3120 - EMPLOYMENT OF PROFESSIONAL STAFF

Avondale School District

Bylaws & Policies

3120 - EMPLOYMENT OF PROFESSIONAL STAFF

The Board of Education 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.

The Board shall approve the employment, and also, when not covered by the terms of a negotiated collective bargaining agreement, fix the compensation, and establish the term of employment for each professional staff member employed by this District.

Individuals employed in the following categories shall be considered members of the professional staff:

	A.	administrators above the title of supervisor
	B.	members of the teachers' bargaining unit

All professional staff are subject to a criminal history record check. See Policy 3121.

Such approval shall be given only to those candidates for employment recommended by the Superintendent.

When any recommended candidate has been rejected by the Board, the Superintendent shall make a substitute recommendation.

New employees of the Avondale School District will not be hired until they certify that they are not an immediate relative of a Board of Education or Administrative Staff member. Immediate relatives, for the purpose of this policy, shall be defined as follows:

husband, wife, mother, father, mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister, brother, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, daughter, son, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, grandmother, grandfather, or other people living within the same household.

This policy is not intended to prevent the hiring of such relatives for temporary help, summer employment, or nontenured coaching positions.

Any professional staff member's misstatement of fact material to qualifications for employment or the determination of salary should be considered by this Board to constitute grounds for dismissal.

The temporary employment of professional staff members prior to approval by the Board is authorized when their employment is required to maintain continuity in the educational program. Employment shall be recommended to the Board at the next regular meeting.

No candidate for employment as a professional staff member shall receive recommendation for such employment without having proffered visual evidence of proper certification or that application for such certification is in process, except under the following circumstances:

The Superintendent may hire an individual who does not hold a valid teaching certificate to serve in a counseling, social worker or speech pathologist role provided s/he meets all the requirements established by law. Policy 3120 and Policy 3121 shall apply with respect to that individual in the same manner required for employing a person with a teaching certificate.

Professional staff with initial certificates hired beginning with the 2004-2005 school year must possess a certificate from either the American Red Cross, the American Heart Association or a comparable agency certified in CPR training, Heimlich maneuver and other ways to prevent choking. Copies of this certification must be on file in the District office.

A teacher who has physical limitations preventing him/her from performing CPR shall be exempt from this requirement.

REQUIREMENTS FOR TITLE I TEACHERS

All teachers hired after the first day of the 2002-2003 school year for a Title I supported program must be "highly qualified."

"Highly Qualified" means:

	A.	full State certification as a teacher or passed State teacher licensing exam and holds current license to teach; certification or license requirements may not be waived on emergency, temporary, or provisional basis;
	B.	for elementary teachers new to the profession, this also requires:

		1.	at least a bachelor’s degree;
		2.	passing a rigorous State test on subject knowledge and teaching skills in reading, writing, math, and other areas of elementary curriculum (State certification test may suffice);

for secondary or middle school teachers new to the profession this also requires:

		1.	at least a bachelor’s degree, and
		2.	passing a rigorous State test in each of the subject areas s/he will teach (State certification test may suffice), or
		3.	for each academic subject taught, having an academic major, course work equivalent to an undergraduate major, a graduate degree, or advanced certification or credentialing;

for elementary, middle, or secondary school teachers with prior experience, this also requires:

		1.	at least a bachelor’s degree, and
		2.	meets standards for new teachers (above), or
		3.	demonstrates competence in all academic subjects s/he teaches based on a uniform State standard of evaluation (standard for academic subject matter and teaching skills set by the State).

REQUIREMENTS FOR TEACHERS IN DISTRICT RECEIVING TITLE I FUNDING

By the end of the 2005-2006 school year, all core subject teachers (as defined in the No Child Left Behind Act) in a District receiving Title I funds shall be "highly qualified" as described above. The District must have a plan and show annual progress towards meeting these teacher qualification requirements.

M.C.L.A. 380.1229 – 1231, 380.1233, 380.1237, 380.1531d, 380.623
20 U.S.C. 6319 & 7801

Revised 10/96
Revised 8/01
Revised 2/02
Revised 12/02
Revised 12/15/03
Revised 11/04
Revised 1/23/06
Revised 5/15/06