3131 - REDUCTION IN STAFF
It is the responsibility of the Board to provide the staff necessary for the implementation of the educational program of the District and the operation of the schools and to do so efficiently and economically.
The Board reserves the right to abolish positions in the District and to reduce the staff whenever reasons of decreased enrollment of students, return to duty of regular professional staff members after leaves of absence, suspension of schools or territorial changes affecting the District, or other warranted circumstances.
Where appropriate, attrition may be used to achieve the necessary number of position reductions.
Selection for Reduction - Steps
In the implementation of staff reductions under this section, individual employees shall be selected for full or partial layoff in accordance with the following steps:
Step One - Attrition: Normal attrition resulting from employees retiring or resigning will be relied upon to the extent that it is administratively feasible in implementing reducing staff.
Step Two - Selection for Reduction/Layoff: The District shall select the employee in the affected grade level, department/certification area for nonrenewal (full nonrenewal or a reduction in hours).
The District shall utilize the following criteria in order of application for determining the employee for nonrenewal:
Educational Needs of the District: Will be those needs as identified and determined by the Board through normal channels in accord with its constituted authority.
Qualifications as Established by the Board: Including, but not limited to specific skills, certification (if applicable), training, District evaluations, etc.
Qualifications of the Employees in the Certification Area: Relevant qualifications will be those experiences and training that best relate to the position(s) to be maintained and District needs as determined by the Board.
Performance of the Employees Considered for Nonrenewal: Performance of the employees under consideration, as determined by the Educator Effectiveness process. Performance factors shall include but not be limited to implementing research-based instructional practices, utilizing student data to guide instruction, and implementing District goals and initiatives.
Length of Service of the Employee
Length of Service: Is defined as length of service with the District commencing on the most recent date of hire.
Tie Breaker on Length of Service: In the event two (2) or more employees start on the same date, the employee who is senior shall be determined by the District.
Length of Service List: The District will annually produce a length of service list by November 1st.
No employee whose position has been eliminated shall have any right to be contacted by the District in the event that a vacancy opens in the future for which the laid off employee may be qualified. Likewise, no such employee is entitled to a future position or is provided any preference over other applicants. Any employee whose position was eliminated under this policy may file a grievance under Policy 3340.Staff whose employment ended with the District due to a reduction in force, shall not be prevented from applying for future positions with the District.
Staff Furloughs
A furlough is a temporary reduction in hours for individuals or groups of employees that is intended to be of a short and predetermined duration, either in terms of days, weeks, or until the resumption of school operations. Furloughs differ from lay-offs in that a lay-off is of an indefinite, potentially permanent nature.
In the event of a temporary disruption to school services due to unforeseen circumstances, such as a public health emergency, natural disaster, or some other disruption to school programming the Board may authorize the District Administrator to temporarily furlough employees by reducing employee hours, provided that a plan is presented to the Board for consideration.
Furloughs may be targeted to a particular department, building, or program. Furloughs may be used to reduce all employees' hours consistent with the District's needs while minimizing the impact on individual staff members. Generally speaking, furloughs should be administered in a way to avoid any employee from serving a furlough period of a full week or more in a row, wherever possible. This may involve distributing furlough days or blocks of days shorter than a full week, spread out over a period of several weeks or months.
Furloughs may be unpaid if based on budgetary concerns, or employees may be allowed to use available accrued paid time off. Furloughs shall be used only in a manner consistent with any individual contract requirements, or other employee rights or benefits, such as FMLA benefits.
Revised 2/20/17
Revised 12/21/20
T.C. 6/21/21
T.C. 4/17/23
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