2374-S

AN ACT Relating to compensation of educational employees who participate in strikes; amending RCW 28A.400.200, 28A.150.290, and 28A.150.290; adding a new section to chapter 28A.400 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 41.56 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 41.59 RCW; providing a contingent effective date; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 28A.400 RCW to read as follows:

(1) For the purposes of this section "strike" means any concerted action by employees or employee organizations to suspend, curtail, interrupt, withhold, or otherwise fail or refuse to perform fully their normal duties or services as school employees in connection with a controversy concerning terms, tenure, or conditions of their employment, or concerning the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of their employment, regardless of whether the disputants in the controversy stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee or whether the concerted action is directed against the employer school district.

(2)(a) No school district employee participating in a strike may be paid any salary for any school day or partial school day in which the employee participates in a strike. The school district shall reduce the salary of each employee participating in the strike by an amount equal to one day's salary for each day or partial day that the employee participates in the strike. For purposes of this section, the term "salary" shall include the employee's base salary plus any additional salary earned through supplemental contracts. For purposes of this section, the term "salary" shall not include health, retirement, or other benefits.

(b) The reduction in the salary shall be subtracted from the employee's paycheck for the pay period in which the strike day or days occurred.

(c) The employee shall be notified in writing of the employer's intent to withhold an amount equal to one day's salary for each day of participation in a strike. Any employee so notified shall, at his or her request made in writing to the school administrator specified in the notice, be provided an opportunity to show nonparticipation in the strike.

(3)(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, school district boards of directors shall not close schools in the event of a strike by school district employees. If a strike occurs, school district boards of directors shall employ substitutes, use administrators, or take other appropriate actions to keep schools open.

(b) If, after taking all reasonable steps to keep schools open, a school district board of directors makes a finding that keeping all of the schools in the district open is not practicable, it may close one or more schools in the district. However, if schools are closed, the length of the school year shall not be extended due to the strike beyond the scheduled last day of the school year. If the last day of the school year has not been established, the school year shall not be extended due to the strike beyond the scheduled last day of the prior school year.

(4) No action taken under the authority of this section may be construed as a violation of RCW 41.59.140 or 41.56.140. In addition, this section shall not be construed to allow strikes by school district employees.

(5) Any state funds that are withheld from employee salaries in accordance with this section that are not used to hire substitutes or otherwise used to keep schools open shall be returned by the school district to the superintendent of public instruction. The amount of funds to be returned, if any, shall be determined by the superintendent of public instruction in consultation with the school district.

(6) This section shall take effect beginning in the 1996-97 school year.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 41.56 RCW to read as follows:

All collective bargaining agreements pursuant to this chapter that are entered into, renewed, or extended after the effective date of this section between public school employers and employees shall be consistent with section 1 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 41.59 RCW to read as follows:

All collective bargaining agreements pursuant to this chapter that are entered into, renewed, or extended after the effective date of this section shall be consistent with section 1 of this act.

Sec. 4. RCW 28A.400.200 and 1993 c 492 s 225 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Every school district board of directors shall fix, alter, allow, and order paid salaries and compensation for all district employees in conformance with this section.

(2) Except as provided in section 1 of this act:

(a) Salaries for certificated instructional staff shall not be less than the salary provided in the appropriations act in the state-wide salary allocation schedule for an employee with a baccalaureate degree and zero years of service; and

(b) Salaries for certificated instructional staff with a masters degree shall not be less than the salary provided in the appropriations act in the state-wide salary allocation schedule for an employee with a masters degree and zero years of service((;)).

(3)(a) The actual average salary paid to basic education certificated instructional staff shall not exceed the district's average basic education certificated instructional staff salary used for the state basic education allocations for that school year as determined pursuant to RCW 28A.150.410.

(b) Fringe benefit contributions for basic education certificated instructional staff shall be included as salary under (a) of this subsection only to the extent that the district's actual average benefit contribution exceeds the amount of the insurance benefits allocation provided per certificated instructional staff unit in the state operating appropriations act in effect at the time the compensation is payable. For purposes of this section, fringe benefits shall not include payment for unused leave for illness or injury under RCW 28A.400.210; employer contributions for old age survivors insurance, workers' compensation, unemployment compensation, and retirement benefits under the Washington state retirement system; or employer contributions for health benefits in excess of the insurance benefits allocation provided per certificated instructional staff unit in the state operating appropriations act in effect at the time the compensation is payable. A school district may not use state funds to provide employer contributions for such excess health benefits.

(c) Salary and benefits for certificated instructional staff in programs other than basic education shall be consistent with the salary and benefits paid to certificated instructional staff in the basic education program.

(4) Salaries and benefits for certificated instructional staff may exceed the limitations in subsection (3) of this section only by separate contract for additional time, additional responsibilities, or incentives. Supplemental contracts shall not cause the state to incur any present or future funding obligation. Supplemental contracts shall be subject to the collective bargaining provisions of chapter 41.59 RCW and the provisions of RCW 28A.405.240, shall not exceed one year, and if not renewed shall not constitute adverse change in accordance with RCW 28A.405.300 through 28A.405.380. No district may enter into a supplemental contract under this subsection for the provision of services which are a part of the basic education program required by Article IX, section 3 of the state Constitution.

(5) Employee benefit plans offered by any district shall comply with RCW 28A.400.350 and 28A.400.275 and 28A.400.280.

Sec. 5. RCW 28A.150.290 and 1990 c 33 s 111 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The superintendent of public instruction shall have the power and duty to make such rules and regulations as are necessary for the proper administration of this chapter and RCW 28A.160.150 through ((~~28A.160.220~~)) 28A.160.210, 28A.300.035, 28A.300.170, and 28A.500.010 not inconsistent with the provisions thereof, and in addition to require such reports as may be necessary to carry out his or her duties under this chapter and RCW 28A.160.150 through ((~~28A.160.220~~)) 28A.160.210, 28A.300.035, 28A.300.170, and 28A.500.010.

(2) The superintendent of public instruction shall have the authority to make rules and regulations which establish the terms and conditions for allowing school districts to receive state basic education moneys as provided in RCW 28A.150.250 when said districts are unable to fulfill for one or more schools as officially scheduled the requirement of a full school year of one hundred eighty days or the total program hour offering, teacher contact hour, or course mix and percentage requirements imposed by RCW 28A.150.220 and 28A.150.260 due to one or more of the following conditions:

(a) An unforeseen natural event, including, but not necessarily limited to, a fire, flood, explosion, storm, earthquake, epidemic, or volcanic eruption that has the direct or indirect effect of rendering one or more school district facilities unsafe, unhealthy, inaccessible, or inoperable; ((~~and~~))

(b) An unforeseen mechanical failure or an unforeseen action or inaction by one or more persons, including negligence and threats, that (i) is beyond the control of both a school district board of directors and its employees and (ii) has the direct or indirect effect of rendering one or more school district facilities unsafe, unhealthy, inaccessible, or inoperable. Such actions, inactions or mechanical failures may include, but are not necessarily limited to, arson, vandalism, riots, insurrections, bomb threats, bombings, delays in the scheduled completion of construction projects, and the discontinuance or disruption of utilities such as heating, lighting and water((~~: PROVIDED, That an unforeseen action or inaction shall not include any labor dispute between a school district board of directors and any employee of the school district~~));

(c) A strike that requires a school district board of directors to close one or more schools in accordance with section 1 of this act.

A condition is foreseeable for the purposes of this subsection to the extent a reasonably prudent person would have anticipated prior to August first of the preceding school year that the condition probably would occur during the ensuing school year because of the occurrence of an event or a circumstance which existed during such preceding school year or a prior school year. A board of directors of a school district is deemed for the purposes of this subsection to have knowledge of events and circumstances which are a matter of common knowledge within the school district and of those events and circumstances which can be discovered upon prudent inquiry or inspection.

(3) The superintendent of public instruction shall make every effort to reduce the amount of paperwork required in administration of this chapter and RCW 28A.160.150 through ((~~28A.160.220~~)) 28A.160.210, 28A.300.035, 28A.300.170, and 28A.500.010; to simplify the application, monitoring and evaluation processes used; to eliminate all duplicative requests for information from local school districts; and to make every effort to integrate and standardize information requests for other state education acts and federal aid to education acts administered by the superintendent of public instruction so as to reduce paperwork requirements and duplicative information requests.

Sec. 6. RCW 28A.150.290 and 1992 c 141 s 504 are each amended to read as follows:

(2) The superintendent of public instruction shall have the authority to make rules and regulations which establish the terms and conditions for allowing school districts to receive state basic education moneys as provided in RCW 28A.150.250 when said districts are unable to fulfill for one or more schools as officially scheduled the requirement of a full school year of one hundred eighty days or the annual average total instructional hour offering imposed by RCW 28A.150.220 and 28A.150.260 due to one or more of the following conditions:

(c) A strike that requires a school district board of directors to close one or more schools in accordance with section 1 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Section 6 of this act shall take effect September 1, 2000. However, that section shall not take effect if, by September 1, 2000, a law is enacted stating that a school accountability and academic assessment system is not in place.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 1 through 5 of this act are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately.