1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; providing for evaluation of 
  1.3             probationary teachers; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.4             2002, section 122A.40, subdivision 5. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 122A.40, 
  1.7   subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.8      Subd. 5.  [PROBATIONARY PERIOD.] (a) The first three 
  1.9   consecutive years of a teacher's first teaching experience in 
  1.10  Minnesota in a single district is deemed to be a probationary 
  1.11  period of employment, and after completion thereof, the 
  1.12  probationary period in each district in which the teacher is 
  1.13  thereafter employed shall be one year.  The school board must 
  1.14  adopt a plan for written evaluation of teachers during the 
  1.15  probationary period.  Evaluation must occur at least three times 
  1.16  each year for a teacher performing services on 120 or more 
  1.17  school days, at least two times each year for a teacher 
  1.18  performing services on 60 to 119 school days, and at least one 
  1.19  time each year for a teacher performing services on fewer than 
  1.20  60 school days.  The evaluation must be conducted during the 
  1.21  school year with at least one evaluation at the approximate 
  1.22  midpoint of the relevant service period.  Days devoted to 
  1.23  parent-teacher conferences, teachers' workshops, and other staff 
  1.24  development opportunities and days on which a teacher is absent 
  1.25  from school must not be included in determining the number of 
  2.1   school days on which a teacher performs services.  Except as 
  2.2   otherwise provided in paragraph (b), during the probationary 
  2.3   period any annual contract with any teacher may or may not be 
  2.4   renewed as the school board shall see fit.  However, failure to 
  2.5   provide the evaluation required under this section will result 
  2.6   in the automatic renewal of that teacher's annual contract.  The 
  2.7   board must give any such teacher whose contract it declines to 
  2.8   renew for the following school year written notice to that 
  2.9   effect before July 1.  If the teacher requests reasons for any 
  2.10  nonrenewal of a teaching contract, the board must give the 
  2.11  teacher its reason in writing, including a statement that 
  2.12  appropriate supervision was furnished describing the nature and 
  2.13  the extent of such supervision furnished the teacher during the 
  2.14  employment by the board, within ten days after receiving such 
  2.15  request.  The school board may, after a hearing held upon due 
  2.16  notice, discharge a teacher during the probationary period for 
  2.17  cause, effective immediately, under section 122A.44.  
  2.18     (b) A board must discharge a probationary teacher, 
  2.19  effective immediately, upon receipt of notice under section 
  2.20  122A.20, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), that the teacher's 
  2.21  license has been revoked due to a conviction for child abuse or 
  2.22  sexual abuse.