1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; clarifying and amending certain education provisions; 
1.3 	analyzing state and district reporting systems;amending Minnesota Statutes 
1.4 	2006, sections 205A.03, subdivision 1; 205A.06, subdivision 1a; Minnesota 
1.5 	Statutes 2007 Supplement, section 123B.143, subdivision 1.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2007 Supplement, section 123B.143, subdivision 1, 
1.8 	is amended to read:
1.9 		Subdivision 1.Contract; duties. All districts maintaining a classified secondary 
1.10 	school must employ a superintendent who shall be an ex officio nonvoting member of the 
1.11 	school board. The authority for selection and employment of a superintendent must be 
1.12 	vested in the board in all cases. An individual employed by a board as a superintendent 
1.13 	shall have an initial employment contract for a period of time no longer than three years 
1.14 	from the date of employment. Any subsequent employment contract must not exceed a 
1.15 	period of three years. A board, at its discretion, may or may not renew an employment 
1.16 	contract. A board must not, by action or inaction, extend the duration of an existing 
1.17 	employment contract. Beginning 365 days prior to the expiration date of an existing 
1.18 	employment contract, a board may negotiate and enter into a subsequent employment 
1.19 	contract to take effect upon the expiration of the existing contract. A subsequent contract 
1.20 	must be contingent upon the employee completing the terms of an existing contract. If a 
1.21 	contract between a board and a superintendent is terminated prior to the date specified in 
1.22 	the contract, the board may not enter into another superintendent contract with that same 
1.23 	individual that has a term that extends beyond the date specified in the terminated contract. 
1.24 	A board may terminate a superintendent during the term of an employment contract for any 
1.25 	of the grounds specified in section 122A.40, subdivision 9 or 13. A superintendent shall 
2.1 	not rely upon an employment contract with a board to assert any other continuing contract 
2.2 	rights in the position of superintendent under section 122A.40. Notwithstanding the 
2.3 	provisions of sections 122A.40, subdivision 10 or 11, 123A.32, 123A.75, or any other law 
2.4 	to the contrary, no individual shall have a right to employment as a superintendent based 
2.5 	on order of employment in any district. If two or more districts enter into an agreement for 
2.6 	the purchase or sharing of the services of a superintendent, the contracting districts have 
2.7 	the absolute right to select one of the individuals employed to serve as superintendent 
2.8 	in one of the contracting districts and no individual has a right to employment as the 
2.9 	superintendent to provide all or part of the services based on order of employment in a 
2.10 	contracting district. The superintendent of a district shall perform the following: 
2.11 	(1) visit and supervise the schools in the district, report and make recommendations 
2.12 	about their condition when advisable or on request by the board;
2.13 	(2) recommend to the board employment and dismissal of teachers;
2.14 	(3) superintend school grading practices and examinations for promotions;
2.15 	(4) make reports required by the commissioner; and
2.16 	(5) by January 10, submit an annual report to the commissioner in a manner 
2.17 	prescribed by the commissioner, in consultation with school districts, identifying the 
2.18 	expenditures that the district requires to ensure an 80 percent student passage rate on 
2.19 	the MCA-IIs taken in the eighth grade, identifying the highest student passage rate the 
2.20 	district expects it will be able to attain on the MCA-IIs by grade 12, and the amount of 
2.21 	expenditures that the district requires to attain the targeted student passage rate; and
2.22 	(6) perform other duties prescribed by the board.

2.23 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

2.24 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 205A.03, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
2.25 		Subdivision 1.Required Resolution requiring primary in certain circumstances.
 2.26 	In The school board of a school district election, may, by resolution adopted by June 1 of 
2.27 	any year, decide to choose school board nominees by a primary under this section. The 
2.28 	resolution, when adopted, is effective for all subsequent board member elections in the 
2.29 	school district until it is revoked. If the board decides to choose nominees by primary 
2.30 	and if there are more than two candidates for a specified school board position or more 
2.31 	than twice as many school board candidates as there are at-large school board positions 
2.32 	available, a school district must hold a primary.

2.33 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

3.1 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 205A.06, subdivision 1a, is amended to read:
3.2 		Subd. 1a.Filing period. In school districts that have adopted a resolution to choose 
3.3 	nominees for school board by a primary election, affidavits of candidacy must be filed 
3.4 	with the school district clerk no earlier than the 70th day and no later than the 56th day 
3.5 	before the first Tuesday after the second Monday in September in the year when the 
3.6 	school district general election is held. In all other school districts, affidavits of candidacy 
3.7 	must be filed no earlier than the 70th day and no later than the 56th day before the school 
3.8 	district's general election.

3.9 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

3.10 	Sec. 4. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION REPORT.
 3.11 	The Department of Education must submit a report to the education committees of 
3.12 	the legislature by January 15, 2009, analyzing the department's data collection procedures 
3.13 	under each of the department's major data reporting systems and recommend a streamlined, 
3.14 	Web-based system of reporting school district data. The report also must analyze existing 
3.15 	stand-alone school district reporting requirements and recommend the elimination of any 
3.16 	district reports that are duplicative of other data already collected by the department.