Harrison School District Two

District Policy Index Section G Index: Personnel

DISTRICT POLICY GCQA Instructional Staff Reduction in Force Date of revision:  January 24, 2013

Instructional Staff Reduction in Force

A justifiable reduction in the number of school professional positions occurs when the Board determines that a fiscal exigency exists and/or program change is to be made that requires cancellation of one or more school professional contracts. In the event of a potential reduction in force, the following policy and accompanying regulation shall apply and any cancellation of a school professional's employment contract shall be in accordance with this policy and accompanying regulation. This policy and accompanying regulation shall not apply to school professional dismissals, non-renewals or other personnel actions that do not result in a reduction in the number of teaching positions in the District.

Definitions

For purposes of this policy and accompanying regulation, the following definitions shall apply.

• "Cancellation of employment" means the cessation of employment of a school professional when there is a justifiable reduction in the number of school professional positions in the District for reasons of fiscal exigency or program change.
• "Teacher" means any person who is defined as a teacher under the Teacher Employment, Compensation, and Dismissal Act of 1990, C.R.S. 22-63-101 et seq.
• "Fiscal exigency" means any significant decline in the Board of Education's ability to fund the operations of the District as a result of a decline in student enrollment, restrictions on revenues, increased costs or any other action, event or condition that may cause the District's current or projected budget to be insufficient to adequately meet the District's current or projected needs. A fiscal exigency may exist based solely upon current revenue and expenditure projections.
• "Program change" means the elimination, curtailment or reorganization of curriculum, programs or operations, or a reorganization or consolidation of two or more individual schools. A program change may or may not be related to a fiscal exigency.
• "Day" means each calendar day; provided, however, that if the deadline for any action under this policy or accompanying regulation falls on a Saturday, Sunday or official school holiday, the next following day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or official school holiday shall be the deadline for such action.

Board of Education's Preliminary Determination and Statement

If the Board determines a fiscal exigency exists and/or program change is to be made and such determination may require the cancellation of employment of one or more school professionals, it shall adopt a statement that reasonably identifies the fiscal exigency and/or program change and reasons therefore. This statement shall be transmitted to the Superintendent and made available to District faculty. The Board shall establish the actual number of school professional contracts to be canceled or the amount of school professional salaries and benefits to be reduced consistent with the Board's authority to establish educational programs within the District.

Superintendent's Action

Within thirty (30) days after receiving the statement from the Board, the Superintendent shall submit to the Board recommendations for canceling the employment of particular school professionals. In making this recommendation, the Superintendent shall not be limited to considering only the school professionals in the areas or program designated by the Board in its adopted statements.

The Superintendent shall consider the following as significant factors in recommending a school professional for cancellation of employment:

• The needs of the District
• Merit, meaning school professional performance that includes student achievement results as determined by the school professional's performance rating over the previous three year period as assigned pursuant to the District's performance evaluation system. If the school professional does not have three years of performance ratings from the District, then the Superintendent shall consider only those available performance ratings. Nothing in this policy requires consideration of evaluations conducted in other school districts.

After consideration of merit and only if it is in the best interest of students, the Superintendent may consider the following factors in recommending a school professional for cancellation of employment:

• Professional experience including experience as an administrator
• Education, licensing endorsements and other professional qualifications
• Length of service
• Non-probationary and probationary status

In the event all factors are equal, cancellation of employment shall be accomplished in a manner that best supports the interest of the School District.

Notice and Board Action

Notice to individual school professionals and any resulting cancellation of employment by the Board shall be in accordance with this policy's accompanying regulation.

LEGAL REFERENCES:
C.R.S. 22-60.5-101 et seq. (teacher licensure law)
C.R.S. 22-63-202(3)
C.R.S. 22-63-101 et seq. (Teacher Employment, Compensation, and Dismissal Act of 1990)
C.R.S. 22-63-103(11) (definition of teacher)