SB999: Teachers; employment of temporary replacements in schools.
SENATE BILL NO. 999
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That 22.1-302 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
22.1-302. Written contracts required; execution of contracts; qualifications of temporarily employed teachers; regulations.
A. A written contract, in a form prescribed by the Board of
Education, shall be made by the school board with each teacher employed by it,
except those who are temporarily employed, before such teacher enters upon his
duties. Such contract shall be signed in duplicate, with a copy thereof
furnished to both parties. A temporarily employed teacher, as used in this
section, shall mean means
(i) one who is employed to substitute for a contracted teacher for a temporary
period of time during the contracted teacher's absence,
or (ii) one who is employed to fill a teacher vacancy for a period of time, but for no longer than 90
teaching days in such vacancy, unless otherwise approved by the Superintendent
of Public Instruction on a case-by-case basis, during one school year. However, no school board shall hire temporarily
employed teachers to fill vacancies at the elementary grade
levels or in the core subjects of
English, mathematics, science, and history and social studies at the middle and
high school levels in a manner that results in the
staffing of elementary grade levels or such core subject areas
with a majority of temporarily employed or unlicensed teachers or shall employ
such teachers for consecutive or alternating teaching assignments that total
more than 90 teaching days in the same elementary, middle, or high
school class during a school year.
B. The Board of Education shall promulgate regulations
regarding temporarily employed teachers, as defined in this section, which
shall provide that such teachers be at least
eighteen 18
years of age and that they hold a high school diploma or a general educational
development (GED) certificate.
However, local school boards shall establish employment
qualifications for temporarily employed teachers which that may exceed the Board's
regulations for the employment of such teachers. School boards shall also seek
to ensure that temporarily employed teachers who are engaged as long-term
substitutes shall exceed
baseline employment qualifications.
C. A separate contract in a form prescribed by the Board of Education shall be executed by the school board with such employee who is receiving a monetary supplement for any athletic coaching or extracurricular activity sponsorship assignment. This contract shall be separate and apart from the contract for teaching.
Termination of a separate contract for any athletic coaching or extracurricular activity sponsorship assignment by either party thereto shall not constitute cause for termination of the separate teaching contract of the coach or teacher.
All such contracts shall require the party intending to terminate the coaching or extracurricular activity sponsorship contract to give reasonable notice to the other party before termination thereof shall become effective.
For the purposes of this section, "extracurricular activity sponsorship" means an assignment for which a monetary supplement is received, requiring responsibility for any student organizations, clubs, or groups, such as service clubs, academic clubs and teams, cheerleading squads, student publication and literary groups, and visual and performing arts organizations except those that are conducted in conjunction with regular classroom, curriculum, or instructional programs.