Bill Text: VA HB9 | 2022 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Public school teachers; probationary term of service, grounds for dismissal, and dismissal hearings.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-02-17 - Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health (9-Y 6-N) [HB9 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2022-HB9-Prefiled.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§22.1-303, 22.1-307, 22.1-311, and 22.1-313 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§22.1-303. Probationary terms of service for teachers.
A. A probationary term of service of at least three years and, at the option of the local school board, up to five years in the same school division shall be required before a teacher is issued a continuing contract. School boards shall provide each probationary teacher except probationary teachers who have prior successful teaching experience, as determined by the local school board in a school division, a mentor teacher, as described by Board guidelines developed pursuant to §22.1-305.1, during the first year of the probationary period, to assist such probationary teacher in achieving excellence in instruction. During the probationary period, such probationary teacher shall be evaluated annually based upon the evaluation procedures developed by the employing school board for use by the division superintendent and principals in evaluating teachers as required by subsection C of §22.1-295. A teacher in his first year of the probationary period shall be evaluated informally at least once during the first semester of the school year. The division superintendent shall consider such evaluations, among other things, in making any recommendations to the school board regarding the nonrenewal of such probationary teacher's contract as provided in §22.1-305.
If the teacher's performance evaluation during the probationary period is not satisfactory, the school board shall not reemploy the teacher; however, nothing contained in this subsection shall be construed to require cause, as defined in §22.1-307, for the nonrenewal of the contract of a teacher who has not achieved continuing contract status.
Any teacher hired on or after July 1, 2001, shall be required, as a condition of achieving continuing contract status, to have successfully completed training in instructional strategies and techniques for intervention for or remediation of students who fail or are at risk of failing the Standards of Learning assessments. Local school divisions shall be required to provide said training at no cost to teachers employed in their division. In the event a local school division fails to offer said training in a timely manner, no teacher will be denied continuing contract status for failure to obtain such training.
B. Once a continuing contract status has been attained in a school division in the Commonwealth, another probationary period need not be served in any other school division unless such probationary period, not to exceed two years, is made a part of the contract of employment. Further, when a teacher has attained continuing contract status in a school division in the Commonwealth and separates from and returns to teaching service in a school division in Virginia by the beginning of the third year, such teacher shall be required to serve a probationary period not to exceed two years, if made a part of the contract for employment.
C. For the purpose of calculating the years of service required to attain continuing contract status, at least 160 contractual teaching days during the school year shall be deemed the equivalent of one year in the first year of service by a teacher.
D. Teachers holding
three-year local eligibility licenses issued prior to July 1, 2013, shall not
be eligible for continuing contract status while teaching under the authority
of such license. Upon attainment of a collegiate professional or postgraduate
professional license issued by the Department of Education, such teachers shall
serve a probationary term of service of three years prior to being eligible for
continuing contract status pursuant to this section.
§22.1-307. Dismissal of teacher; grounds.
A. As used in this section, "incompetency" may be construed to include consistent failure to meet the endorsement requirements for the position or one or more unsatisfactory performance evaluations.
B. Teachers may be dismissed for incompetency, immorality, noncompliance with school laws and regulations, disability as shown by competent medical evidence when in compliance with federal law, conviction of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude, or other good and just cause. A teacher shall be dismissed if such teacher is or becomes the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse and neglect, pursuant to §63.2-1505, and after all rights to any administrative appeal provided by §63.2-1526 have been exhausted. The fact of such finding, after all rights to any administrative appeal provided by §63.2-1526 have been exhausted, shall be grounds for the local school division to recommend that the Board of Education revoke such person's license to teach. No teacher shall be dismissed or placed on probation solely on the basis of the teacher's refusal to submit to a polygraph examination requested by the school board.
§22.1-311. Hearing before school board or hearing officer.
A. Upon a timely request for a hearing pursuant to §22.1-309,
the school board or, at the option of the school board, a hearing officer
appointed by the school board or a three-member
fact-finding panel shall set a hearing no later
than 15 days after the request and the teacher shall be
given at least 10 five
days' written notice of the time and the place. The hearing shall be private
unless the teacher requests the hearing to be public. At the hearing the
teacher may appear with or without a representative and be heard, presenting
testimony of witnesses and other evidence. The school board may hear a
recommendation for dismissal and make a determination whether to make a
recommendation to the Board of Education regarding the teacher's license at the
same hearing or hold a separate hearing for each action.
B. Each school board may appoint an impartial hearing officer from outside the school division to conduct hearings pursuant to this section. A hearing officer shall not have been involved in the recommendation of dismissal as a witness or a representative. A hearing officer shall possess some knowledge and expertise in public education and education law and be capable of presiding over an administrative hearing. The hearing officer shall schedule and preside over such hearings and shall create a record or recording of such proceedings. The hearing officer shall make a written recommendation to the school board, a copy of which shall be provided to the teacher. The hearing officer shall transmit the recommendation and the record or recording of the hearing to the school board as soon as practicable and no more than 10 business days after the hearing. In the event of a hearing before a hearing officer, the school board may make its decision upon the record or recording of such hearing, pursuant to §22.1-313, or the school board may elect to conduct a further hearing to receive additional evidence by giving written notice of the time and place to the teacher and the division superintendent within 10 business days after the board receives the record or recording of the initial hearing. Such notice shall also specify each matter to be inquired into by the school board.
C. Each school board may elect
for a three-member fact-finding panel to conduct hearings pursuant to this section.
The teacher and the division superintendent shall each select one panel member,
and the two panel members so selected shall select an impartial hearing officer
to serve as the chairman of the panel. The fact-finding panel shall schedule
and preside over such hearings and shall create a record or recording of such
proceedings. The fact-finding panel shall make a written recommendation to the
school board, a copy of which shall be provided to the teacher. The
fact-finding panel shall transmit the recommendation and the record or
recording of the hearing to the school board as soon as practicable but in no
case more than 10 business days after the hearing. In the event of a hearing
before a fact-finding panel, the school board may make its decision upon the
record or recording of such hearing, pursuant to §22.1-313, or the school
board may elect to conduct a further hearing to receive additional evidence by
giving written notice of the time and place of the hearing to the teacher and
the division superintendent within 10 business days after the board receives
the record or recording of the initial hearing. Such notice shall also specify
each matter to be inquired into by the school board.
D. A
record or recording of any hearing conducted pursuant to this section shall be
made. The parties shall share the cost of the recording equally. In proceedings
concerning grievances not related to dismissal, the recording may be dispensed
with entirely by mutual consent of the parties. In such proceedings, if the recording
is not dispensed with, the two parties shall share the cost of the recording
equally; if either party requests a transcript, that party shall bear the
expense of its preparation. In cases of dismissal, the record or recording
shall be preserved for a period of six months. If the school board requests
that a transcript be made at any time prior to expiration of the six-month
period, it shall be made and copies shall be furnished to both parties. The
school board shall bear the cost of the transcription.
E. D. Witnesses
who are employees of the school board shall be granted release time if the
hearing is held during the school day. The hearing shall be held at the school
in which most witnesses work, if feasible.
§22.1-313. Decision of school board; generally.
A. The school board shall retain its exclusive final authority over matters concerning employment and supervision of its personnel, including dismissals and suspensions.
B. In the case of a hearing before the school board, the school board shall give the teacher its written decision as soon as practicable but in no case more than 30 days after the hearing.
C. In the case of a hearing before a hearing officer appointed
by the school board or a three-member
fact-finding panel, the school board shall give the teacher
its written decision as soon as practicable but in no case more than 30 days
after receiving the record or recording of the hearing; however, should there
be a further hearing before the school board, such decision shall be furnished
the teacher as soon as practicable but in no case more than 30 days after such
further hearing.
D. A teacher may be dismissed or suspended by a majority of a quorum of the school board.
E. The school board's attorney, assistants, or representative, if he or they represented a participant in the prior proceedings, the grievant, the grievant's attorney or representative, and notwithstanding the provisions of §22.1-69, the superintendent shall be excluded from any executive session of the school board which has as its purpose reaching a decision on a grievance. However, immediately after a decision has been made and publicly announced, as in favor of or not in favor of the grievant, the school board's attorney or representative and the superintendent may join the school board in executive session to assist in the writing of the decision.
F. In those instances when licensed personnel are dismissed or resign due to a conviction of any felony, any offense involving the sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse or rape of a child, any offense involving drugs, or due to having become the subject of a founded case of child abuse or neglect, the local school board shall notify the Board of Education within 10 business days of such dismissal or the acceptance of such resignation.
