School employees: reduction in workforce.

(1) Under existing law, when school employees are terminated pursuant to a reduction in workforce, a school district is required to terminate the employees in order of seniority. Existing law authorizes a school district to deviate from the order of seniority for those purposes for specified reasons. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2018, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2019. (2) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to terminate the services of any permanent or probationary certificated employees of the school district during the time period between 5 days after the enactment of the Budget Act and August 15 of the fiscal year to which the Budget Act applies if the governing board of the school district determines that its total revenue limit per unit of average daily attendance for the fiscal year of that Budget Act has not increased by at least 2%, and if the governing board of the school district determines it is therefore necessary to decrease the number of permanent employees in the school district. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2018, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2019. (3) Existing law provides that, when the services of permanent or probationary employees are terminated pursuant to a reduction in workforce, those terminated employees have a preferred right to reappointment and an opportunity for substitute service in order of seniority, as specified. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2018, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2019. (4) Existing law prohibits, for purposes of complying with those procedures, a school district from including time spent employed in an administrative position by a certificated employee, who transfers to a teaching position and who was initially employed in an administrative position on or after July 1, 1983, in determining seniority, except in the case of a schoolsite administrator, as specified. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2018, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2019. (5) Existing law prohibits a school district from counting as a part of the service required as a condition precedent to the classification of the employee as a permanent employee of the school district the period of absence for certain terminated probationary employees. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2018, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2019. (6) Existing law extends the effective period of specified rights, and provides additional rights to certain permanent certificated employees, as specified. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2018, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2019. (7) Existing law provides that certain statutory layoff provisions are inapplicable to certain probationary certificated employees who are covered by a collective agreement which contains provisions for the layoff and reassignment of those employees. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2018, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2019. (8) This bill would require, by July 1, 2018, each governing board of a school district, in consultation with the exclusive representative of the certificated staff, if any, to adopt policies regarding the dismissal of permanent and probationary employees when a reduction in workforce is required due to declining enrollment or insufficient funding to be used commencing with the 2018–19 school year. The bill would require those adopted policies to include as a significant factor in determining the order of dismissal the evaluation rating of certificated employees, as specified. The bill would permit a school district to deviate from using the evaluation rating of certificated employees as a significant factor in determining the order of dismissal of certificated employees if the school district demonstrates specified conditions. By requiring school districts to perform additional duties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would provide that, to the extent these provisions conflict with any provision of a collective bargaining agreement entered into before January 1, 2016, by a public school employer and an exclusive bargaining representative, the provisions shall not apply to the school district until the expiration or renewal of that collective bargaining agreement. (9) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.