S.B. 8 passes Texas House and Senate, offers management options

Senate Bill 8  offers management and operational flexibilities to school districts starting with the 2012-13 school year. The bill includes options that cash-strapped districts may have to consider in formulating future budgets:

• Allows districts to enact salary reductions across all contract employees (including administrators) and requiring that salary reductions be equally distributed over course of the employees’ contract period.
• Allows districts to enact furloughs for up to six noninstructional days, provided that the district complies with certain procedural requirements, and for as long as a district’s state and local per-student funding remains below 2010-11 levels.
• Changes the 45-day deadline to notify contract staff of nonrenewal to 10 days before the last day of instruction.
• Streamlines the mid-contract termination process when triggered by a reduction in force (for term or probationary contracts) or reduction in personnel (for continuing contracts).
• Replaces the “last in-first out” requirement for terminating continuing contract employees as a result of a reduction in personnel with the requirement that such reductions be made primarily based on teacher appraisals and other criteria as determined by the board.
• Allows a board of trustees of a school with an enrollment of 5,000 students or more to appoint a designee to hear nonrenewal hearings.
• Allows a board that has declared a financial exigency and implemented a reduction in personnel to change the terms of the superintendent's contract, and gives the superintendent the right to resign without penalty with reasonable notice to the board.
• Allows a board of trustees to declare financial exigency that lasts one year unless the board adopts a resolution continuing the exigency to the next year. The board is not limited in how many years it may adopt a resolution continuing a financial exigency and may terminate the declaration of financial exigency at any time.
• Voids the employment contract of an employee with a void certification.
• Limits the FitnessGram to those students in a physical education course.
• Allows a district to require a person who submits a public information request to pay outstanding bills for prior requests before the district must comply with the requester's newest request.
• Maintains the state monthly minimum salary schedule.
• Requires persons who are seeking a teaching certification to complete at least 15 hours of field-service experience before they can be hired by a district as a teacher.