AN ACT Relating to provisional certificated employees; and amending RCW 28A.67.065 and 28A.67.072.

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

Sec. 1. Section 22, chapter 34, Laws of 1969 ex. sess. as last amended by section 6, chapter 420, Laws of 1985 and RCW 28A.67.065 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The superintendent of public instruction shall establish and may amend from time to time minimum criteria for the evaluation of the professional performance capabilities and development of certificated classroom teachers and certificated support personnel. For classroom teachers the criteria shall be developed in the following categories: Instructional skill; classroom management, professional preparation and scholarship; effort toward improvement when needed; the handling of student discipline and attendant problems; and interest in teaching pupils and knowledge of subject matter.

Every board of directors shall, in accordance with procedure provided in RCW 41.59.010 through 41.59.170, 41.59.910 and 41.59.920, establish evaluative criteria and procedures for all certificated classroom teachers and certificated support personnel. The evaluative criteria must contain as a minimum the criteria established by the superintendent of public instruction pursuant to this section and must be prepared within six months following adoption of the superintendent of public instruction's minimum criteria. The district must certify to the superintendent of public instruction that evaluative criteria have been so prepared by the district.

Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, it shall be the responsibility of a principal or his or her designee to evaluate all certificated personnel in his or her school. During each school year all classroom teachers and certificated support personnel, hereinafter referred to as "employees" in this section, shall be observed for the purposes of evaluation at least twice in the performance of their assigned duties. Total observation time for each employee for each school year shall be not less than sixty minutes. Following each observation, or series of observations, the principal or other evaluator shall promptly document the results of the evaluation in writing, and shall provide the employee with a copy thereof within three days after such report is prepared. ((~~New~~)) Provisional employees shall be observed at least once for a total observation time of thirty minutes during the first ninety calendar days of their employment period.

Every employee whose work is judged unsatisfactory based on district evaluation criteria shall be notified in writing of stated specific areas of deficiencies along with a suggested specific and reasonable program for improvement on or before February 1st of each year. A probationary period shall be established beginning on or before February 1st and ending no later than May 1st. The purpose of the probationary period is to give the employee opportunity to demonstrate improvements in his or her areas of deficiency. The establishment of the probationary period and the giving of the notice to the employee of deficiency shall be by the school district superintendent and need not be submitted to the board of directors for approval. During the probationary period the evaluator shall meet with the employee at least twice monthly to supervise and make a written evaluation of the progress, if any, made by the employee. The evaluator may authorize one additional certificated employee to evaluate the probationer and to aid the employee in improving his or her areas of deficiency; such additional certificated employee shall be immune from any civil liability that might otherwise be incurred or imposed with regard to the good faith performance of such evaluation. The probationer may be removed from probation if he or she has demonstrated improvement to the satisfaction of the principal in those areas specifically detailed in his or her initial notice of deficiency and subsequently detailed in his or her improvement program. Lack of necessary improvement shall be specifically documented in writing with notification to the probationer and shall constitute grounds for a finding of probable cause under RCW 28A.58.450 or 28A.67.070, as now or hereafter amended.

The establishment of a probationary period shall not be deemed to adversely affect the contract status of an employee within the meaning of RCW 28A.58.450, as now or hereafter amended.

(2) Every board of directors shall establish evaluative criteria and procedures for all superintendents, principals, and other administrators. It shall be the responsibility of the district superintendent or his or her designee to evaluate all administrators. Such evaluation shall be based on the administrative position job description. Such criteria, when applicable, shall include at least the following categories: Knowledge of, experience in, and training in recognizing good professional performance, capabilities and development; school administration and management; school finance; professional preparation and scholarship; effort toward improvement when needed; interest in pupils, employees, patrons and subjects taught in school; leadership; and ability and performance of evaluation of school personnel.

(3) Each certificated employee shall have the opportunity for confidential conferences with his or her immediate supervisor on no less than two occasions in each school year. Such confidential conference shall have as its sole purpose the aiding of the administrator in his or her professional performance.

(4) The failure of any evaluator to evaluate or supervise or cause the evaluation or supervision of certificated employees or administrators in accordance with this section, as now or hereafter amended, when it is his or her specific assigned or delegated responsibility to do so, shall be sufficient cause for the nonrenewal of any such evaluator's contract under RCW 28A.67.070, as now or hereafter amended, or the discharge of such evaluator under RCW 28A.58.450, as now or hereafter amended.

(5) After an employee has four years of satisfactory evaluations under subsection (1) of this section, a school district may use a short form of evaluation. The short form of evaluation shall include either a thirty minute observation during the school year with a written summary or a final annual written evaluation based on the criteria in subsection (1) of this section and based on at least two observation periods during the school year totaling at least sixty minutes without a written summary of such observations being prepared. However, the evaluation process set forth in subsection (1) of this section shall be followed at least once every three years and an employee or evaluator may request that the evaluation process set forth in subsection (1) of this section be conducted in any given school year. The short form evaluation process may not be used as a basis for determining that an employee's work is unsatisfactory under subsection (1) of this section nor as probable cause for the nonrenewal of an employee's contract under RCW 28A.67.070.

Sec. 2. Section 1, chapter 114, Laws of 1975-'76 2nd ex. sess. and RCW 28A.67.072 are each amended to read as follows:

Notwithstanding the provisions of RCW 28A.67.070 as now or hereafter amended, every person employed by a school district in a teaching or other nonsupervisory certificated position shall be subject to nonrenewal of employment contract as provided in this section during the ((~~first~~)) three years of employment as a teacher or nonsupervisory certificated employee by such district. Employees as defined in this section shall hereinafter be referred to as "provisional employees".

In the event the superintendent of the school district determines that the employment contract of any provisional employee should not be renewed by the district for the next ensuing term such provisional employee shall be notified thereof in writing on or before May 15th preceding the commencement of such school term, which notification shall state the reason or reasons for such determination. Such notice shall be served upon the provisional employee personally, or by certified or registered mail, or by leaving a copy of the notice at the place of his or her usual abode with some person of suitable age and discretion then resident therein. The determination of the superintendent shall be subject to the evaluation requirements of RCW 28A.67.065, as now or hereafter amended.

Every such provisional employee so notified, at his or her request made in writing and filed with the superintendent of the district within ten days after receiving such notice, shall be given the opportunity to meet informally with the superintendent for the purpose of requesting the superintendent to reconsider his or her decision. Such meeting shall be held no later than ten days following the receipt of such request, and the provisional employee shall be given written notice of the date, time and place of meeting at least three days prior thereto. At such meeting the provisional employee shall be given the opportunity to refute any facts upon which the superintendent's determination was based and to make any argument in support of his or her request for reconsideration.

Within ten days following the meeting with the provisional employee, the superintendent shall either reinstate the provisional employee or shall submit to the school district board of directors for consideration at its next regular meeting a written report recommending that the employment contract of the provisional employee be nonrenewed and stating the reason or reasons therefor. A copy of such report shall be delivered to the provisional employee at least three days prior to the scheduled meeting of the board of directors. In taking action upon the recommendation of the superintendent, the board of directors shall consider any written communication which the provisional employee may file with the secretary of the board at any time prior to that meeting.

The board of directors shall notify the provisional employee in writing of its final decision within ten days following the meeting at which the superintendent's recommendation was considered. The decision of the board of directors to nonrenew the contract of a provisional employee shall be final and not subject to appeal.

This section applies to any person employed by a school district in a teaching or other nonsupervisory certificated position after June 25, 1976. This section provides the exclusive means for nonrenewing the employment contract of a provisional employee and no other provision of law shall be applicable thereto, including, without limitation, RCW 28A.67.070, and chapter 28A.88 RCW, as now or hereafter amended.