the salary to be paid and shall be in the form
prescribed by the State Superintendent of Schools. Every such
contract shall be signed by the teacher and by the president and
secretary of the board of education and when so signed shall be
filed, together with the certificate of the teacher, by the
secretary of the office of the board.
(b) A teacher's contract, under this section, shall be for a
term of not less than one nor more than three years, one of which
shall be for completion of a beginning teacher internship pursuant
to the provisions of section two-b, article three of this chapter,
if applicable; and if, after three years of such that employment, the teacher who holds a professional certificate, based on at least
a bachelor's degree, has met the qualifications for the same and
the board of education enter into a new contract of employment, it
shall be is a continuing contract: Provided, That any teacher
holding a valid certificate with less than a bachelor's degree who
is employed in a county beyond the said three-year probationary
period shall upon qualifying for said the professional certificate
based upon a bachelor's degree, if reemployed, be granted
continuing contract status: Provided, however, That a teacher
holding continuing contract status with one county shall be is
granted continuing contract status with any other county upon
completion of one year of acceptable employment if such the
employment is during the next succeeding school year or immediately
following an approved leave of absence extending no more than one
year.
(c) The continuing contract of any teacher shall remain
remains in full force and effect except as modified by mutual
consent of the school board and the teacher, unless and until
terminated: (1) By a majority vote of the full membership of the
board on or before the first Monday of April of the then current
year, after written notice, served upon the teacher, return receipt
requested, stating cause or causes and an opportunity to be heard
at a meeting of the board prior to the board's action thereon; or
(2) by written resignation of the teacher before that date, to initiate termination of a continuing contract. Such The
termination shall take takes effect at the close of the school year
in which the contract is so terminated: Provided, That the
contract may be terminated at any time by mutual consent of the
school board and the teacher and that this section shall does not
affect the powers of the school board to suspend or dismiss a
principal or teacher pursuant to section eight of this article:
Provided, however, That a continuing contract for any teacher
holding a certificate valid for more than one year and in full
force and effect during the school year one thousand nine hundred
eighty-four and one thousand nine hundred eighty-five shall remain
in full force and effect: Provided further, That a continuing
contract shall does not operate to prevent a teacher's dismissal
based upon the lack of need for the teacher's services pursuant to
the provisions of law relating to the allocation to teachers and
pupil-teacher ratios. The written notification of teachers being
considered for dismissal for lack of need shall be is limited to
only those teachers whose consideration for dismissal is based upon
known or expected circumstances which will require dismissal for
lack of need. An employee who was not provided notice and an
opportunity for a hearing pursuant to subsection (a) of this
section may not be included on the list. In case of such a
dismissal, the teachers so dismissed shall be placed upon a
preferred list in the order of their length of service with that board, and no teacher shall may be employed by the board until each
qualified teacher upon the preferred list, in order, shall have has
been offered the opportunity for reemployment in a position for
which they are qualified: And provided further, That he or she has
not accepted a teaching position elsewhere. Such The reemployment
shall be upon a teacher's preexisting continuing contract and shall
have has the same effect as though the contract had been suspended
during the time the teacher was not employed.
(d) In the assignment of position or duties of a teacher under
said a continuing contract, the board may provide for released time
of a teacher for any special professional or governmental
assignment without jeopardizing the contractual rights of such
any teacher or any other rights, privileges or benefits under the
provisions of this chapter. Released time shall be provided for
any professional educator while serving as a member of the
Legislature during any duly constituted session of that body and
its interim and statutory committees and commissions without
jeopardizing his or her contractual rights or any other rights,
privileges, benefits or accrual of experience for placement on the
state minimum salary schedule in the following school year under
the provisions of this chapter, board policy and law.
(e) Any teacher who fails to fulfill his or her contract with
the board, unless prevented from so doing by personal illness or
other just cause or unless released from such the contract by the board, or who violates any lawful provision thereof, shall be is
disqualified to teach in any other public school in the state for
a period of the next ensuing school year and the State Department
of Education or board may hold all papers and credentials of such
the teacher on file for a period of one year for such the
violation: Provided, That marriage of a teacher shall not be
considered is not a failure to fulfill, or violation of, the
contract.
(f) Any classroom teacher, as defined in section one, article
one of this chapter, who desires to resign employment with a board
of education or request a leave of absence, such the resignation or
leave of absence to become effective on or before the fifteenth day
of July of the same year and after completion of the employment
term, may do so at any time during the school year by written
notification thereof and any such the notification received by a
board of education shall automatically extend such the Teacher's
Public Employee Insurance coverage until the thirty-first day of
August of the same year.
(g) Any classroom teacher or service personnel employee who
gives written notice to the county board of education on or before
the first day of February of the school year of their resignation
or retirement from employment with the board at the conclusion of
the school year shall be paid five hundred dollars from the "Early
Notification of Retirement" line item established for the Department of Education for this purpose, subject to appropriation
by the Legislature. If the appropriations to the Department of
Education for this purpose are insufficient to compensate all
applicable teachers and service personnel, the Department of
Education shall request a supplemental appropriation in an amount
sufficient to compensate all such the teachers and service
personnel. Additionally, if funds are still insufficient to
compensate all applicable teachers and service personnel, the
priority of payment is for teachers or service personnel who give
written notice the earliest. This payment shall may not be counted
as part of the final average salary for the purpose of calculating
retirement.
§18A-2-13. Mandatory guidelines for full-day and half-day cooks.
The following guidelines are optional mandatory guidelines
that county boards may shall use when scheduling full-day and
half-day cooks:
Number ofNumber ofAverage Number of
MealsCooksMeals Served Per
Cook's Hours Worked
1-90112.00
91-1351.512.00
136-180212.00
181-2252.512.00
226-270312.00
271-3153.512.00
316-360412.00
361-4054.512.00
406-450512.00
451-4955.512.00
496-540612.00
541-5856.512.00
586-630712.00
631-6757.512.00
676-720812.00
721-7658.512.00
766-810912.00
811-8559.512.00
856-9001012.00
A meal prepared for a school lunch shall be established as a
whole meal. Other meals shall be equal to three fourths of a
school lunch meal.
§18A-2-14. Custodian IV required in all locations.
The county board shall employ a custodian IV at each school
and office building under its control.
ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.
§18A-4-8. Employment term and class titles of service personnel;
definitions.
(a) The purpose of this section is to establish an employment term and class titles for service personnel. The employment term
for service personnel may be no less than ten months. A month is
defined as twenty employment days: Provided, That the county board
may contract with all or part of these service personnel for a
longer term. The beginning and closing dates of the ten-month
employment term may not exceed forty-three weeks.
(b) Service personnel employed on a yearly or twelve-month
basis may be employed by calendar months. Whenever there is a
change in job assignment during the school year, the minimum pay
scale and any county supplement are applicable.
(c) Service personnel employed in the same classification for
more than the two hundred day minimum employment term shall be paid
for additional employment at a daily rate of not less than the
daily rate paid for the two hundred day minimum employment term.
(d) No service employee, without his or her agreement, may be
required to report for work more than five days per week and no
part of any working day may be accumulated by the employer for
future work assignments, unless the employee agrees thereto.
(e) If an employee whose regular work week is scheduled from
Monday through Friday agrees to perform any work assignments on a
Saturday or Sunday, the employee shall be paid for at least
one-half day of work for each day he or she reports for work, and
if the employee works more than three and one-half hours on any
Saturday or Sunday, he or she shall be paid for at least a full day of work for each day.
(f) Custodians, aides, maintenance, office and school lunch
employees required to work a daily work schedule that is
interrupted, that is, who do not work a continuous period in one
day, shall be paid additional compensation equal to at least one
eighth of their total salary as provided by their state minimum
salary and any county pay supplement, and payable entirely from
county funds: Provided, That when engaged in duties of
transporting students exclusively, aides shall not be regarded as
working an interrupted schedule. Maintenance personnel are defined
as personnel who hold a classification title other than in a
custodial, aide, school lunch, office or transportation category as
provided in section one, article one of this chapter.
(g) Upon the change in classification or upon meeting the
requirements of an advanced classification of or by any employee,
the employee's salary shall be made to comply with the requirements
of this article, and to any county salary schedule in excess of the
minimum requirements of this article, based upon the employee's
advanced classification and allowable years of employment.
(h) An employee's contract as provided in section five,
article two of this chapter shall state the appropriate monthly
salary the employee is to be paid, based on the class title as
provided in this article and any county salary schedule in excess
of the minimum requirements of this article.
(i) The column heads of the state minimum pay scale and class
titles, set forth in section eight-a of this article, are defined
as follows:
(1) "Pay grade" means the monthly salary applicable to class
titles of service personnel;
(2) "Years of employment" means the number of years which an
employee classified as service personnel has been employed by a
board in any position prior to or subsequent to the effective date
of this section and including service in the Armed Forces of the
United States, if the employee were employed at the time of his or
her induction. For the purpose of section eight-a of this article,
years of employment shall be limited to the number of years shown
and allowed under the state minimum pay scale as set forth in
section eight-a of this article;
(3) "Class title" means the name of the position or job held
by service personnel;
(4) "Accountant I" means personnel employed to maintain
payroll records and reports and perform one or more operations
relating to a phase of the total payroll;
(5) "Accountant II" means personnel employed to maintain
accounting records and to be responsible for the accounting process
associated with billing, budgets, purchasing and related
operations;
(6) "Accountant III" means personnel who are employed in the county board office to manage and supervise accounts payable and/or
payroll procedures;
(7) "Accounts payable supervisor" means personnel who are
employed in the county board office who have primary responsibility
for the accounts payable function, which may include the
supervision of other personnel, and who have either completed
twelve college hours of accounting courses from an accredited
institution of higher education or have at least eight years of
experience performing progressively difficult accounting tasks;
(8) "Aide I" means those personnel selected and trained for
teacher-aide classifications such as monitor aide, clerical aide,
classroom aide or general aide;
(9) "Aide II" means those personnel referred to in the "Aide
I" classification who have completed a training program approved by
the state board, or who hold a high school diploma or have received
a general educational development certificate. Only personnel
classified in an Aide II class title may be employed as an aide in
any special education program;
(10) "Aide III" means those personnel referred to in the "Aide
I" classification who hold a high school diploma or a general
educational development certificate and have completed six semester
hours of college credit at an institution of higher education or
are employed as an aide in a special education program and have one
year's experience as an aide in special education;
(11) "Aide IV" means personnel referred to in the "Aide I"
classification who hold a high school diploma or a general
educational development certificate and who have completed eighteen
hours of state board-approved college credit at a regionally
accredited institution of higher education, or who have completed
fifteen hours of state board-approved college credit at a
regionally accredited institution of higher education and
successfully completed an in-service training program determined by
the state board to be the equivalent of three hours of college
credit;
(12) "Audiovisual technician" means personnel employed to
perform minor maintenance on audiovisual equipment, films, supplies
and the filling of requests for equipment;
(13) "Auditor" means personnel employed to examine and verify
accounts of individual schools and to assist schools and school
personnel in maintaining complete and accurate records of their
accounts;
(14) "Autism mentor" means personnel who work with autistic
students and who meet standards and experience to be determined by
the state board: Provided, That if any employee has held or holds
an aide title and becomes employed as an autism mentor, the
employee shall hold a multiclassification status that includes aide
and autism mentor titles, in accordance with section eight-b of
this article;
(15) "Braille or sign language specialist" means personnel
employed to provide braille and/or sign language assistance to
students: Provided, That if any employee has held or holds an aide
title and becomes employed as a braille or sign language
specialist, the employee shall hold a multiclassification status
that includes aide and braille or sign language specialist title,
in accordance with section eight-b of this article;
(16) "Bus operator" means personnel employed to operate school
buses and other school transportation vehicles as provided by the
state board;
(17) "Buyer" means personnel employed to review and write
specifications, negotiate purchase bids and recommend purchase
agreements for materials and services that meet predetermined
specifications at the lowest available costs;
(18) "Cabinetmaker" means personnel employed to construct
cabinets, tables, bookcases and other furniture;
(19) "Cafeteria manager" means personnel employed to direct
the operation of a food services program in a school, including
assigning duties to employees, approving requisitions for supplies
and repairs, keeping inventories, inspecting areas to maintain high
standards of sanitation, preparing financial reports and keeping
records pertinent to food services of a school;
(20) "Carpenter I" means personnel classified as a carpenter's
helper;
(21) "Carpenter II" means personnel classified as a journeyman
carpenter;
(22) "Chief mechanic" means personnel employed to be
responsible for directing activities which ensure that student
transportation or other board-owned vehicles are properly and
safely maintained;
(23) "Clerk I" means personnel employed to perform clerical
tasks;
(24) "Clerk II" means personnel employed to perform general
clerical tasks, prepare reports and tabulations and operate office
machines;
(25) "Computer operator" means qualified personnel employed to
operate computers;
(26) "Cook I" means personnel employed as a cook's helper;
(27) "Cook II" means personnel employed to interpret menus, to
prepare and serve meals in a food service program of a school and
shall include personnel who have been employed as a "Cook I" for a
period of four years, if the personnel have not been elevated to
this classification within that period of time;
(28) "Cook III" means personnel employed to prepare and serve
meals, make reports, prepare requisitions for supplies, order
equipment and repairs for a food service program of a school
system;
(29) "Crew leader" means personnel employed to organize the work for a crew of maintenance employees to carry out assigned
projects;
(30) "Custodian I" means personnel employed to keep buildings
clean and free of refuse;
(31) "Custodian II" means personnel employed as a watchman or
groundsman;
(32) "Custodian III" means personnel employed to keep
buildings clean and free of refuse, to operate the heating or
cooling systems and to make minor repairs;
(33) "Custodian IV" means personnel employed as head
custodians. In addition to providing services as defined in
"custodian III," their duties may include supervising other
custodian personnel;
(34) "Director or coordinator of services" means personnel who
are assigned to direct a department or division. Nothing in this
subdivision may prohibit professional personnel or professional
educators as defined in section one, article one of this chapter,
from holding this class title, but professional personnel may not
be defined or classified as service personnel unless the
professional personnel held a service personnel title under this
section prior to holding class title of "director or coordinator of
services." Directors or coordinators of service positions shall be
classified as either a professional personnel or service personnel
position for state aid formula funding purposes and funding for directors or coordinators of service positions shall be based upon
the employment status of the director or coordinator either as a
professional personnel or service personnel;
(35) "Draftsman" means personnel employed to plan, design and
produce detailed architectural/engineering drawings;
(36) "Electrician I" means personnel employed as an apprentice
electrician helper or who holds an electrician helper license
issued by the State Fire Marshal;
(37) "Electrician II" means personnel employed as an
electrician journeyman or who holds a journeyman electrician
license issued by the State Fire Marshal;
(38) "Electronic technician I" means personnel employed at the
apprentice level to repair and maintain electronic equipment;
(39) "Electronic technician II" means personnel employed at
the journeyman level to repair and maintain electronic equipment;
(40) "Executive secretary" means personnel employed as the
county school superintendent's secretary or as a secretary who is
assigned to a position characterized by significant administrative
duties;
(41) "Food services supervisor" means qualified personnel not
defined as professional personnel or professional educators in
section one, article one of this chapter, employed to manage and
supervise a county school system's food service program. The
duties would include preparing in-service training programs for cooks and food service employees, instructing personnel in the
areas of quantity cooking with economy and efficiency and keeping
aggregate records and reports;
(42) "Foremen" means skilled persons employed for supervision
of personnel who work in the areas of repair and maintenance of
school property and equipment;
(43) "General maintenance" means personnel employed as helpers
to skilled maintenance employees and to perform minor repairs to
equipment and buildings of a county school system;
(44) "Glazier" means personnel employed to replace glass or
other materials in windows and doors and to do minor carpentry
tasks;
(45) "Graphic artist" means personnel employed to prepare
graphic illustrations;
(46) "Groundsmen" means personnel employed to perform duties
that relate to the appearance, repair and general care of school
grounds in a county school system. Additional assignments may
include the operation of a small heating plant and routine cleaning
duties in buildings;
(47) "Handyman" means personnel employed to perform routine
manual tasks in any operation of the county school system;
(48) "Heating and air conditioning mechanic I" means personnel
employed at the apprentice level to install, repair and maintain
heating and air conditioning plants and related electrical equipment;
(49) "Heating and air conditioning mechanic II" means
personnel employed at the journeyman level to install, repair and
maintain heating and air conditioning plants and related electrical
equipment;
(50) "Heavy equipment operator" means personnel employed to
operate heavy equipment;
(51) "Inventory supervisor" means personnel who are employed
to supervise or maintain operations in the receipt, storage,
inventory and issuance of materials and supplies;
(52) "Key punch operator" means qualified personnel employed
to operate key punch machines or verifying machines;
(53) "Locksmith" means personnel employed to repair and
maintain locks and safes;
(54) "Lubrication man" means personnel employed to lubricate
and service gasoline or diesel-powered equipment of a county school
system;
(55) "Machinist" means personnel employed to perform machinist
tasks which include the ability to operate a lathe, planer, shaper,
threading machine and wheel press. These personnel should also
have, the ability to work from blueprints and drawings;
(56) "Mail clerk" means personnel employed to receive, sort,
dispatch, deliver or otherwise handle letters, parcels and other
mail;
(57) "Maintenance clerk" means personnel employed to maintain
and control a stocking facility to keep adequate tools and supplies
on hand for daily withdrawal for all school maintenance crafts;
(58) "Mason" means personnel employed to perform tasks
connected with brick and block laying and carpentry tasks related
to such laying;
(59) "Mechanic" means personnel employed who can independently
perform skilled duties in the maintenance and repair of
automobiles, school buses and other mechanical and mobile equipment
to use in a county school system;
(60) "Mechanic assistant" means personnel employed as a
mechanic apprentice and helper;
(61) "Multiclassification" means personnel employed to perform
tasks that involve the combination of two or more class titles in
this section. In these instances the minimum salary scale shall be
the higher pay grade of the class titles involved;
(62) "Office equipment repairman I" means personnel employed
as an office equipment repairman apprentice or helper;
(63) "Office equipment repairman II" means personnel
responsible for servicing and repairing all office machines and
equipment. Personnel are responsible for parts being purchased
necessary for the proper operation of a program of continuous
maintenance and repair;
(64) "Painter" means personnel employed to perform duties of painting, finishing and decorating of wood, metal and concrete
surfaces of buildings, other structures, equipment, machinery and
furnishings of a county school system;
(65) "Paraprofessional" means a person certified pursuant to
section two-a, article three of this chapter to perform duties in
a support capacity including, but not limited to, facilitating in
the instruction and direct or indirect supervision of pupils under
the direction of a principal, a teacher or another designated
professional educator: Provided, That no person employed on the
effective date of this section in the position of an aide may be
reduced in force or transferred to create a vacancy for the
employment of a paraprofessional: Provided, however, That if any
employee has held or holds an aide title and becomes employed as a
paraprofessional, the employee shall hold a multiclassification
status that includes aide and paraprofessional titles in accordance
with section eight-b of this article: Provided further, That once
an employee who holds an aide title becomes certified as a
paraprofessional and is required to perform duties that may not be
performed by an aide without paraprofessional certification, he or
she shall receive the paraprofessional title pay grade;
(66) "Payroll supervisor" means personnel who are employed in
the county board office who have primary responsibility for the
payroll function, which may include the supervision of other
personnel, and who have either completed twelve college hours of accounting from an accredited institution of higher education or
have at least eight years of experience performing progressively
difficult accounting tasks;
(67) "Plumber I" means personnel employed as an apprentice
plumber and helper;
(68) "Plumber II" means personnel employed as a journeyman
plumber;
(69) "Printing operator" means personnel employed to operate
duplication equipment, and as required, to cut, collate, staple,
bind and shelve materials;
(70) "Printing supervisor" means personnel employed to
supervise the operation of a print shop;
(71) "Programmer" means personnel employed to design and
prepare programs for computer operation;
(72) "Roofing/sheet metal mechanic" means personnel employed
to install, repair, fabricate and maintain roofs, gutters, flashing
and duct work for heating and ventilation;
(73) "Sanitation plant operator" means personnel employed to
operate and maintain a water or sewage treatment plant to ensure
the safety of the plant's effluent for human consumption or
environmental protection;
(74) "School bus supervisor" means qualified personnel
employed to assist in selecting school bus operators and routing
and scheduling of school buses, operate a bus when needed, relay instructions to bus operators, plan emergency routing of buses and
promoting good relationships with parents, pupils, bus operators
and other employees;
(75) "Secretary I" means personnel employed to transcribe from
notes or mechanical equipment, receive callers, perform clerical
tasks, prepare reports and operate office machines;
(76) "Secretary II" means personnel employed in any
elementary, secondary, kindergarten, nursery, special education,
vocational or any other school as a secretary. The duties may
include performing general clerical tasks, transcribing from notes
or stenotype or mechanical equipment or a sound-producing machine,
preparing reports, receiving callers and referring them to proper
persons, operating office machines, keeping records and handling
routine correspondence. There is nothing implied in this
subdivision that would prevent the employees from holding or being
elevated to a higher classification;
(77) "Secretary III" means personnel assigned to the county
board office administrators in charge of various instructional,
maintenance, transportation, food services, operations and health
departments, federal programs or departments with particular
responsibilities of purchasing and financial control or any
personnel who have served in a position which meets the definition
of "secretary II" or "secretary III" in this section for eight
years;
(78) "Supervisor of maintenance" means skilled personnel not
defined as professional personnel or professional educators as in
section one, article one of this chapter. The responsibilities
would include directing the upkeep of buildings and shops, issuing
instructions to subordinates relating to cleaning, repairs and
maintenance of all structures and mechanical and electrical
equipment of a board;
(79) "Supervisor of transportation" means qualified personnel
employed to direct school transportation activities, properly and
safely, and to supervise the maintenance and repair of vehicles,
buses and other mechanical and mobile equipment used by the county
school system;
(80) "Switchboard operator-receptionist" means personnel
employed to refer incoming calls, to assume contact with the
public, to direct and to give instructions as necessary, to operate
switchboard equipment and to provide clerical assistance;
(81) "Truck driver" means personnel employed to operate light
or heavy duty gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles;
(82) "Warehouse clerk" means personnel employed to be
responsible for receiving, storing, packing and shipping goods;
(83) "Watchman" means personnel employed to protect school
property against damage or theft. Additional assignments may
include operation of a small heating plant and routine cleaning
duties;
(84) "Welder" means personnel employed to provide acetylene or
electric welding services for a school system; and
(85) "WVEIS data entry and administrative clerk" means
personnel employed to work under the direction of a school
principal to assist the school counselor or counselors in the
performance of administrative duties, to perform data entry tasks
on the West Virginia Education Information System, and to perform
other administrative duties assigned by the principal.
(j) In addition to the compensation provided for in section
eight-a of this article, for service personnel, each service
employee is, notwithstanding any provisions in this code to the
contrary, entitled to all service personnel employee rights,
privileges and benefits provided under this or any other chapter of
this code without regard to the employee's hours of employment or
the methods or sources of compensation.
(k) Service personnel whose years of employment exceed the
number of years shown and provided for under the state minimum pay
scale set forth in section eight-a of this article may not be paid
less than the amount shown for the maximum years of employment
shown and provided for in the classification in which he or she is
employed. Upon the completion of fifteen years of service each
service employee shall be paid one pay grade higher than his or her
current pay grade.
(l) The county boards shall review each service personnel employee job classification annually and shall reclassify all
service employees as required by the job classifications. The
State Superintendent of Schools may withhold state funds
appropriated pursuant to this article for salaries for service
personnel who are improperly classified by the county boards.
Further, the State Superintendent shall order county boards to
correct immediately any improper classification matter and with the
assistance of the Attorney General shall take any legal action
necessary against any county board to enforce the order.
(m) No service employee, without his or her written consent,
may be reclassified by class title, nor may a service employee,
without his or her written consent, be relegated to any condition
of employment which would result in a reduction of his or her
salary, rate of pay, compensation or benefits earned during the
current fiscal year or which would result in a reduction of his or
her salary, rate of pay, compensation or benefits for which he or
she would qualify by continuing in the same job position and
classification held during that fiscal year and subsequent years.
(n) Any board failing to comply with the provisions of this
article may be compelled to do so by mandamus, and is liable to any
party prevailing against the board for court costs and the
prevailing party's reasonable attorney fee, as determined and
established by the court.
(o) Notwithstanding any provisions in this code to the contrary, service personnel who hold a continuing contract in a
specific job classification and who are physically unable to
perform the job's duties as confirmed by a physician chosen by the
employee shall be given priority status over any employee not
holding a continuing contract in filling other service personnel
job vacancies if qualified as provided in section eight-e of this
article.
§18A-4-8j. Salary increase for service personnel.
In addition to the salary of service personnel determined by
other provisions of this code, each school service personnel shall
receive an increase in salary of:
(1) Six percent, beginning on the first day of July, two
thousand seven;
(2) Five percent, beginning on the first day of July, two
thousand eight; and
(3) Four percent, beginning on the first day of July, two
thousand nine.
§18A-4-15. Employment of service personnel substitutes.
(a) The county board shall employ and the county
superintendent, subject to the approval of the county board, shall
assign substitute service personnel on the basis of seniority to
perform any of the following duties:
(1) To fill the temporary absence of another service employee;
(2) To fill the position of a regular service employee who requests a leave of absence from the county board in writing and
who is granted the leave in writing by the county board, and to
fill the position of a regular service employee who is on workers'
compensation and absent: Provided, That if the absence is to
extend beyond thirty working days, the county board shall post the
position of the absent employee under the procedures set forth in
section eight-b of this article. If a substitute service employee
is employed to fill the position of the absent employee and is
employed in the position for twenty or more working days, the
substitute service personnel shall have regular employment status
and be accorded all rights, privileges and benefits pertaining to
the position until the regular employee returns to the position or
ceases to be employed by the county board: Provided, however, That
if a regular or substitute employee fills a vacancy that is related
to a leave of absence or the absence of an employee on workers'
compensation in any manner as provided in this section, upon
termination of the absence the employee shall be returned to his or
her original position: Provided further, That no service person
may be required to request or to take a leave of absence: And
provided further, That no service person shall may be deprived of
any right or privilege of regular employment status for refusal to
request or failure to take a leave of absence;
(3) To perform the service of a service employee who is
authorized to be absent from duties without loss of pay;
(4) To temporarily fill a vacancy in a permanent position
caused by severance of employment by the resignation, transfer,
retirement, permanent disability, dismissal pursuant to section
eight, article two of this chapter, or death of the regular service
employee who had been assigned to fill the position: Provided,
That within twenty working days from the commencement of the
vacancy, the board shall fill the vacancy under the procedures set
out in section eight-b of this article and section five, article
two of this chapter and the person hired to fill the vacancy shall
have and shall be accorded all rights, privileges and benefits
pertaining to the position;
(5) To fill the vacancy created by a regular employee's
suspension: Provided, That if the suspension is for more than
thirty working days, the county board shall post the position of
the suspended employee under the procedures set forth in section
eight-b of this article. If a substitute service employee is
employed to fill the suspended employee's position, the substitute
service personnel shall have regular employment status and be
accorded all rights, privileges and benefits pertaining to the
position until the termination by the county board becomes final or
the suspended employee is returned to employment. If the suspended
employee is not returned to his or her job, the board shall fill
the vacancy under the procedures set out in section eight-b of this
article and section five, article two of this chapter; and
(6) To temporarily fill a vacancy in a newly created position
prior to employment of a service personnel on a regular basis under
the procedure set forth in section eight-b of this article.
(b) Substitutes shall be assigned in the following manner: A
substitute with the greatest length of service time, that is, from
the date he or she began his or her assigned duties as a substitute
in that particular category of employment, shall be given priority
in accepting the assignment throughout the period of the regular
employee's absence or until the vacancy is filled on a regular
basis under the procedures set out in section eight-b of this
article. All substitutes shall be employed on a rotating basis
according to the length of their service time until each substitute
has had an opportunity to perform similar assignments: Provided,
That if there are regular service employees employed in the same
building or working station as the absent employee and who are
employed in the same classification category of employment, the
regular employees shall be first offered the opportunity to fill
the position of the absent employee on a rotating and seniority
basis with the substitute then filling the regular employee's
position. A regular employee assigned to fill the position of an
absent employee shall be given the opportunity to hold that
position throughout the absence. For the purpose of this section
only, all regularly employed school bus operators are considered to
be employed within the same building or working station.
(c) Regular school service personnel shall be returned by the
county board of education to the same position held prior to any
approved leave of absence or period of recovery from injury or
illness. The school service personnel shall retain all rights,
privileges and benefits which had accrued at the time of the
absence or accrued under any other provision of law during the
absence and shall have all rights, privileges and benefits
generally accorded school service employees at the time of return
to work.
(d) (1) The salary of a substitute service employee shall be
based upon his or her years of employment as defined in section
eight of this article and as provided in the state minimum pay
scale set forth in section eight-a of this article and shall be in
accordance with the salary schedule of persons regularly employed
in the same position in the county in which he or she is employed.
(2) A substitute service employee who has completed two
hundred cumulative working days shall be given incremental salary
increases as per the salary scale for regular employees, and the
increases shall continue with each additional two hundred working
days after that.
(e) Before any substitute service employee enters upon his or
her duties, he or she shall execute with the county board a written
contract as provided in section five, article two of this chapter.
(f) To establish a uniform system of providing a fair and equitable opportunity for substitutes to enter upon their duties
for the first time, the following method shall be used: The
initial order of assigning newly employed substitutes shall be
determined by a random selection system established by the affected
substitute employees and approved by the county board. This
initial priority order shall be in effect only until the substitute
service personnel have entered upon their duties for the first
time.
(g) Substitute service employees who have worked thirty days
for a school system shall have all rights pertaining to suspension,
dismissal and contract renewal as is granted to regular service
personnel in sections six, seven, eight and eight-a, article two of
this chapter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to: Make school service
personnel eligible for early notification of retirement payments;
make the guidelines for scheduling
cooks mandatory; require county
boards of education to employ a custodian IV at each school and
office building under its control; provide supplemental salary
increases for certain substitute service personnel; and provide
general and longevity salary increases for school service
personnel.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.