The School Board recognizes that it is vital to the successful operation of the District that administrative positions created by the Board be filled with highly qualified and competent personnel. Administrators are individuals who supervise the resources, operations, and management of school(s) and/or department(s) and meet established qualifications.

The Board shall approve the employment, determine the compensation, and establish the term of employment for each administrator employed by the Board. Approval shall be given only to those candidates for employment recommended by the Superintendent.

Any administrative staff member's misstatement of fact material to qualifications for employment or the determination of salary shall be considered to constitute grounds for dismissal.

Any person desiring employment shall file a completed application on the form provided by the Superintendent.

Any person employed in an administrative position requiring certification must be eligible to obtain a valid certificate issued pursuant to Florida law or issued by the School Board, and shall file the certificate with the District.

The Board may establish reciprocal certification agreements with other Florida school districts whose employment and/or certification requirements are comparable to those of the District.

The Board shall require a candidate for employment with an out-of-district certificate not comparable to the District certification to complete all requirements for initial employment and certification.

Florida Statute states that "the first ninety-seven (97) days of an initial principal’s or supervisor’s contract is a probationary period. During the probationary period, the employee may be dismissed without cause or may resign from the contractual position without breach of contract." This statement means that individuals who are appointed into their initial administrative positions in the state of Florida will have a ninety-seven (97) day probationary period.

All administrators shall become familiar with the policies of the Board and other policies, regulations, memoranda, bulletins, and handbooks that pertain to their duties in the District. Any administrator employed by the Board who shall be guilty of any willful violation of the policies of the Board shall be guilty of gross insubordination and shall be subject to dismissal or other lesser penalty as the Board may prescribe.

A candidate shall be disqualified from employment in any administrative position that requires direct contact with students if the candidate is ineligible for such employment under F.S. 1012.315.

In addition to specific requirements and qualifications listed in job descriptions, a candidate must be of good moral character and must have attained the age of eighteen (18).

The Superintendent shall also conduct employment history checks of all candidates for administrative positions. The employment history check shall include, but not be limited to, contacting all previous employers and screening the candidate through the use of screening tools described in state law. If contact with (a) previous employer(s) cannot be made, the Superintendent shall document the efforts to do so.

When interviews are conducted by interview teams, the team shall reasonably reflect the community's diverse racial, ethnic, and gender composition.

The Superintendent or designee shall monitor and ensure that appointments and assignments are consistent with the District's intent of maintaining a diverse work force.

New administrative staff members shall be fingerprinted, at their own expense, prior to payment of any salary warrant.

Pre-employment drug and alcohol screening will be required of all applicants, at their own expense, prior to being awarded employment with the Board. The term "applicant" refers to a person who has applied for a position with the Board and has been offered employment conditioned upon successfully passing a drug test. (Refer to Policy 1162.01 for further information on drug testing.)

F.S. 1012.01, 1012.23, 1012.315, 1012.32, 1012.33, 1012.55, 1012.56

Revised 1/27/09