HF 2275

as introduced - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to education; defining a work year for
purposes of completing a probationary period of
teaching; defining early childhood family education
teachers as public employees; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2004, sections 122A.40, subdivision 5;
122A.41, subdivision 2; 179A.03, subdivision 14.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 122A.40,
subdivision 5, is amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Probationary period.

(a) The first three
consecutive years of a teacher's first teaching experience in
Minnesota in a single district is deemed to be a probationary
period of employment, and after completion thereof, the
probationary period in each district in which the teacher is
thereafter employed shall be one year. The school board must
adopt a plan for written evaluation of teachers during the
probationary period. Evaluation must occur at least three times
each year for a teacher performing services on 120 or more
school days, at least two times each year for a teacher
performing services on 60 to 119 school days, and at least one
time each year for a teacher performing services on fewer than
60 school days. Days devoted to parent-teacher conferences,
teachers' workshops, and other staff development opportunities
and days on which a teacher is absent from school must not be
included in determining the number of school days on which a
teacher performs services. Except as otherwise provided in
paragraph (b), during the probationary period any annual
contract with any teacher may or may not be renewed as the
school board shall see fit. However, the board must give any
such teacher whose contract it declines to renew for the
following school year written notice to that effect before July
1. If the teacher requests reasons for any nonrenewal of a
teaching contract, the board must give the teacher its reason in
writing, including a statement that appropriate supervision was
furnished describing the nature and the extent of such
supervision furnished the teacher during the employment by the
board, within ten days after receiving such request. The school
board may, after a hearing held upon due notice, discharge a
teacher during the probationary period for cause, effective
immediately, under section 122A.44.

(b) A board must discharge a probationary teacher,
effective immediately, upon receipt of notice under section
122A.20, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), that the teacher's
license has been revoked due to a conviction for child abuse or
sexual abuse.

new text begin (c) A probationary teacher must complete at least 60 days
of teaching service each year during the probationary period.
Days devoted to parent-teacher conferences, teachers' workshops,
and other staff development opportunities and days on which a
teacher is absent from school do not count as days of teaching
service under this paragraph.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2005.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 122A.41,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Probationary period; discharge or demotion.

new text begin (a)
new text end All teachers in the public schools in cities of the first class
during the first three years of consecutive employment shall be
deemed to be in a probationary period of employment during which
period any annual contract with any teacher may, or may not, be
renewed as the school board, after consulting with the peer
review committee charged with evaluating the probationary
teachers under subdivision 3, shall see fit. The school site
management team or the school board if there is no school site
management team, shall adopt a plan for a written evaluation of
teachers during the probationary period according to subdivision
3. Evaluation by the peer review committee charged with
evaluating probationary teachers under subdivision 3 shall occur
at least three times each year for a teacher performing services
on 120 or more school days, at least two times each year for a
teacher performing services on 60 to 119 school days, and at
least one time each year for a teacher performing services on
fewer than 60 school days. Days devoted to parent-teacher
conferences, teachers' workshops, and other staff development
opportunities and days on which a teacher is absent from school
shall not be included in determining the number of school days
on which a teacher performs services. The school board may,
during such probationary period, discharge or demote a teacher
for any of the causes as specified in this code. A written
statement of the cause of such discharge or demotion shall be
given to the teacher by the school board at least 30 days before
such removal or demotion shall become effective, and the teacher
so notified shall have no right of appeal therefrom.

new text begin (b) A probationary teacher must complete at least 60 days
of teaching service each year during the probationary period.
Days devoted to parent-teacher conferences, teachers' workshops,
and other staff development opportunities and days on which a
teacher is absent from school do not count as days of teaching
service under this paragraph.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2005.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 179A.03,
subdivision 14, is amended to read:

Subd. 14.

Public employee or employee.

"Public employee"
or "employee" means any person appointed or employed by a public
employer except:

(a) elected public officials;

(b) election officers;

(c) commissioned or enlisted personnel of the Minnesota
National Guard;

(d) emergency employees who are employed for emergency work
caused by natural disaster;

(e) part-time employees whose service does not exceed the
lesser of 14 hours per week or 35 percent of the normal work
week in the employee's appropriate unit;

(f) employees whose positions are basically temporary or
seasonal in character and: (1) are not for more than 67 working
days in any calendar year; or (2) are not for more than 100
working days in any calendar year and the employees are under
the age of 22, are full-time students enrolled in a nonprofit or
public educational institution prior to being hired by the
employer, and have indicated, either in an application for
employment or by being enrolled at an educational institution
for the next academic year or term, an intention to continue as
students during or after their temporary employment;

(g) employees providing services for not more than two
consecutive quarters to the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota
State Colleges and Universities under the terms of a
professional or technical services contract as defined in
section 16C.08, subdivision 1;

(h) employees of charitable hospitals as defined by section
179.35, subdivision 3;

(i) full-time undergraduate students employed by the school
which they attend under a work-study program or in connection
with the receipt of financial aid, irrespective of number of
hours of service per week;

(j) an individual who is employed for less than 300 hours
in a fiscal year as an instructor in an adult vocational
education program;

(k) an individual hired by the Board of Trustees of the
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities to teach one course
for three or fewer credits for one semester in a year;

(l) with respect to court employees:

(1) personal secretaries to judges;

(2) law clerks;

(3) managerial employees;

(4) confidential employees; and

(5) supervisory employees.

The following individuals are public employees regardless
of the exclusions of clauses (e) and (f):

(i) an employee hired by a school district or the Board of
Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities except
at the university established in section 136F.13 or for
community services or community education instruction offered on
a noncredit basis: (A) to replace an absent teacher or faculty
member who is a public employee, where the replacement employee
is employed more than 30 working days as a replacement for that
teacher or faculty member; or (B) to take a teaching position
created due to increased enrollment, curriculum expansion,
courses which are a part of the curriculum whether offered
annually or not, or other appropriate reasons; deleted text begin and
deleted text end

(ii) an employee hired for a position under clause (f)(1)
if that same position has already been filled under clause
(f)(1) in the same calendar year and the cumulative number of
days worked in that same position by all employees exceeds 67
calendar days in that year. For the purpose of this paragraph,
"same position" includes a substantially equivalent position if
it is not the same position solely due to a change in the
classification or title of the position new text begin ; and
new text end

new text begin (iii) an early childhood family education teacher employed
by a school district new text end .

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2005.
new text end