1997 Minnesota Statutes

     122.535 Agreements for secondary education. 

    Subdivision 1.    Applicability.  The provisions of this 
 section shall apply to a district with fewer than 375 pupils 
 enrolled in grades 7 to 12.  

    Subd. 2.    Agreement.  The school board may enter into 
 one or more agreements providing for instruction of its 
 secondary pupils in one or more districts.  The agreement shall 
 be effective on July 1 and shall be for a specified or 
 indefinite number of years.  The agreement shall set forth the 
 obligations of transportation, the tuition to be paid to the 
 providing district, and all additional charges and fees to be 
 paid to the providing district.  The amount of tuition shall not 
 be subject to the provisions of section 124.18, subdivision 2.  
 The agreement may provide for negotiation of a plan for the 
 assignment or employment in a providing district as an exchange 
 teacher according to section 125.13, or placement on unrequested 
 leave of absence of teachers whose positions are discontinued as 
 a result of the agreement.  "Teacher" has the meaning given it 
 in section 125.12, subdivision 1.  

    Subd. 3.    Informational meeting.  Before entering into 
 agreements permitted by subdivision 2 of this section, the 
 school board shall hold a public hearing.  The board shall 
 publish notice of the hearing in the newspaper with the largest 
 circulation in the district.  If the board proposes to enter 
 into agreements with two or more districts, the board may 
 conduct separate or consolidated hearings.  

    Subd. 4.    Review and comment.  After the hearing 
 required by subdivision 3 and before entering into an agreement, 
 the board shall submit the agreement to the commissioner of 
 children, families, and learning for review and comment.  

    Subd. 5.    Aid payments.  A district entering into an 
 agreement permitted in subdivision 2 of this section shall 
 continue to count its resident pupils who are educated in other 
 districts as resident pupils in the calculation of pupil units 
 for the purposes of state aids, levy limitations, and any other 
 purpose.  A district may continue to provide transportation and 
 collect transportation aid for its resident pupils.  For 
 purposes of aid calculations, the commissioner of children, 
 families, and learning may adjust the cost per eligible pupil 
 transported to reflect changes in cost resulting from the 
 agreement, if any.  

    Subd. 6.    Severance pay.  A district shall pay 
 severance pay to a teacher who is placed on unrequested leave of 
 absence by the district as a result of the agreement.  A teacher 
 is eligible under this subdivision if the teacher: 

    (1) is a teacher, as defined in section 125.12, subdivision 
 1, but not a superintendent; 

    (2) has a continuing contract with the district according 
 to section 125.12, subdivision 4. 

    The amount of severance pay shall be equal to the teacher's 
 salary for the school year during which the teacher was placed 
 on unrequested leave of absence minus the gross amount the 
 teacher was paid during the 12 months following the teacher's 
 termination of salary, by an entity whose teachers by statute or 
 rule must possess a valid Minnesota teaching license, and minus 
 the amount a teacher receives as severance or other similar pay 
 according to a contract with the district or district policy.  
 These entities include, but are not limited to, the school 
 district that placed the teacher on unrequested leave of 
 absence, another school district in Minnesota, an education 
 district, an intermediate school district, a SC, a board formed 
 under section 471.59, a state residential academy, the Lola and 
 Rudy Perpich Minnesota center for arts education, a vocational 
 center, or a special education cooperative.  These entities do 
 not include a school district in another state, a Minnesota 
 public post-secondary institution, or a state agency.  Only 
 amounts earned by the teacher as a substitute teacher or in a 
 position requiring a valid Minnesota teaching license shall be 
 subtracted.  A teacher may decline any offer of employment as a 
 teacher without loss of rights to severance pay. 

    To determine the amount of severance pay that is due for 
 the first six months following termination of the teacher's 
 salary, the district may require the teacher to provide 
 documented evidence of the teacher's employers and gross 
 earnings during that period.  The district shall pay the teacher 
 the amount of severance pay it determines to be due from the 
 proceeds of the levy for this purpose.  To determine the amount 
 of severance pay that is due for the second six months of the 12 
 months following the termination of the teacher's salary, the 
 district may require the teacher to provide documented evidence 
 of the teacher's employers and gross earnings during that 
 period.  The district shall pay the teacher the amount of 
 severance pay it determines to be due from the proceeds of the 
 levy for this purpose.  

    A teacher who receives severance pay under this subdivision 
 waives all further reinstatement rights under section 125.12, 
 subdivision 6a or 6b.  If the teacher receives severance pay, 
 the teacher shall not receive credit for any years of service in 
 the district paying severance pay prior to the year in which the 
 teacher becomes eligible to receive severance pay. 

    The severance pay is subject to section 465.72.  The 
 district may levy annually according to section 124.912, 
 subdivision 1, for the severance pay.  

    HIST: 1983 c 314 art 8 s 8; 1990 c 562 art 6 s 6; 1991 c 130 s 
 37; 1991 c 265 art 6 s 18; 1992 c 499 art 12 s 29; 1Sp1995 c 3 
 art 16 s 13; 1996 c 305 art 1 s 138; 1996 c 412 art 9 s 19; art 
 13 s 10