The Board recognizes that it is vital to the successful operation of the District that positions created by the Board be filled with highly qualified and competent personnel. All personnel shall be appointed or re-appointed as prescribed by Florida statutes and in conformance with applicable State Board of Education rules and Board rules.

The Board shall approve employment upon recommendation of the Superintendent. The employment of support staff members prior to approval by the Board is authorized when their employment is required to maintain continuity in District operations. Employment shall be recommended to the Board no later than the month following employment.

As defined by Florida statutes, educational support employees include employees whose job functions are neither administrative nor instructional yet whose work supports the educational process. These employees are subject to dismissal, transfer, promotion, or resignation pursuant to the applicable individual contract, bargaining agreement, Board policy, and Florida statutes.

When interviews are conducted by interview teams, including those with community representatives, the team shall reasonably reflect the District's diverse racial, ethnic, and gender composition. The Superintendent shall monitor and ensure that appointments and assignments are consistent with the District's intent of maintaining a diverse workforce.

Upon initial employment, non-instructional employees shall serve a probationary period. If a collective bargaining agreement does not provide for the conditions of a probationary period, then the following provisions shall apply:

Employees who satisfactorily complete the probationary period will become regular employees.

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

All support personnel shall become familiar with the policies of the Board and other such policies, regulations, memoranda, bulletins, and handbooks that pertain to their duties in the District. Any support staff member 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 such other lesser penalty as the Board may prescribe.

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

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

The Board shall approve employment, upon recommendation of the Superintendent, except for good cause (F.S. 1012.22(1)).

All paraprofessionals employed by the District to provide instructional support services in Title I schoolwide programs and instructional paraprofessionals paid with Title I, Part A funds in targeted assistance programs shall be "highly qualified".

F.S. 1012.01,1012.22(1), 1012.27(6), 1012.315, 1012.37, 1012.40
F.A.C. 6A-1.0502(11), 6A-1.070
20 U.S.C. 6301
ss. 25, 26, ch. 2008-208 L.O.F.

Adopted 7/17/07
Revised 10/7/08
Revised 5/3/11