1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; defining a work year for
1.3 	purposes of completing a probationary period of
1.4 	teaching; defining early childhood family education
1.5 	teachers as public employees; amending Minnesota
1.6 	Statutes 2004, sections 122A.40, subdivision 5;
1.7 	122A.41, subdivision 2; 179A.03, subdivision 14.
1.8 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.9 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 122A.40,
1.10 	subdivision 5, is amended to read:
1.11 		Subd. 5.Probationary period.  (a) The first three
1.12 	consecutive years of a teacher's first teaching experience in
1.13 	Minnesota in a single district is deemed to be a probationary
1.14 	period of employment, and after completion thereof, the
1.15 	probationary period in each district in which the teacher is
1.16 	thereafter employed shall be one year.  The school board must
1.17 	adopt a plan for written evaluation of teachers during the
1.18 	probationary period.  Evaluation must occur at least three times
1.19 	each year for a teacher performing services on 120 or more
1.20 	school days, at least two times each year for a teacher
1.21 	performing services on 60 to 119 school days, and at least one
1.22 	time each year for a teacher performing services on fewer than
1.23 	60 school days.  Days devoted to parent-teacher conferences,
1.24 	teachers' workshops, and other staff development opportunities
1.25 	and days on which a teacher is absent from school must not be
1.26 	included in determining the number of school days on which a
2.1 	teacher performs services.  Except as otherwise provided in
2.2 	paragraph (b), during the probationary period any annual
2.3 	contract with any teacher may or may not be renewed as the
2.4 	school board shall see fit.  However, the board must give any
2.5 	such teacher whose contract it declines to renew for the
2.6 	following school year written notice to that effect before July
2.7 	1.  If the teacher requests reasons for any nonrenewal of a
2.8 	teaching contract, the board must give the teacher its reason in
2.9 	writing, including a statement that appropriate supervision was
2.10 	furnished describing the nature and the extent of such
2.11 	supervision furnished the teacher during the employment by the
2.12 	board, within ten days after receiving such request.  The school
2.13 	board may, after a hearing held upon due notice, discharge a
2.14 	teacher during the probationary period for cause, effective
2.15 	immediately, under section 122A.44.
2.16 	(b) A board must discharge a probationary teacher,
2.17 	effective immediately, upon receipt of notice under section
2.18 	122A.20, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), that the teacher's
2.19 	license has been revoked due to a conviction for child abuse or
2.20 	sexual abuse.
2.21 	(c) A probationary teacher must complete at least 60 days
2.22 	of teaching service each year during the probationary period.
2.23 	Days devoted to parent-teacher conferences, teachers' workshops,
2.24 	and other staff development opportunities and days on which a
2.25 	teacher is absent from school do not count as days of teaching
2.26 	service under this paragraph.
2.27 	
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective July 1, 2005.

2.28 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 122A.41,
2.29 	subdivision 2, is amended to read:
2.30 		Subd. 2.Probationary period; discharge or demotion. (a) 
2.31 	All teachers in the public schools in cities of the first class
2.32 	during the first three years of consecutive employment shall be
2.33 	deemed to be in a probationary period of employment during which
2.34 	period any annual contract with any teacher may, or may not, be
2.35 	renewed as the school board, after consulting with the peer
2.36 	review committee charged with evaluating the probationary
3.1 	teachers under subdivision 3, shall see fit.  The school site
3.2 	management team or the school board if there is no school site
3.3 	management team, shall adopt a plan for a written evaluation of
3.4 	teachers during the probationary period according to subdivision
3.5 	3.  Evaluation by the peer review committee charged with
3.6 	evaluating probationary teachers under subdivision 3 shall occur
3.7 	at least three times each year for a teacher performing services
3.8 	on 120 or more school days, at least two times each year for a
3.9 	teacher performing services on 60 to 119 school days, and at
3.10 	least one time each year for a teacher performing services on
3.11 	fewer than 60 school days.  Days devoted to parent-teacher
3.12 	conferences, teachers' workshops, and other staff development
3.13 	opportunities and days on which a teacher is absent from school
3.14 	shall not be included in determining the number of school days
3.15 	on which a teacher performs services.  The school board may,
3.16 	during such probationary period, discharge or demote a teacher
3.17 	for any of the causes as specified in this code.  A written
3.18 	statement of the cause of such discharge or demotion shall be
3.19 	given to the teacher by the school board at least 30 days before
3.20 	such removal or demotion shall become effective, and the teacher
3.21 	so notified shall have no right of appeal therefrom.
3.22 	(b) A probationary teacher must complete at least 60 days
3.23 	of teaching service each year during the probationary period.
3.24 	Days devoted to parent-teacher conferences, teachers' workshops,
3.25 	and other staff development opportunities and days on which a
3.26 	teacher is absent from school do not count as days of teaching
3.27 	service under this paragraph.
3.28 	
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective July 1, 2005.

3.29 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 179A.03,
3.30 	subdivision 14, is amended to read:
3.31 		Subd. 14.Public employee or employee.  "Public employee"
3.32 	or "employee" means any person appointed or employed by a public
3.33 	employer except:
3.34 	(a) elected public officials;
3.35 	(b) election officers;
3.36 	(c) commissioned or enlisted personnel of the Minnesota
4.1 	National Guard;
4.2 	(d) emergency employees who are employed for emergency work
4.3 	caused by natural disaster;
4.4 	(e) part-time employees whose service does not exceed the
4.5 	lesser of 14 hours per week or 35 percent of the normal work
4.6 	week in the employee's appropriate unit;
4.7 	(f) employees whose positions are basically temporary or
4.8 	seasonal in character and:  (1) are not for more than 67 working
4.9 	days in any calendar year; or (2) are not for more than 100
4.10 	working days in any calendar year and the employees are under
4.11 	the age of 22, are full-time students enrolled in a nonprofit or
4.12 	public educational institution prior to being hired by the
4.13 	employer, and have indicated, either in an application for
4.14 	employment or by being enrolled at an educational institution
4.15 	for the next academic year or term, an intention to continue as
4.16 	students during or after their temporary employment;
4.17 	(g) employees providing services for not more than two
4.18 	consecutive quarters to the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota
4.19 	State Colleges and Universities under the terms of a
4.20 	professional or technical services contract as defined in
4.21 	section 16C.08, subdivision 1;
4.22 	(h) employees of charitable hospitals as defined by section
4.23 	179.35, subdivision 3;
4.24 	(i) full-time undergraduate students employed by the school
4.25 	which they attend under a work-study program or in connection
4.26 	with the receipt of financial aid, irrespective of number of
4.27 	hours of service per week;
4.28 	(j) an individual who is employed for less than 300 hours
4.29 	in a fiscal year as an instructor in an adult vocational
4.30 	education program;
4.31 	(k) an individual hired by the Board of Trustees of the
4.32 	Minnesota State Colleges and Universities to teach one course
4.33 	for three or fewer credits for one semester in a year;
4.34 	(l) with respect to court employees:
4.35 	(1) personal secretaries to judges;
4.36 	(2) law clerks;
5.1 	(3) managerial employees;
5.2 	(4) confidential employees; and
5.3 	(5) supervisory employees.
5.4 	The following individuals are public employees regardless
5.5 	of the exclusions of clauses (e) and (f):
5.6 	(i) an employee hired by a school district or the Board of
5.7 	Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities except
5.8 	at the university established in section 136F.13 or for
5.9 	community services or community education instruction offered on
5.10 	a noncredit basis:  (A) to replace an absent teacher or faculty
5.11 	member who is a public employee, where the replacement employee
5.12 	is employed more than 30 working days as a replacement for that
5.13 	teacher or faculty member; or (B) to take a teaching position
5.14 	created due to increased enrollment, curriculum expansion,
5.15 	courses which are a part of the curriculum whether offered
5.16 	annually or not, or other appropriate reasons; and 
5.17 	(ii) an employee hired for a position under clause (f)(1)
5.18 	if that same position has already been filled under clause
5.19 	(f)(1) in the same calendar year and the cumulative number of
5.20 	days worked in that same position by all employees exceeds 67
5.21 	calendar days in that year.  For the purpose of this paragraph,
5.22 	"same position" includes a substantially equivalent position if
5.23 	it is not the same position solely due to a change in the
5.24 	classification or title of the position; and 
5.25 	(iii) an early childhood family education teacher employed
5.26 	by a school district.
5.27 	
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective July 1, 2005.