In the final installment of our four-part series recapping Kirk’s presentation on administrator contracts and contract renewal, we turn our attention to contract renewal — including types of renewal, renewal vs. extension, and navigating nonrenewal/renewal problems.
This is a topic Kirk revisits every year to ensure superintendents are up-to-speed with current processes and practices.
Thus far, we’ve covered:
Let’s jump into Part 4 …
Administrator Contract Renewal
TYPES OF RENEWAL
A school board can renew an administrator contract in one of two ways:
Deliberate Renewal
This occurs when a school board offers renewal of an existing contract.
For example, a school board can offer to renew a one-year contract, which results in a one-year contract — if the administrator accepts, and no contract if the administrator declines. Similarly, a school board can offer to renew a two-year contract, which results in a two-year contract — if the administrator accepts, and no contract if the administrator declines.
Accidental Renewal/Renewal by Operation of Law
An administrator contract will continue for a period of two years by operation of law if the statutory procedures for nonrenewal are not followed. Wis. Stats. §§ 118.24(6) and (7) provide that preliminary and final notices of nonrenewal must be given 5 and 4 months, respectively, before a contract expires, and subs. (6) states that “[i]f no such notice is given, the contract then in force shall continue in force for two years.”
- As a general matter, an administrator contract will renew itself for a period of two years unless:
- It is nonrenewed
- The parties agree to change it
- Timely written notice of an offer to renew the contract (which can be for a one- or two-year contract) is given but is either declined or — in the case of an offer to renew a one-year contract — is accepted
RENEWAL V. EXTENSION
Contract extensions and contract renewal are not the same. Nothing in your policies, handbooks, or individual contracts should confuse this point.
- “Extension” refers to a contractual process. When an extension is granted, an existing contract is extended through some means agreed upon by the parties.
- Extensions are usually for a period of one year (and are based on the statutory authority to have “one or more extensions of one year each”). Wis. Stat. § 118.24(1)
- Extensions are generally granted by specific action or inaction of the school board.
- Multiple extensions of one year cannot be granted simultaneously so as to defeat the statutory two-year limit (e.g., five one-year extensions could not be granted on the same day to effectively create a five-year administrator contract by binding the school board for five years).
- “Renewal/Nonrenewal” refers to a statutory process.
- Nonrenewal requires a specific set of steps to nonrenew a contract (preliminary notice, notice of reasons for nonrenewal, public or private hearing, and final notice). Failure to follow these steps results in automatic renewal of the existing contract for a period of two years.
- Renewal requires written notice of renewal of the “person’s contract” no less than 4 months before expiration. Failure to follow this step results in renewal of the existing contract for a period of two years.
NAVIGATING NONRENEWAL/RENEWAL PROBLEMS
- Remember who is covered by the statute.
- Contract language may treat personnel that are not covered by the statute as though they are.
- There also can be administrators who should be covered but do not have an administrator contract under the statute.
- Registered mail is mandated for preliminary notice. However, use all means available to ensure actual notice as early as possible (email, personal service, etc.).
- By law, nonrenewal will generally be sustained if statutory procedures have been followed and if there is a non-arbitrary or capricious basis for the decision. Thus, the reason(s) for the proposed nonrenewal should be understandable, performance-based, and cast in terms of the superintendent’s judgment.
- Superintendents must have a calendar-based flow chart for administrator contract renewal and nonrenewal.
- When do evaluations have to be done under policy, and are they done, in fact, before any recommendations are made concerning administrators’ contracts?
- What is the school board meeting schedule in relation to the statutory renewal and nonrenewal timelines?
- Are there conflicting obligations created by general policy (e.g., school board policy) or by specific commitments (e.g., plans of improvement)?
- Do the administrator contracts provide for extensions? If so, are the extension provisions negative options clauses (extension will take place if no action is taken) or does extension require specific action?
Don’t Be Fooled
Superintendents may be (and have been) told that providing a school board with a briefing on proceedings that may ultimately take place before the board violates an employee’s due process rights. This vastly overstates the case.
The school board is permitted to know about the case and even have an opinion on it. An “impartial decision maker,” in general, is one:
- That does not have a pecuniary interest
- That has not been the target of personal abuse at the hands of the employee
- Can make a decision based on the evidence presented at hearing
Providing a school board with a short briefing so that they are not blindsided is appropriate, so long as the briefing does not cross these lines. Boards must have an open mind, not an empty mind.
This brings us to the conclusion of our series on administrator contracts and contract renewal.
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