In February, Kirk Strang spoke at the WASDA New Superintendent’s Academy on the topic of teacher contracts and contract renewal. Part 1 of this series was all about teacher contracts, including the fundamentals of these contracts, and things to watch for (or maybe even change).
In Part 2 of the series, our discussion shifts to teacher contract renewal with a focus on timeline, as well as procedures to remember — or what Kirk likes to call “hot tips to impress your school board.”
Let’s begin …
TIMELINE
- Have a timeline with your administrative team which includes:
- Identifying possible nonrenewal and schedule for preparing necessary materials (evaluations, POI, etc.);
- A period for the superintendent and counsel to review and advise;
- A period for finalizing the recommendation;
- Time for superintendent review; and
- Identifying board meeting for recommendation.
- Final notice of renewal/nonrenewal must be given by May 15.
-
Preliminary notice must be given 15 days before final notice (there is no specific date established for preliminary notice).
NOTE: Both the final and preliminary notice must be in writing.
- Private Conference.
- The preliminary notice must inform the teacher that he/she may request a private conference with the board before the board issues the final notice.
- The teacher must file his/her request within 5 days of receiving the preliminary notice.
- Hold the private conference such that final notice can be given by May 15. Never put the private conference too close to the date that preliminary notice was given. If you must have the two events in less than 15 days, have a waiver in writing.
- Make sure that the preliminary notice has been approved by the full board and that a board representative (president or clerk) has signed it.
- According to the letter of the statute, the board “shall inform the teacher by preliminary notice in writing” (emphasis added). There has never been a case decided in Wisconsin that examined the meaning and application of what it means to “inform,” so there’s no sure answer on whether it means mailing, emailing, personal service, or something else. Therefore, make sure preliminary notices are in teachers’ hands by the deadline.
- Evaluations.
- Boards must evaluate, in writing, the performance of all certified school personnel at the end of their first year and at least every 3rd year thereafter.
- Principals and others that evaluate teachers should be advised that all evaluations must be completed by “X”. (I prefer the end of February or mid-March.) A superintendent’s ability to go forward with nonrenewal is limited if annual evaluations have not been completed or — where they have been completed — do not support the recommendation.
- With the exception of true misconduct cases (which may wind up being discharge cases instead of nonrenewals), nonrenewal recommendations often are and, indeed, may need to be supported by thorough evaluations (formal and informal).
- If you are considering nonrenewal of a teacher, consider whether you have been adequately briefed by the principal so that you are satisfied that the evaluations support the recommendation (and certainly don’t serve to undermine it).
- If the evaluation instrument doesn’t really cover the primary concerns with the teacher’s performance, that is cause for reviewing the tool/rubric/form, but also calls for more written evaluation material.
In school districts where nonrenewal is subject to the grievance procedure, failure to perform an evaluation may support reversal of the nonrenewal.
PROCEDURES TO REMEMBER (HOT TIPS TO IMPRESS YOUR SCHOOL BOARD)
- Technically, the nonrenewal statute only applies to full-time teachers, unless you have language in a teacher contract, handbook, or policy that grants the benefit of nonrenewal procedures to part-time teachers.
-
Co-curricular assignments.
Some teachers also work co-curricular assignments, such as athletic coaching positions.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has held that there is no requirement to give notice of nonrenewal of a co-curricular assignment that is part of a larger teacher’s contract.
Richards v. Sheboygan Board of Education, 58 Wis. 2d 444, 206 N.W.2d 597 (1973).
-
A teacher contract will continue for the ensuing year, by operation of law, if the statutory procedures for nonrenewal are not followed.
The statutory notice requirements cannot be evaded by inserting contradictory language into the teacher contract. If a teacher enters into a contract that provides that it will not be renewed at the end of its term, the board still must comply with the statutory notice and conference requirements in order to properly nonrenew the contract.
Faust v. Ladysmith-Hawkins School Systems, 88 Wis. 2d 525, 277 N.W.2d 303, 281 N.W.2d 611 (1979).
- Read the teacher contract. Remember, pre-Act 10, almost the entire contract yielded to a collective bargaining agreement. Post-Act 10, the individual teacher contract is the only contract that matters.
-
Layoffs. Unless you have a layoff procedure that is recognized as part of the teacher contract, you generally will have to use the statutory nonrenewal procedure to lay off teachers or reduce their FTE from full time to part time.
Having a layoff procedure in a policy or handbook usually is not enough (and where it is enough, you may have other problems).
-
Always complete — and tell your principals to complete — plans of improvement before the statutory time limits expire.
If a principal puts a teacher on a plan of improvement for the remainder of this school year and states that failure to satisfy the plan’s terms may result in nonrenewal, you can end up being forced to give preliminary and final notice before the plan of improvement has run its course.
- The Private Conference.
- Determine whether nonrenewal will be treated as subject to Wis. Stat. § 19.85(1)(b), which provides that certain public employees have “the right to demand that the evidentiary hearing or meeting be held in open session.”
- There is disagreement as to whether a private conference should take place in closed or open session. Both are credible views, so try to limit the situations where this issue is joined by asking for an agreement to a closed session.
- If you determine that the private conference may be held in open session, give notice to the teacher of his/her right to demand an open hearing prior to the private conference.
- Alternatively, if you determine that the “private conference” will be treated as private, no one may be permitted in the room other than the board and the parties.
- The private conference should include the school board, the administration and representative, and the teacher and representative. The board should not allow others into the room for the private conference (if they will be allowed in at all it should only be when they are providing information to the board).
- Testimonials should be limited as to number and time.
- Private conferences should not generally be recorded but, if they are, only the school board should do so. School districts should follow procedures to prevent surreptitious recording.
- These are not generally full due process hearings. However, check your grievance procedure to see if you allow teachers to grieve nonrenewal. If a teacher can grieve their own nonrenewal, due process expectations for the private conference may be different than if the school board does not allow nonrenewal to be grieved (which is its own issue).
We hope you found this series on navigating teacher contracts and contract renewal useful. In our next series, we’ll shift our attention to Kirk’s second WASDA New Superintendents Academy presentation from February, which was a legal update that focused on addressing practitioner HR issues.
Until then, here is an article that may be of interest: