3120 - EMPLOYMENT OF PROFESSIONAL STAFF

Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township

Bylaws & Policies

3120 - EMPLOYMENT OF PROFESSIONAL STAFF

The School 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.

The Board shall approve the employment, and also, when not covered by the terms of a negotiated 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.	Certified Teachers
	B.	Social Workers
	C.	Administrators

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

Relatives of Board members may be employed by the Board, provided the member of the Board involved does not participate in any way in the discussion or vote on the employment.

Should the Board choose to employ a family member as herein defined, both the family member and the Board member must file a conflict of interest statement.

Relatives of staff members may be employed by the Board, provided the staff member being employed is not placed in a position in which s/he would be supervised directly by the relative staff member.

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

The 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.

Wherever possible, positions shall be filled by properly-licensed professionals.

No candidate for employment as a professional staff member shall receive recommendation for such employment without having proffered visual evidence of his/her certification or pending application for certification. Such certification must indicate all of the areas in which the candidate has been certified. No deletions are acceptable.

The Superintendent shall prepare administrative guidelines for the recruitment and selection of all professional staff.

VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS

If a staff member is a volunteer firefighter and has notified the School District in writing that s/he is a volunteer firefighter, the School District may not discipline the staff member for being absent from duty by reason of responding to a fire or emergency call that was received prior to the time the staff member was to report to duty or for leaving his/her duty station to respond to a fire or an emergency call if s/he has authorization from his/her supervisor to leave duty in response to a call received after s/he has reported to work.

The School District may require that the staff member present a written statement from the officer in charge of the volunteer fire department at the time of the absence indicating the staff member was engaged in an emergency call at the time of his/her absence.

REQUIREMENTS FOR TITLE I TEACHERS

All teachers newly hired 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 DISTRICTS RECEIVING TITLE I FUNDING

By the 2005-2006 school year, all teachers 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.

I.C. 20-26-5-4, 35-44-1-3, 36-8-12-10.5
20 U.S.C. 6319 & 7801