CHAPTER 3319: SCHOOLS -- SUPERINTENDENT; TEACHERS; EMPLOYEES

Except in an island school district, where the superintendent of an educational service center otherwise may serve as superintendent of the district and except as otherwise provided for any cooperative education school district pursuant to division (B)(2) of section 3311.52 or division (B)(3) of section 3311.521 of the Revised Code, the board of education in each school district and the governing board of each service center shall, at a regular or special meeting held not later than the first day of May of the calendar year in which the term of the superintendent expires, appoint a person possessed of the qualifications provided in this section to act as superintendent, for a term not longer than five years beginning the first day of August and ending on the thirty-first day of July. Such superintendent is, at the expiration of a current term of employment, deemed reemployed for a term of one year at the same salary plus any increments that may be authorized by the board, unless such board, on or before the first day of March of the year in which the contract of employment expires, either reemploys the superintendent for a succeeding term as provided in this section or gives to the superintendent written notice of its intention not to reemploy the superintendent. A superintendent may not be transferred to any other position during the term of the superintendent’s employment or reemployment except by mutual agreement by the superintendent and the board. If a vacancy occurs in the office of superintendent, the board shall appoint a superintendent for a term not to exceed five years from the next preceding first day of August.

A board may at any regular or special meeting held during the period beginning on the first day of January of the calendar year immediately preceding the year the contract of employment of a superintendent expires and ending on the first day of March of the year it expires, reemploy such superintendent for a succeeding term for not longer than five years, beginning on the first day of August immediately following the expiration of the superintendent’s current term of employment and ending on the thirty-first day of July of the year in which such succeeding term expires. No person shall be appointed to the office of superintendent of a city, or exempted village school district or a service center who does not hold a license designated for being a superintendent issued under section 3319.22 of the Revised Code, unless such person had been employed as a county, city, or exempted village superintendent prior to August 1, 1939. No person shall be appointed to the office of local superintendent who does not hold a license designated for being a superintendent issued under section 3319.22 of the Revised Code, unless such person held or was qualified to hold the position of executive head of a local school district on September 16, 1957. At the time of making such appointment or designation of term, such board shall fix the compensation of the superintendent, which may be increased or decreased during such term, provided such decrease is a part of a uniform plan affecting salaries of all employees of the district, and shall execute a written contract of employment with such superintendent.

Each board shall adopt procedures for the evaluation of its superintendent and shall evaluate its superintendent in accordance with those procedures. An evaluation based upon such procedures shall be considered by the board in deciding whether to renew the superintendent’s contract. The establishment of an evaluation procedure shall not create an expectancy of continued employment. Nothing in this section shall prevent a board from making the final determination regarding the renewal or failure to renew of a superintendent’s contract.

Termination of a superintendent’s contract shall be pursuant to section 3319.16 of the Revised Code.

A board may establish vacation leave for its superintendent. Upon the superintendent’s separation from employment a board that has such leave may provide compensation at the superintendent’s current rate of pay for all lawfully accrued and unused vacation leave to the superintendent’s credit at the time of separation, not to exceed the amount accrued within three years before the date of separation. In case of the death of a superintendent, such unused vacation leave as the board would have paid to this superintendent upon separation shall be paid in accordance with section 2113.04 of the Revised Code, or to the superintendent’s estate.

Notwithstanding section 9.481 of the Revised Code, the board of a city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school district may require its superintendent, as a condition of employment, to reside within the boundaries of the district.

The superintendent shall be the executive officer for the board. The superintendent shall direct and assign teachers and other employees of the district or service center, except as provided in division (B) of section 3313.31 and section 3319.04 of the Revised Code; assign the pupils to the proper schools and grades, provided that the assignment of a pupil to a school outside of the pupil’s district of residence is approved by the board of the district of residence of such pupil; and perform such other duties as the board determines.

The board of education of any school district may contract with the governing board of the educational service center from which it otherwise receives services to conduct searches and recruitment of candidates for the superintendent position authorized under this section.

Effective Date: 09-26-2003; 09-28-2006; 03-30-2007

If a board of education determines the superintendent is incapacitated in such a manner that he is unable to perform the duties of the office of superintendent, the board may, by a majority vote of the members of the board, appoint a person to serve in his place pro tempore. Each board of education shall adopt a written policy establishing standards for determining whether the superintendent is incapacitated, and shall provide that during any period in which the superintendent is incapacitated, he may be placed on sick leave or on leave of absence and may be returned to active duty status from sick leave or leave of absence. The superintendent may request a hearing before the board on any action taken under this section, and he shall have the same rights in any such hearing as are granted to a teacher in a board hearing under section 3319.16 of the Revised Code. The superintendent pro tempore shall perform all of the duties and functions of the superintendent and shall serve until the board by majority vote determines the superintendent’s incapacity is removed or until the expiration of the superintendent’s contract or term of office, whichever is sooner. The superintendent pro tempore may be removed at any time for cause by a two-thirds vote of the members of the board. The board shall fix the compensation of the superintendent pro tempore in accordance with section 3319.01 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 11-15-1977

(A)(1) As used in this section, “other administrator” means any of the following:

(a) Except as provided in division (A)(2) of this section, any employee in a position for which a board of education requires a license designated by rule of the department of education for being an administrator issued under section 3319.22 of the Revised Code, including a professional pupil services employee or administrative specialist or an equivalent of either one who is not employed as a school counselor and spends less than fifty per cent of the time employed teaching or working with students;

(b) Any nonlicensed employee whose job duties enable such employee to be considered as either a “supervisor” or a “management level employee,” as defined in section 4117.01 of the Revised Code;

(c) A business manager appointed under section 3319.03 of the Revised Code.

(2) As used in this section, “other administrator” does not include a superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal, or assistant principal.

(B) The board of education of each school district and the governing board of an educational service center may appoint one or more assistant superintendents and such other administrators as are necessary. An assistant educational service center superintendent or service center supervisor employed on a part-time basis may also be employed by a local board as a teacher. The board of each city, exempted village, and local school district shall employ principals for all high schools and for such other schools as the board designates, and those boards may appoint assistant principals for any school that they designate.

(C) In educational service centers and in city, exempted village, and local school districts, assistant superintendents, principals, assistant principals, and other administrators shall only be employed or reemployed in accordance with nominations of the superintendent, except that a board of education of a school district or the governing board of a service center, by a three-fourths vote of its full membership, may reemploy any assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, or other administrator whom the superintendent refuses to nominate.

The board of education or governing board shall execute a written contract of employment with each assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, and other administrator it employs or reemploys. The term of such contract shall not exceed three years except that in the case of a person who has been employed as an assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, or other administrator in the district or center for three years or more, the term of the contract shall be for not more than five years and, unless the superintendent of the district recommends otherwise, not less than two years. If the superintendent so recommends, the term of the contract of a person who has been employed by the district or service center as an assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, or other administrator for three years or more may be one year, but all subsequent contracts granted such person shall be for a term of not less than two years and not more than five years. When a teacher with continuing service status becomes an assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, or other administrator with the district or service center with which the teacher holds continuing service status, the teacher retains such status in the teacher’s nonadministrative position as provided in sections 3319.08 and 3319.09 of the Revised Code.

A board of education or governing board may reemploy an assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, or other administrator at any regular or special meeting held during the period beginning on the first day of January of the calendar year immediately preceding the year of expiration of the employment contract and ending on the last day of March of the year the employment contract expires.

Except by mutual agreement of the parties thereto, no assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, or other administrator shall be transferred during the life of a contract to a position of lesser responsibility. No contract may be terminated by a board except pursuant to section 3319.16 of the Revised Code. No contract may be suspended except pursuant to section 3319.17 or 3319.171 of the Revised Code. The salaries and compensation prescribed by such contracts shall not be reduced by a board unless such reduction is a part of a uniform plan affecting the entire district or center. The contract shall specify the employee’s administrative position and duties as included in the job description adopted under division (D) of this section, the salary and other compensation to be paid for performance of duties, the number of days to be worked, the number of days of vacation leave, if any, and any paid holidays in the contractual year.

An assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, or other administrator is, at the expiration of the current term of employment, deemed reemployed at the same salary plus any increments that may be authorized by the board, unless such employee notifies the board in writing to the contrary on or before the first day of June, or unless such board, on or before the last day of March of the year in which the contract of employment expires, either reemploys such employee for a succeeding term or gives written notice of its intention not to reemploy the employee. The term of reemployment of a person reemployed under this paragraph shall be one year, except that if such person has been employed by the school district or service center as an assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, or other administrator for three years or more, the term of reemployment shall be two years.

(D)(1) Each board shall adopt procedures for the evaluation of all assistant superintendents, principals, assistant principals, and other administrators and shall evaluate such employees in accordance with those procedures. The evaluation based upon such procedures shall be considered by the board in deciding whether to renew the contract of employment of an assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, or other administrator.

(2) The evaluation shall measure each assistant superintendent’s, principal’s, assistant principal’s, and other administrator’s effectiveness in performing the duties included in the job description and the evaluation procedures shall provide for, but not be limited to, the following:

(a) Each assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, and other administrator shall be evaluated annually through a written evaluation process.

(b) The evaluation shall be conducted by the superintendent or designee.

(c) In order to provide time to show progress in correcting the deficiencies identified in the evaluation process, the evaluation process shall be completed as follows:

(i) In any school year that the employee’s contract of employment is not due to expire, at least one evaluation shall be completed in that year. A written copy of the evaluation shall be provided to the employee no later than the end of the employee’s contract year as defined by the employee’s annual salary notice.

(ii) In any school year that the employee’s contract of employment is due to expire, at least a preliminary evaluation and at least a final evaluation shall be completed in that year. A written copy of the preliminary evaluation shall be provided to the employee at least sixty days prior to any action by the board on the employee’s contract of employment. The final evaluation shall indicate the superintendent’s intended recommendation to the board regarding a contract of employment for the employee. A written copy of the evaluation shall be provided to the employee at least five days prior to the board’s acting to renew or not renew the contract.

(3) Termination of an assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, or other administrator’s contract shall be pursuant to section 3319.16 of the Revised Code. Suspension of any such employee shall be pursuant to section 3319.17 or 3319.171 of the Revised Code.

(4) Before taking action to renew or nonrenew the contract of an assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, or other administrator under this section and prior to the last day of March of the year in which such employee’s contract expires, the board shall notify each such employee of the date that the contract expires and that the employee may request a meeting with the board. Upon request by such an employee, the board shall grant the employee a meeting in executive session. In that meeting, the board shall discuss its reasons for considering renewal or nonrenewal of the contract. The employee shall be permitted to have a representative, chosen by the employee, present at the meeting.

(5) The establishment of an evaluation procedure shall not create an expectancy of continued employment. Nothing in division (D) of this section shall prevent a board from making the final determination regarding the renewal or nonrenewal of the contract of any assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, or other administrator. However, if a board fails to provide evaluations pursuant to division (D)(2)(c)(i) or (ii) of this section, or if the board fails to provide at the request of the employee a meeting as prescribed in division (D)(4) of this section, the employee automatically shall be reemployed at the same salary plus any increments that may be authorized by the board for a period of one year, except that if the employee has been employed by the district or service center as an assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, or other administrator for three years or more, the period of reemployment shall be for two years.

(E) On nomination of the superintendent of a service center a governing board may employ supervisors who shall be employed under written contracts of employment for terms not to exceed five years each. Such contracts may be terminated by a governing board pursuant to section 3319.16 of the Revised Code. Any supervisor employed pursuant to this division may terminate the contract of employment at the end of any school year after giving the board at least thirty days’ written notice prior to such termination. On the recommendation of the superintendent the contract or contracts of any supervisor employed pursuant to this division may be suspended for the remainder of the term of any such contract pursuant to section 3319.17 or 3319.171 of the Revised Code.

(F) A board may establish vacation leave for any individuals employed under this section. Upon such an individual’s separation from employment, a board that has such leave may compensate such an individual at the individual’s current rate of pay for all lawfully accrued and unused vacation leave credited at the time of separation, not to exceed the amount accrued within three years before the date of separation. In case of the death of an individual employed under this section, such unused vacation leave as the board would have paid to the individual upon separation under this section shall be paid in accordance with section 2113.04 of the Revised Code, or to the estate.

(G) The board of education of any school district may contract with the governing board of the educational service center from which it otherwise receives services to conduct searches and recruitment of candidates for assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, and other administrator positions authorized under this section.

Effective Date: 09-26-2003

The board of education of each city, exempted village, and local school district may create the position of business manager. The board shall appoint such business manager who shall serve pursuant to a contract in accordance with section 3319.02 of the Revised Code. In the discharge of all official duties, the business manager may be directly responsible to the board, or to the superintendent of schools, as the board directs at the time of appointment to the position. Where such business manager is responsible to the superintendent the business manager shall be appointed by the superintendent and confirmed by the board.

No board of education shall appoint or confirm as business manager any person who does not hold a valid business manager’s license issued under section 3301.074 of the Revised Code. If the business manager fails to maintain a valid license, the business manager shall be removed by the board.

Effective Date: 09-26-2003

The business manager shall have the care and custody of all property of the school district, real or personal, except moneys, supervise the construction of buildings in the process of erection, and the maintenance, operation, and repairs thereof, advertise for bids, and purchase and have custody of all supplies and equipment authorized by the board. The business manager shall assist in the preparation of the annual appropriation resolution; shall appoint and may discharge, subject to confirmation by the board, noneducational employees, except as provided in division (B) of section 3313.31 of the Revised Code; and shall prepare and execute all contracts necessary in carrying out this section.

Effective Date: 07-31-1980; 03-30-2007

The business manager shall receive such compensation as is fixed by the board of education before his election, which shall not be decreased during his term of office. He shall give such bond as prescribed by the board for the faithful discharge of his duties.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

(A) The board of education of each city, exempted village, or local school district may create the position of internal auditor. Any person employed by the board as an internal auditor shall hold a valid permit issued under section 4701.10 of the Revised Code to practice as a certified public accountant or a public accountant.

(B) The board shall execute a written contract of employment with each internal auditor it employs. The contract shall specify the internal auditor’s duties, the salary and other compensation to be paid for performance of those duties, the number of days to be worked, the number of days of vacation leave, if any, and any paid holidays in the contractual year. The salary and other compensation prescribed by the contract may be increased by the board during the term of the contract but shall not be reduced during that term unless such reduction is part of a uniform plan affecting employees of the entire district. The term of the initial contract shall not exceed three years. Any renewal of the contract shall be for a term of not less than two years and not more than five years.

The internal auditor shall be directly responsible to the board for the performance of all duties outlined in the contract. If the board does not intend to renew the contract upon its expiration, the board shall provide written notice to the internal auditor of its intention not to renew the contract not later than the last day of March of the year in which the contract expires. If the board does not provide such notice by that date, the internal auditor shall be deemed reemployed for a term of one year at the same salary plus any increments that may be authorized by the board. Termination of an internal auditor’s contract shall be pursuant to section 3319.16 of the Revised Code.

(C) Each board that employs an internal auditor shall adopt procedures for the evaluation of the internal auditor and shall evaluate the internal auditor in accordance with those procedures. The evaluation based upon the procedures shall be considered by the board in deciding whether to renew the internal auditor’s contract of employment. The establishment of an evaluation procedure shall not create an expectancy of continued employment. Nothing in this section shall prevent the board from making the final determination regarding the renewal or nonrenewal of the contract of an internal auditor.

Effective Date: 06-30-2005

(A) The board of education of each city, exempted village, local, and joint vocational school district shall employ the teachers of the public schools of their respective districts.

The governing board of each educational service center may employ special instruction teachers, special education teachers, and teachers of academic courses in which there are too few students in each of the constituent local school districts or in city or exempted village school districts entering into agreements pursuant to section 3313.843 of the Revised Code to warrant each district’s employing teachers for those courses.

When any board makes appointments of teachers, the teachers in the employ of the board shall be considered before new teachers are chosen in their stead. In all school districts and in service centers no teacher shall be employed unless such person is nominated by the superintendent of such district or center. Such board, by a three-fourths vote of its full membership, may re-employ any teacher whom the superintendent refuses to appoint.

(B) The board of education of any school district may contract with the governing board of the educational service center from which it otherwise receives services to conduct searches and recruitment of candidates for teacher positions.

Effective Date: 09-26-2003

The board of education of any school district may, by resolution, establish a professional development program for teachers in accordance with which it may reimburse teachers employed by the district for all or any part of the cost incurred by the teacher in the successful completion of a course or training program in which the teacher enrolled as part of the development program. The terms and conditions for participation shall be determined by the board and shall be included in the resolution establishing the program.

No teacher shall be required to participate in a professional development program under this section. When a teacher is participating in such a program, such participation does not constitute the performance of duties by such teacher in addition to the teacher’s regular teaching duties and is not subject to section 3319.08 of the Revised Code.

As used in this section, “teacher” has the meaning contained in division (A) of section 3319.09 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 10-21-1977

Each teacher employed by the board of education of a school district or a governing board of an educational service center shall be granted at least thirty minutes for lunch each school day, during which time the teacher shall not be required to perform any school activity; except that in a one-teacher school where enforcement of the foregoing provisions may work a hardship, the governing board of the service center in which the one-teacher school is located may require the teacher to remain on duty.

The granting of the lunch period to a teacher shall not be cause for lengthening the school day.

Effective Date: 09-29-1995

The board of education of each city and exempted village school district and the governing board of each educational service center shall develop, in consultation with public or private agencies or persons involved in child abuse prevention or intervention programs, a program of in-service training for persons employed by any school district or service center to work in an elementary school as a nurse, teacher, counselor, school psychologist, or administrator. Each person employed by any school district or service center to work in an elementary school as a nurse, teacher, counselor, school psychologist, or administrator shall complete at least four hours of in-service training in the prevention of child abuse, violence, and substance abuse and the promotion of positive youth development within two years of commencing employment with the district or center, and every five years thereafter. A person who is employed by any school district or service center to work in an elementary school as a nurse, teacher, counselor, school psychologist, or administrator on the effective date of this amendment shall complete at least four hours of the in-service training required by this section within two years of the effective date of this amendment and every five years thereafter.

Effective Date: 09-29-1995; 03-30-2007

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Core subject area” means reading and English language arts, mathematics, science, foreign language, government, economics, fine arts, history, and geography.

(2) “Fully licensed” means having successfully completed all requirements for an educator license commensurate with years of teaching experience pursuant to section 3319.22 of the Revised Code and not having had any such requirements waived on an emergency, temporary, or provisional basis.

(3) “Highly qualified teacher” means a classroom teacher who satisfies all of the following conditions:

(a) Holds a baccalaureate degree;

(b) Is fully licensed or is participating in an alternative route to licensure in which the teacher receives professional development and mentoring, teaches for not longer than three years, and demonstrates satisfactory progress toward becoming fully licensed;

(c) If teaching in grades kindergarten through six, satisfies at least one of the following:

(i) Passage of an assessment of subject matter content and professional knowledge required for licensure;

(ii) Successful completion of a graduate degree or advanced certification in the teaching assignment;

(iii) Achievement of one hundred points on the Ohio highly qualified teacher rubric developed by the Ohio department of education;

(iv) Completion of an individual professional development program approved by the applicable local professional development committee that includes ninety hours of high quality professional development incorporating grade appropriate academic subject matter knowledge, teaching skills, and state academic content standards.

(d) If teaching in grades seven through twelve, satisfies at least one of the following:

(i) Passage of an assessment of subject matter content required for licensure;

(ii) Successful completion of either an undergraduate academic major, coursework equivalent to such major, a graduate degree, or advanced certification in each subject area in which the teacher provides instruction;

(iii) Achievement of one hundred points on the Ohio highly qualified teacher rubric developed by the department;

(iv) Completion of an individual professional development program approved by the applicable local professional development committee that includes ninety hours of high quality professional development incorporating grade appropriate academic subject matter knowledge, teaching skills, and state academic content standards.

(B) No city, exempted village, local, joint vocational, or cooperative education school district shall employ any classroom teacher hired after July 1, 2002, to provide instruction in a core subject area to any student enrolled in a school that receives funds under Title I, Part A of the “Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965,” 115 Stat. 1425, 20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq., unless such teacher is a highly qualified teacher.

(C) Each school district annually shall notify through a school wide publication the parent or guardian of each student enrolled in a school that receives funds under Title I, Part A of the “Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965,” 115 Stat. 1425, 20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq., that the parent or guardian may request information on the professional qualifications of each classroom teacher who provides instruction to the parent’s or guardian’s child. The district shall provide the information on each applicable teacher to any parent or guardian who requests it. Such information shall include all of the following:

(1) Whether the teacher has satisfied all requirements for licensure adopted by the state board of education pursuant to section 3319.22 of the Revised Code for the grade levels and subject areas in which the teacher provides instruction or whether the teacher provides instruction under a waiver of any such requirements;

(2) The major subject area in which the teacher was awarded a baccalaureate degree and, if applicable, any other degrees or certification;

(3) Whether a paraprofessional provides any services to the student and, if so, the qualifications of the paraprofessional.

Effective Date: 06-09-2004

Once the state board of education adopts professional development standards pursuant to section 3319.61 of the Revised Code, the board of education of each school district shall use the standards for the following purposes:

(A) To guide the design of teacher education programs serving both teacher candidates and experienced teachers;

(B) To guide school-based professional development that is aligned with student achievement;

(C) To determine what types of professional development the school district and the schools within the district should provide;

(D) To guide how state and federal funding for professional development should be spent;

(E) To develop criteria for decision making by the local professional development committees established under section 3319.22 of the Revised Code;

(F) To guide the school district in the hiring of third-party providers of instructional services who use or meet the professional development standards;

(G) To guide all licensed school personnel in developing their own plans for professional growth.

Effective Date: 06-09-2004

The board of education of each city, exempted village, local, and joint vocational school district and the governing board of each educational service center shall enter into written contracts for the employment and reemployment of all teachers. The board of each such school district or service center that authorizes compensation in addition to the base salary stated in the teachers’ salary schedule for the performance of duties by a teacher that are in addition to the teacher’s regular teaching duties, shall enter into a supplemental written contract with each teacher who is to perform additional duties. Such supplemental written contracts shall be limited contracts. Such written contracts and supplemental written contracts shall set forth the teacher’s duties and shall specify the salaries and compensation to be paid for regular teaching duties and additional teaching duties, respectively, either or both of which may be increased but not diminished during the term for which the contract is made, except as provided in section 3319.12 of the Revised Code.

If a board adopts a motion or resolution to employ a teacher under a limited or continuing contract and the teacher accepts such employment, the failure of such parties to execute a written contract shall not void such employment contract.

Teachers must be paid for all time lost when the schools in which they are employed are closed due to an epidemic or other public calamity, and for time lost due to illness or otherwise for not less than five days annually as authorized by regulations which each board shall adopt.

Contracts for the employment of teachers shall be of two types, limited contracts and continuing contracts.

(A) A limited contract is:

(1) For a superintendent, a contract for such term as authorized by section 3319.01 of the Revised Code;

(2) For an assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, or other administrator, a contract for such term as authorized by section 3319.02 of the Revised Code;

(3) For all other teachers, a contract for a term not to exceed five years.

(B) A continuing contract is a contract that remains in effect until the teacher resigns, elects to retire, or is retired pursuant to former section 3307.37 of the Revised Code, or until it is terminated or suspended and shall be granted only to the following:

(1) Any teacher holding a professional, permanent, or life teacher’s certificate;

(2) Any teacher holding a professional educator license who has completed the applicable one of the following:

(a) If the teacher did not hold a masters degree at the time of initially receiving a teacher’s certificate under former law or an educator license, thirty semester hours of coursework in the area of licensure or in an area related to the teaching field since the initial issuance of such certificate or license, as specified in rules which the state board of education shall adopt;

(b) If the teacher held a masters degree at the time of initially receiving a teacher’s certificate under former law or an educator license, six semester hours of graduate coursework in the area of licensure or in an area related to the teaching field since the initial issuance of such certificate or license, as specified in rules which the state board of education shall adopt.

This section applies only to contracts entered into after August 18, 1969.

Effective Date: 07-13-2000

Except as otherwise provided in division (G) of this section, in all school districts wherein the provisions of Chapter 124. of the Revised Code do not apply, the following employment contract system shall control for employees whose contracts of employment are not otherwise provided by law:

(A) Newly hired regular nonteaching school employees, including regular hourly rate and per diem employees, shall enter into written contracts for their employment which shall be for a period of not more than one year. If such employees are rehired, their subsequent contract shall be for a period of two years.

(B) After the termination of the two-year contract provided in division (A) of this section, if the contract of a nonteaching employee is renewed, the employee shall be continued in employment, and the salary provided in the contract may be increased but not reduced unless such reduction is a part of a uniform plan affecting the nonteaching employees of the entire district.

(C) The contracts as provided for in this section may be terminated by a majority vote of the board of education. Except as provided in sections 3319.0810 and 3319.172 of the Revised Code, the contracts may be terminated only for violation of written rules and regulations as set forth by the board of education or for incompetency, inefficiency, dishonesty, drunkenness, immoral conduct, insubordination, discourteous treatment of the public, neglect of duty, or any other acts of misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance. In addition to the right of the board of education to terminate the contract of an employee, the board may suspend an employee for a definite period of time or demote the employee for the reasons set forth in this division. The action of the board of education terminating the contract of an employee or suspending or demoting the employee shall be served upon the employee by certified mail. Within ten days following the receipt of such notice by the employee, the employee may file an appeal, in writing, with the court of common pleas of the county in which such school board is situated. After hearing the appeal the common pleas court may affirm, disaffirm, or modify the action of the school board.

A violation of division (A)(7) of section 2907.03 of the Revised Code is grounds for termination of employment of a nonteaching employee under this division.

(D) All employees who have been employed by a school district where the provisions of Chapter 124. of the Revised Code do not apply, for a period of at least three years on November 24, 1967, shall hold continuing contracts of employment pursuant to this section.

(E) Any nonteaching school employee may terminate the nonteaching school employee’s contract of employment thirty days subsequent to the filing of a written notice of such termination with the treasurer of the board.

(F) A person hired exclusively for the purpose of replacing a nonteaching school employee while such employee is on leave of absence granted under section 3319.13 of the Revised Code is not a regular nonteaching school employee under this section.

(G) All nonteaching employees employed pursuant to this section and Chapter 124. of the Revised Code shall be paid for all time lost when the schools in which they are employed are closed owing to an epidemic or other public calamity. Nothing in this division shall be construed as requiring payment in excess of an employee’s regular wage rate or salary for any time worked while the school in which the employee is employed is officially closed for the reasons set forth in this division.

Effective Date: 07-19-1994; 09-29-2005

In all school districts wherein the provisions of Chapter 124. of the Revised Code do not apply, each board of education shall cause notice to be given annually not later than the first day of July to each nonteaching school employee, who holds a contract valid for the succeeding school year, as to the salary to be paid such school employee during each year. Such salary shall not be lower than the salary paid during the preceding school year unless such reduction is a part of a uniform plan affecting the nonteaching employees of the entire district. This section does not prevent increases of salary after the board’s annual notice has been given.

Effective Date: 08-26-1977

In all school districts wherein the provisions of Chapter 124. of the Revised Code do not apply, each board of education shall cause notice to be given of its intention not to re-employ said non-teaching employee, at the expiration of his contract. If such notice is not given the non-teaching school employee on or before the first day of June, said employee shall be deemed re-employed.

Effective Date: 08-05-1981

In all school districts each full-time nonteaching school employee including full-time hourly-rate and per diem employees, after service of one year with a board of education, shall be entitled, during each year thereafter, while continuing in the employ of such board of education, to vacation leave with full pay for a minimum of two calendar weeks, excluding legal holidays. Employees continuing in the employ of such board of education for ten or more years of service shall be entitled to vacation leave with full pay for a minimum of three calendar weeks, excluding legal holidays. Employees continuing in the employ of such board of education for twenty or more years of service shall be entitled to vacation leave with full pay for a minimum of four calendar weeks, excluding legal holidays.

Upon separation from employment a nonteaching school employee shall be entitled to compensation at his current rate of pay for all lawfully accrued and unused vacation leave to his credit at the time of separation, not to exceed the vacation leave accrued to his credit for the two years immediately preceding his separation and the prorated portion of his earned but unused vacation leave for the current year. In case of the death of a nonteaching school employee such accrued and unused vacation leave and prorated portion for the current year shall be paid in accordance with section 2113.04 of the Revised Code, or to his estate.

For the purposes of this section, a full-time employee is a person who is in service for not less than eleven months in each calendar year. A board of education may establish vacation leave for employees who are in service less than eleven months in each calendar year.

Effective Date: 07-01-1975

Any nonteaching school employee who, subsequent to September 1, 1962, has left, or leaves, the employ of a board of education for the purpose of entering on extended active duty in the armed services of the United States or the auxiliaries thereof, and within eight weeks enters such service and who has returned, or returns, from such service with an honorable discharge or certificate of service shall be re-employed by the board of education of the district in which he held such school position, under the same type of contract as that which he last held in such district, if such nonteaching school employee applies, within ninety days after such discharge, to such board of education for re-employment. Upon such application, such nonteaching school employee shall be re-employed at the first of the next school semester, if such application is made not less than thirty days prior to the first of such next school semester, in which case such nonteaching school employee shall be re-employed the first of the following school semester, unless the board of education waives the requirement for such thirty day period.

For the purposes of seniority and placement on the salary schedule, years of absence on extended active duty in the armed services of the United States or the auxiliaries thereof shall not exceed four, and shall be counted as though school service had been performed during such time.

The board of education of the district in which such nonteaching school employee was employed and is re-employed under this section may suspend the contract of the nonteaching school employee whose services become unnecessary by reason of the return of a nonteaching school employee from service in the armed services or auxiliaries thereof.

Effective Date: 03-18-1969

In all school districts, forty hours shall be the standard work week for all non-teaching school employees. Such employees shall not be required to work on days declared by the employing board of education as school holidays unless failure to work on such holidays would impair the public service. Where such employees are required by their responsible administrative superiors to work in excess of forty hours in any seven day period or to work on days declared by the employing board of education to be school holidays, they shall be compensated for such time worked at not less than their regular rate of pay, or be granted compensatory time off. As used in this section, “non-teaching school employees” does not include any person employed in the public schools of the state in an administrative or supervisory capacity in connection with the services rendered by non-teaching school employees.

Nothing in this section shall prevent the school district from establishing a work week of less than forty hours.

Effective Date: 09-16-1963

Notwithstanding section 3319.086 of the Revised Code, all regular nonteaching school employees employed on an eleven or twelve month basis, whether salaried or compensated on an hourly or per diem basis, are entitled to a minimum of the following holidays for which they shall be paid their regular salary or their regular rate of pay, provided each such employee accrued earnings on his next preceding and his next following scheduled work days before and after such holiday or was properly excused from attendance at work on either or both of those days: New Year’s day, Martin Luther King day, Memorial day, Independence day, Labor day, Thanksgiving day, and Christmas day of each year. All regular nonteaching school employees employed on a nine or ten month basis, whether salaried or compensated on an hourly or per diem basis, are entitled to a minimum of the following holidays for which they shall be paid their regular salary or their regular rate of pay, provided each such employee accrued earnings on his next preceding and next following scheduled work days before and after such holiday or was properly excused from attendance at work on either or both of those days: New Year’s day, Martin Luther King day, Memorial day, Labor day, Thanksgiving day, and Christmas day of each year. Regular nonteaching school employees employed less than nine months shall be entitled to a minimum of those holidays enumerated in this section which fall during the employees’ time of employment. In addition to the above named holidays, a board of education may declare any other day, except days approved for teachers’ attendance at an educational meeting, as a holiday and shall pay to all such regular nonteaching school employees, whether salaried or compensated on an hourly or per diem basis, their regular salary or their regular rate of pay. When any employee is required by his responsible administrative superior to work on any of the paid holidays, he shall be granted compensatory time off for which he shall be paid his regular salary or at his regular rate of pay, or a board of education may establish a premium rate of pay for work performed on a paid holiday. Holidays shall occur on the days specified in section 1.14 of the Revised Code.

For purposes of determining whether a person who is not in the employ of a board of education on Labor day is in compliance with the requirement of this section that states that in order for a nonteaching employee to be eligible for Labor day holiday pay he must have accrued earnings on the scheduled work day immediately preceding Labor day or have been excused from attendance at work on that day, a board of education shall count the employee’s last scheduled work day of his preceding period of employment as his last scheduled day of employment for purposes of this requirement.

For the purposes of this section, “employed” and “time of employment” mean the period from the initial date of employment to the termination of employment with that school district.

Effective Date: 08-01-1975

As used in this section, “educational assistant” means any nonteaching employee in a school district who directly assists a teacher as defined in section 3319.09 of the Revised Code, by performing duties for which a license issued pursuant to sections 3319.22 to 3319.30 of the Revised Code is not required.

(A) The state board of education shall issue educational aide permits and educational paraprofessional licenses for educational assistants and shall adopt rules for the issuance and renewal of such permits and licenses which shall be consistent with the provisions of this section. Educational aide permits and educational paraprofessional licenses may be of several types and the rules shall prescribe the minimum qualifications of education, health, and character for the service to be authorized under each type. The prescribed minimum qualifications may require special training or educational courses designed to qualify a person to perform effectively the duties authorized under an educational aide permit or educational paraprofessional license.

(B)(1) Any application for a permit or license, or a renewal or duplicate of a permit or license, under this section shall be accompanied by the payment of a fee in the amount established under division (A) of section 3319.51 of the Revised Code. Any fees received under this division shall be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the state board of education licensure fund established under division (B) of section 3319.51 of the Revised Code.

(2) Any person applying for or holding a permit or license pursuant to this section is subject to sections 3123.41 to 3123.50 of the Revised Code and any applicable rules adopted under section 3123.63 of the Revised Code and sections 3319.31 and 3319.311 of the Revised Code.

(C) Educational assistants shall at all times while in the performance of their duties be under the supervision and direction of a teacher as defined in section 3319.09 of the Revised Code. Educational assistants may assist a teacher to whom assigned in the supervision of pupils, in assisting with instructional tasks, and in the performance of duties which, in the judgment of the teacher to whom the assistant is assigned, may be performed by a person not licensed pursuant to sections 3319.22 to 3319.30 of the Revised Code and for which a teaching license, issued pursuant to sections 3319.22 to 3319.30 of the Revised Code is not required. The duties of an educational assistant shall not include the assignment of grades to pupils. The duties of an educational assistants need not be performed in the physical presence of the teacher to whom assigned, but the activity of an educational assistant shall at all times be under the direction of the teacher to whom assigned. The assignment of an educational assistant need not be limited to assisting a single teacher. In the event an educational assistant is assigned to assist more than one teacher the assignments shall be clearly delineated and so arranged that the educational assistant shall never be subject to simultaneous supervision or direction by more than one teacher.

Educational assistants assigned to supervise children shall, when the teacher to whom assigned is not physically present, maintain the degree of control and discipline which would be maintained by the teacher, but an educational assistant may not render corporal punishment.

Except when expressly permitted solely for the purposes of section 3317.029 of the Revised Code, educational assistants may not be used in place of classroom teachers or other employees and any payment of compensation by boards of education to educational assistants for such services is prohibited. The ratio between the number of licensed teachers and the pupils in a school district may not be decreased by utilization of educational assistants and no grouping, or other organization of pupils, for utilization of educational assistants shall be established which is inconsistent with sound educational practices and procedures. A school district may employ up to one full time equivalent educational assistant for each six full time equivalent licensed employees of the district. Educational assistants shall not be counted as licensed employees for purposes of state support in the school foundation program and no grouping or regrouping of pupils with educational assistants may be counted as a class or unit for school foundation program purposes. Neither special courses required by the regulations of the state board of education, prescribing minimum qualifications of education for an educational assistant, nor years of service as an educational assistant shall be counted in any way toward qualifying for a teacher license, for a teacher contract of any type, or for determining placement on a salary schedule in a school district as a teacher.

(D) Educational assistants employed by a board of education shall have all rights, benefits, and legal protection available to other nonteaching employees in the school district, except that provisions of Chapter 124. of the Revised Code shall not apply to any person employed as an educational assistant, and shall be members of the school employees retirement system. Educational assistants shall be compensated according to a salary plan adopted annually by the board.

Except as provided in this section nonteaching employees shall not serve as educational assistants without first obtaining an appropriate educational aide permit or educational paraprofessional license from the state board of education. A nonteaching employee who is the holder of a valid educational aide permit or educational paraprofessional license shall neither render nor be required to render services inconsistent with the type of services authorized by the permit or license held. No person shall receive compensation from a board of education for services rendered as an educational assistant in violation of this provision.

Nonteaching employees whose functions are solely secretarial-clerical and who do not perform any other duties as educational assistants, even though they assist a teacher and work under the direction of a teacher shall not be required to hold a permit or license issued pursuant to this section. Students preparing to become licensed teachers or educational assistants shall not be required to hold an educational aide permit or paraprofessional license for such periods of time as such students are assigned, as part of their training program, to work with a teacher in a school district. Such students shall not be compensated for such services.

Following the determination of the assignment and general job description of an educational assistant and subject to supervision by the teacher’s immediate administrative officer, a teacher to whom an educational assistant is assigned shall make all final determinations of the duties to be assigned to such assistant. Teachers shall not be required to hold a license designated for being a supervisor or administrator in order to perform the necessary supervision of educational assistants.

(E) No person who is, or who has been employed as an educational assistant shall divulge, except to the teacher to whom assigned, or the administrator of the school in the absence of the teacher to whom assigned, or when required to testify in a court or proceedings, any personal information concerning any pupil in the school district which was obtained or obtainable by the educational assistant while so employed. Violation of this provision is grounds for disciplinary action or dismissal, or both.

Effective Date: 03-22-2001

The board of education of any city, local, or exempted village school district may adopt a resolution approving a contract with a county department of job and family services under section 5107.541 of the Revised Code to provide for a participant of the work experience program who has a child enrolled in a public school in that district to fulfill the work requirements of the work experience program by volunteering or working in that public school in accordance with section 5107.541 of the Revised Code. Such recipients are not employees of such board of education.

Before a school district places a participant in a public school under this section, the appointing officer or hiring officer of the board of education of a school district shall request a criminal records check of the participant to be conducted in the same manner as required for a person under section 3319.39 of the Revised Code. The records check shall be conducted even though the participant, if subsequently hired, would not be considered an employee of the school district for purposes of working at the school. A participant shall not be placed in a school if the participant previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the offenses listed in division (B)(1)(a) or (b) of section 3319.39 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 07-01-2000; 2007 HB190 11-14-2007

(A) The board of education of any school district wherein the provisions of Chapter 124. of the Revised Code do not apply may terminate any of its transportation staff positions for reasons of economy and efficiency if the board instead of employing its own staff to transport some or all of the students enrolled in the district schools enters into a contract with an independent agent for the provision of transportation services for such students. Such a contract may be entered into only if all of the following conditions are satisfied:

(1) Any collective bargaining agreement between the employee organization representing the employees whose positions are terminated under this section and the board has expired or will expire within sixty days and has not been renewed in conformance with provisions of that agreement and with Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code, or the agreement contains provisions permitting the termination of positions for reasons of economy and efficiency while the agreement is in force and the board is in conformance with those provisions.

(2) The board permits any employee whose position is terminated under this section to fill any vacancy within the district’s organization for which the employee is qualified. The board shall select from among similarly qualified employees to fill such vacancies pursuant to procedures established under any collective bargaining agreement between the employee organization representing the terminated employees and the board that is in force at the time of the termination, or in absence of such provisions on the basis of seniority of employment by the board with the employee with the greatest seniority having highest priority.

(3) Unless a collective bargaining agreement between the employee organization representing the terminated employees and the board that is in force at the time of the termination provides otherwise, the board permits any employee whose position is terminated under this section to fill the employee’s former position in the event that the board reinstates that position within one year after the date the position is terminated under this section.

(4) The board permits any employee whose position is terminated under this section to appeal in accordance with section 119.12 of the Revised Code the board’s decision to terminate the employee’s position, not to hire that employee for another position pursuant to division (A)(2) of this section, or not to rehire that employee for the position if it is reinstated within one year after the position is terminated pursuant to division (A)(3) of this section.

(5) The contract entered into by the board and an independent agent for the provision of transportation services contains a stipulation requiring the agent to consider hiring any employees of the school district whose positions are terminated under this section for similar positions within the agent’s organization.

(6) The contract entered into by the board and an independent agent for the provision of transportation services contains a stipulation requiring the agent to recognize for purposes of employee representation in collective bargaining any employee organization that represented the employees whose positions are terminated under this section in collective bargaining with the board at the time of the termination provided:

(a) A majority of all employees in the bargaining unit agree to such representation;

(b) Such representation is not prohibited by federal law, including any ruling of the national labor relations board;

(c) The employee organization is not prohibited from representing nonpublic employees by other provisions of law or its own governing instruments.

However, any employee whose position is terminated under this section shall not be compelled to be included in such bargaining unit if there is another bargaining unit within the agent’s organization that is applicable to the employee.

(B) If after terminating any positions of employment under this section the board fails to comply with any condition prescribed in division (A) of this section or fails to enforce on the agent its contractual obligations prescribed in divisions (A)(5) and (6) of this section, the terminations shall be void and the board shall reinstate the positions and fill them with the employees who filled those positions just prior to the terminations. Such employees shall be compensated at a rate equal to their rate of compensation in those positions just prior to the terminations plus any increases paid since the terminations to other nonteaching employees. The employees shall also be entitled to back pay at such rate for the period from the date of the terminations to the date of the reinstatements minus any pay received by the employees during any time the board was in compliance with such conditions or during any time the board enforced those obligations.

Any employee aggrieved by the failure of the board to comply with any condition prescribed in division (A) of this section or to enforce on the agent its contractual obligations prescribed in divisions (A)(5) and (6) of this section shall have the right to sue the board for reinstatement of the employee’s former position as provided for in this division in the court of common pleas for the county in which the school district is located or, if the school district is located in more than one county, in the court of common pleas for the county in which the majority of the territory of the school district is located.

Effective Date: 09-20-2005

If the board of education of a school district offers to students of compulsory school age courses for high school credit that are taught at times outside the district’s normal school day, the board shall enter into supplemental contracts under section 3319.08 of the Revised Code with the teachers assigned to teach those courses and shall not include such assignment of duties within the teachers’ regular employment contracts under that section.

Effective Date: 04-04-2007

As used in sections 3319.08 to 3319.18, inclusive, of the Revised Code:

(A) “Teacher” means all persons licensed to teach and who are employed in the public schools of this state as instructors, principals, supervisors, superintendents, or in any other educational position for which the state board of education requires licensure under sections 3319.22 to 3319.31 of the Revised Code including persons having a license issued pursuant to sections 3319.22 to 3319.31 of the Revised Code and employed in an educational position, as determined by the state board of education, under programs provided for by federal acts or regulations and financed in whole or in part from federal funds, but for which no licensure requirements for the position can be made under the provisions of such federal acts or regulations.

(B) “Year” as applied to term of service means actual service of not less than one hundred twenty days within a school year; provided that any board of education may grant a leave of absence for professional advancement with full credit for service.

(C) “Continuing service status” for a teacher means employment under a continuing contract.

Effective Date: 06-09-2004

Teachers may be employed as substitute teachers for terms not to exceed one year for assignment as services are needed to take the place of regular teachers absent on account of illness or on leaves of absence or to fill temporarily positions created by emergencies; such assignment to be subject to termination when such services no longer are needed.

A teacher employed as a substitute with an assignment to one specific teaching position shall after sixty days of service be granted sick leave, visiting days, and other local privileges granted to regular teachers including a salary not less than the minimum salary on the current adopted salary schedule.

A teacher employed as a substitute for one hundred twenty days or more during a school year and re-employed for or assigned to a specific teaching position for the succeeding year shall receive a contract as a regular teacher if the substitute meets the local educational requirements for the employment of regular teachers.

Teachers employed as substitutes on a casual or day-to-day basis shall not be entitled to the notice of nonre-employment prescribed in section 3319.11 of the Revised Code, but boards of education may grant such teachers sick leave and other local privileges and cumulate such service in determining seniority.

For purposes of determining in any school year the days of service of a substitute teacher under this section, any teacher’s days of service in that school year while conditionally employed as a substitute teacher under section 3319.101 of the Revised Code shall count as days of service as a substitute teacher under this section.

Effective Date: 06-05-1996

(A) Except as provided under division (B) of this section, if any person applies to the board of education of a school district to be employed as a substitute teacher and the person does not hold a valid teacher’s certificate issued under sections 3319.22 to 3319.31 of the Revised Code, and if the superintendent of the district believes the person’s application materials indicate that the person is qualified to obtain a teacher’s certificate under those sections, the board may conditionally employ the person as a substitute teacher during the period, which shall not exceed sixty days, commencing on the date on which the person files an application with the state board of education for a teacher’s certificate and ending on the date on which the district board receives notice from the superintendent of the district that the teacher has filed with the superintendent a valid teacher’s certificate.

(B) If a person conditionally employed under division (A) of this section is denied a teacher’s certificate by the state board, the employing board shall terminate the person from employment.

Effective Date: 06-05-1996

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Evaluation procedures” means the procedures adopted pursuant to division (B) of section 3319.111 of the Revised Code.

(2) “Limited contract” means a limited contract, as described in section 3319.08 of the Revised Code, that a school district board of education or governing board of an educational service center enters into with a teacher who is not eligible for continuing service status.

(3) “Extended limited contract” means a limited contract, as described in section 3319.08 of the Revised Code, that a board of education or governing board enters into with a teacher who is eligible for continuing service status.

(B) Teachers eligible for continuing service status in any city, exempted village, local, or joint vocational school district or educational service center shall be those teachers qualified as described in division (B)(1) or (2) of section 3319.08 of the Revised Code, who within the last five years have taught for at least three years in the district or center, and those teachers who, having attained continuing contract status elsewhere, have served two years in the district or center, but the board, upon the recommendation of the superintendent, may at the time of employment or at any time within such two-year period, declare any of the latter teachers eligible.

(1) Upon the recommendation of the superintendent that a teacher eligible for continuing service status be reemployed, a continuing contract shall be entered into between the board and the teacher unless the board by a three-fourths vote of its full membership rejects the recommendation of the superintendent. If the board rejects by a three-fourths vote of its full membership the recommendation of the superintendent that a teacher eligible for continuing service status be reemployed and the superintendent makes no recommendation to the board pursuant to division (C) of this section, the board may declare its intention not to reemploy the teacher by giving the teacher written notice on or before the thirtieth day of April of its intention not to reemploy the teacher. If evaluation procedures have not been complied with pursuant to division (A) of section 3319.111 of the Revised Code or the board does not give the teacher written notice on or before the thirtieth day of April of its intention not to reemploy the teacher, the teacher is deemed reemployed under an extended limited contract for a term not to exceed one year at the same salary plus any increment provided by the salary schedule. The teacher is presumed to have accepted employment under the extended limited contract for a term not to exceed one year unless such teacher notifies the board in writing to the contrary on or before the first day of June, and an extended limited contract for a term not to exceed one year shall be executed accordingly. Upon any subsequent reemployment of the teacher only a continuing contract may be entered into.

(2) If the superintendent recommends that a teacher eligible for continuing service status not be reemployed, the board may declare its intention not to reemploy the teacher by giving the teacher written notice on or before the thirtieth day of April of its intention not to reemploy the teacher. If evaluation procedures have not been complied with pursuant to division (A) of section 3319.111 of the Revised Code or the board does not give the teacher written notice on or before the thirtieth day of April of its intention not to reemploy the teacher, the teacher is deemed reemployed under an extended limited contract for a term not to exceed one year at the same salary plus any increment provided by the salary schedule. The teacher is presumed to have accepted employment under the extended limited contract for a term not to exceed one year unless such teacher notifies the board in writing to the contrary on or before the first day of June, and an extended limited contract for a term not to exceed one year shall be executed accordingly. Upon any subsequent reemployment of a teacher only a continuing contract may be entered into.

(3) Any teacher receiving written notice of the intention of a board not to reemploy such teacher pursuant to this division is entitled to the hearing provisions of division (G) of this section.

(C)(1) If a board rejects the recommendation of the superintendent for reemployment of a teacher pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section, the superintendent may recommend reemployment of the teacher, if continuing service status has not previously been attained elsewhere, under an extended limited contract for a term not to exceed two years, provided that written notice of the superintendent’s intention to make such recommendation has been given to the teacher with reasons directed at the professional improvement of the teacher on or before the thirtieth day of April. Upon subsequent reemployment of the teacher only a continuing contract may be entered into.

(2) If a board of education takes affirmative action on a superintendent’s recommendation, made pursuant to division (C)(1) of this section, of an extended limited contract for a term not to exceed two years but the board does not give the teacher written notice of its affirmative action on the superintendent’s recommendation of an extended limited contract on or before the thirtieth day of April, the teacher is deemed reemployed under a continuing contract at the same salary plus any increment provided by the salary schedule. The teacher is presumed to have accepted employment under such continuing contract unless such teacher notifies the board in writing to the contrary on or before the first day of June, and a continuing contract shall be executed accordingly.

(3) A board shall not reject a superintendent’s recommendation, made pursuant to division (C)(1) of this section, of an extended limited contract for a term not to exceed two years except by a three-fourths vote of its full membership. If a board rejects by a three-fourths vote of its full membership the recommendation of the superintendent of an extended limited contract for a term not to exceed two years, the board may declare its intention not to reemploy the teacher by giving the teacher written notice on or before the thirtieth day of April of its intention not to reemploy the teacher. If evaluation procedures have not been complied with pursuant to division (A) of section 3319.111 of the Revised Code or if the board does not give the teacher written notice on or before the thirtieth day of April of its intention not to reemploy the teacher, the teacher is deemed reemployed under an extended limited contract for a term not to exceed one year at the same salary plus any increment provided by the salary schedule. The teacher is presumed to have accepted employment under the extended limited contract for a term not to exceed one year unless such teacher notifies the board in writing to the contrary on or before the first day of June, and an extended limited contract for a term not to exceed one year shall be executed accordingly. Upon any subsequent reemployment of the teacher only a continuing contract may be entered into.

Any teacher receiving written notice of the intention of a board not to reemploy such teacher pursuant to this division is entitled to the hearing provisions of division (G) of this section.

(D) A teacher eligible for continuing contract status employed under an extended limited contract pursuant to division (B) or (C) of this section, is, at the expiration of such extended limited contract, deemed reemployed under a continuing contract at the same salary plus any increment granted by the salary schedule, unless evaluation procedures have been complied with pursuant to division (A) of section 3319.111 of the Revised Code and the employing board, acting on the superintendent’s recommendation that the teacher not be reemployed, gives the teacher written notice on or before the thirtieth day of April of its intention not to reemploy such teacher. A teacher who does not have evaluation procedures applied in compliance with division (A) of section 3319.111 of the Revised Code or who does not receive notice on or before the thirtieth day of April of the intention of the board not to reemploy such teacher is presumed to have accepted employment under a continuing contract unless such teacher notifies the board in writing to the contrary on or before the first day of June, and a continuing contract shall be executed accordingly.

Any teacher receiving a written notice of the intention of a board not to reemploy such teacher pursuant to this division is entitled to the hearing provisions of division (G) of this section.

(E) A limited contract may be entered into by each board with each teacher who has not been in the employ of the board for at least three years and shall be entered into, regardless of length of previous employment, with each teacher employed by the board who holds a provisional, temporary, or associate license, or who holds a professional license and is not eligible to be considered for a continuing contract.

Any teacher employed under a limited contract, and not eligible to be considered for a continuing contract, is, at the expiration of such limited contract, considered reemployed under the provisions of this division at the same salary plus any increment provided by the salary schedule unless evaluation procedures have been complied with pursuant to division (A) of section 3319.111 of the Revised Code and the employing board, acting upon the superintendent’s written recommendation that the teacher not be reemployed, gives such teacher written notice of its intention not to reemploy such teacher on or before the thirtieth day of April. A teacher who does not have evaluation procedures applied in compliance with division (A) of section 3319.111 of the Revised Code or who does not receive notice of the intention of the board not to reemploy such teacher on or before the thirtieth day of April is presumed to have accepted such employment unless such teacher notifies the board in writing to the contrary on or before the first day of June, and a written contract for the succeeding school year shall be executed accordingly.

Any teacher receiving a written notice of the intention of a board not to reemploy such teacher pursuant to this division is entitled to the hearing provisions of division (G) of this section.

(F) The failure of a superintendent to make a recommendation to the board under any of the conditions set forth in divisions (B) to (E) of this section, or the failure of the board to give such teacher a written notice pursuant to divisions (C) to (E) of this section shall not prejudice or prevent a teacher from being deemed reemployed under either a limited or continuing contract as the case may be under the provisions of this section. A failure of the parties to execute a written contract shall not void any automatic reemployment provisions of this section.

(G)(1) Any teacher receiving written notice of the intention of a board of education not to reemploy such teacher pursuant to division (B), (C)(3), (D), or (E) of this section may, within ten days of the date of receipt of the notice, file with the treasurer of the board a written demand for a written statement describing the circumstances that led to the board’s intention not to reemploy the teacher.

(2) The treasurer of a board, on behalf of the board, shall, within ten days of the date of receipt of a written demand for a written statement pursuant to division (G)(1) of this section, provide to the teacher a written statement describing the circumstances that led to the board’s intention not to reemploy the teacher.

(3) Any teacher receiving a written statement describing the circumstances that led to the board’s intention not to reemploy the teacher pursuant to division (G)(2) of this section may, within five days of the date of receipt of the statement, file with the treasurer of the board a written demand for a hearing before the board pursuant to divisions (G)(4) to (6) of this section.

(4) The treasurer of a board, on behalf of the board, shall, within ten days of the date of receipt of a written demand for a hearing pursuant to division (G)(3) of this section, provide to the teacher a written notice setting forth the time, date, and place of the hearing. The board shall schedule and conclude the hearing within forty days of the date on which the treasurer of the board receives a written demand for a hearing pursuant to division (G)(3) of this section.

(5) Any hearing conducted pursuant to this division shall be conducted by a majority of the members of the board. The hearing shall be held in executive session of the board unless the board and the teacher agree to hold the hearing in public. The superintendent, assistant superintendent, the teacher, and any person designated by either party to take a record of the hearing may be present at the hearing. The board may be represented by counsel and the teacher may be represented by counsel or a designee. A record of the hearing may be taken by either party at the expense of the party taking the record.

(6) Within ten days of the conclusion of a hearing conducted pursuant to this division, the board shall issue to the teacher a written decision containing an order affirming the intention of the board not to reemploy the teacher reported in the notice given to the teacher pursuant to division (B), (C)(3), (D), or (E) of this section or an order vacating the intention not to reemploy and expunging any record of the intention, notice of the intention, and the hearing conducted pursuant to this division.

(7) A teacher may appeal an order affirming the intention of the board not to reemploy the teacher to the court of common pleas of the county in which the largest portion of the territory of the school district or service center is located, within thirty days of the date on which the teacher receives the written decision, on the grounds that the board has not complied with section 3319.11 or 3319.111 of the Revised Code.

Notwithstanding section 2506.04 of the Revised Code, the court in an appeal under this division is limited to the determination of procedural errors and to ordering the correction of procedural errors and shall have no jurisdiction to order a board to reemploy a teacher, except that the court may order a board to reemploy a teacher in compliance with the requirements of division (B), (C)(3), (D), or (E) of this section when the court determines that evaluation procedures have not been complied with pursuant to division (A) of section 3319.111 of the Revised Code or the board has not given the teacher written notice on or before the thirtieth day of April of its intention not to reemploy the teacher pursuant to division (B), (C)(3), (D), or (E) of this section. Otherwise, the determination whether to reemploy or not reemploy a teacher is solely a board’s determination and not a proper subject of judicial review and, except as provided in this division, no decision of a board whether to reemploy or not reemploy a teacher shall be invalidated by the court on any basis, including that the decision was not warranted by the results of any evaluation or was not warranted by any statement given pursuant to division (G)(2) of this section.

No appeal of an order of a board may be made except as specified in this division.

(H)(1) In giving a teacher any notice required by division (B), (C), (D), or (E) of this section, the board or the superintendent shall do either of the following:

(a) Deliver the notice by personal service upon the teacher;

(b) Deliver the notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the teacher at the teacher’s place of employment and deliver a copy of the notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the teacher at the teacher’s place of residence.

(2) In giving a board any notice required by division (B), (C), (D), or (E) of this section, the teacher shall do either of the following:

(a) Deliver the notice by personal delivery to the office of the superintendent during regular business hours;

(b) Deliver the notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the office of the superintendent and deliver a copy of the notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the president of the board at the president’s place of residence.

(3) When any notice and copy of the notice are mailed pursuant to division (H)(1)(b) or (2)(b) of this section, the notice or copy of the notice with the earlier date of receipt shall constitute the notice for the purposes of division (B), (C), (D), or (E) of this section.

(I) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any supplemental written contracts entered into pursuant to section 3319.08 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 06-09-2004

(A) Any board of education that has entered into any limited contract or extended limited contract with a teacher pursuant to section 3319.11 of the Revised Code shall evaluate such a teacher in compliance with the requirements of this section in any school year in which the board may wish to declare its intention not to re-employ the teacher pursuant to division (B), (C)(3), (D), or (E) of section 3319.11 of the Revised Code.

This evaluation shall be conducted at least twice in the school year in which the board may wish to declare its intention not to re-employ the teacher. One evaluation shall be conducted and completed not later than the fifteenth day of January and the teacher being evaluated shall receive a written report of the results of this evaluation not later than the twenty-fifth day of January. One evaluation shall be conducted and completed between the tenth day of February and the first day of April and the teacher being evaluated shall receive a written report of the results of this evaluation not later than the tenth day of April.

Any evaluation conducted pursuant to this section shall be conducted by one or more of the following:

(1) A person who is under contract with a board of education pursuant to section 3319.01 or 3319.02 of the Revised Code and holds a license designated for being a superintendent, assistant superintendent, or principal issued under section 3319.22 of the Revised Code;

(2) A person who is under contract with a board of education pursuant to section 3319.02 of the Revised Code and holds a license designated for being a vocational director or a supervisor in any educational area issued under section 3319.22 of the Revised Code;

(3) A person designated to conduct evaluations under an agreement providing for peer review entered into by a board of education and representatives of teachers employed by that board.

(B) Any board of education evaluating a teacher pursuant to this section shall adopt evaluation procedures that shall be applied each time a teacher is evaluated pursuant to this section. These evaluation procedures shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) Criteria of expected job performance in the areas of responsibility assigned to the teacher being evaluated;

(2) Observation of the teacher being evaluated by the person conducting the evaluation on at least two occasions for not less than thirty minutes on each occasion;

(3) A written report of the results of the evaluation that includes specific recommendations regarding any improvements needed in the performance of the teacher being evaluated and regarding the means by which the teacher may obtain assistance in making such improvements.

(C) This section does not apply to teachers subject to evaluation procedures under sections 3319.01 and 3319.02 of the Revised Code or to any teacher employed as a substitute for less than one hundred twenty days during a school year pursuant to section 3319.10 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 06-09-2004

(A) The state board of education, in consultation with the Ohio board of regents, shall establish guidelines for the evaluation of teachers and principals. The guidelines shall include the following principles:

(1) A school district should evaluate the performance of teachers on a regular basis.

(2) The evaluation system adopted by a school district should be fair, credible, and evidence-based and should use multiple measures of a teacher or principal’s use of knowledge and skills and of students’ academic progress.

(3) The evaluation system adopted by a school district should be aligned with the standards for teachers and principals adopted pursuant to section 3319.61 of the Revised Code.

(4) The evaluation system adopted by a school district should provide clear statements of expectation for professional performance.

(5) The evaluation of a teacher or principal should suggest professional development that will enhance future performance in areas that do not meet expected performance levels.

(6) The criteria included in a school district’s evaluation system should be reviewed on a regular basis and revised as necessary to ensure effectiveness over time.

(7) The evaluation system adopted by a school district should address the extent to which a teacher or principal exhibits cultural competency as defined pursuant to section 3319.61 of the Revised Code.

(B) Once the state board has established the guidelines, the state board shall inform school districts of the contents of the guidelines. All school districts may use the guidelines in creating or modifying evaluation systems.

(C) To assist school districts that modify evaluation systems to better reflect a standards-based method, the department of education shall do both of the following:

(1) Serve as a clearinghouse of promising evaluation procedures and evaluation models that school districts may use;

(2) Provide technical assistance to school districts that request assistance in modifying evaluation systems.

Effective Date: 06-09-2004

Each board of education shall cause notice to be given annually not later than the first day of July to each teacher who holds a contract valid for the succeeding school year, as to the salary to be paid such teacher during such year. Such salary shall not be lower than the salary paid during the preceding school year unless such reduction is part of a uniform plan affecting the entire district. This section does not prevent increases of salary after the board’s annual notice has been given.

Except by mutual agreement of the parties thereto a teacher employed under a contract of employment in an administrative, or supervisory position in a school district, or in any position provided for by section 3319.01 or 3319.02 of the Revised Code, shall not be transferred during the life of his contract to a position of lesser responsibility. No contract or supplemental contract for the employment of a teacher, whether for an administrative or supervisory position, a position provided for by sections 3319.01 and 3319.02 of the Revised Code, regular teaching duties, or additional duties, may be terminated or suspended by a board of education except pursuant to section 3319.02 or 3319.16 of the Revised Code, and the salaries and compensation prescribed by such contracts shall not be reduced by a board of education unless such reduction is a part of a uniform plan affecting the entire district. This section shall apply only to contracts entered into after August 18, 1969.

Effective Date: 03-22-1973

Upon the written request of a teacher or a regular nonteaching school employee, a board of education may grant a leave of absence for a period of not more than two consecutive school years for educational, professional, or other purposes, and shall grant such leave where illness or other disability is the reason for the request. Upon subsequent request, such leave may be renewed by the board. Without request, a board may grant similar leave of absence and renewals thereof to any teacher or regular nonteaching school employee because of physical or mental disability, but such teacher may have a hearing on such unrequested leave of absence or its renewals in accordance with section 3319.16 of the Revised Code, and such nonteaching school employee may have a hearing on such unrequested leave of absence or its renewals in accordance with division (C) of section 3319.081 of the Revised Code. Upon the return to service of a teacher or a nonteaching school employee at the expiration of a leave of absence, the teacher or nonteaching school employee shall resume the contract status that the teacher or nonteaching school employee held prior to the leave of absence. Any teacher who leaves a teaching position for service in the uniformed services and who returns from service in the uniformed services that is terminated in a manner other than as described in section 4304 of Title 38 of the United States Code, “Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994,” 108 Stat. 3149, 38 U.S.C.A. 4304, shall resume the contract status held prior to entering the uniformed services, subject to passing a physical examination by an individual authorized by the Revised Code to conduct physical examinations, including a physician assistant, a clinical nurse specialist, a certified nurse practitioner, or a certified nurse-midwife. Any written documentation of the physical examination shall be completed by the individual who conducted the examination. Such contract status shall be resumed at the first of the school semester or the beginning of the school year following return from the uniformed services. For purposes of this section and section 3319.14 of the Revised Code, “uniformed services” and “service in the uniformed services” have the same meanings as defined in section 5903.01 of the Revised Code.

Upon the return of a nonteaching school employee from a leave of absence, the board may terminate the employment of a person hired exclusively for the purpose of replacing the returning employee while the returning employee was on leave. If, after the return of a nonteaching employee from leave, the person employed exclusively for the purpose of replacing an employee while the employee was on leave is continued in employment as a regular nonteaching school employee or if the person is hired by the board as a regular nonteaching school employee within a year after employment as a replacement is terminated, the person shall, for purposes of section 3319.081 of the Revised Code, receive credit for the person’s length of service with the school district during such replacement period in the following manner:

(A) If employed as a replacement for less than twelve months, the person shall be employed under a contract valid for a period equal to twelve months less the number of months employed as a replacement. At the end of such contract period, if the person is reemployed it shall be under a two-year contract. Subsequent reemployment shall be pursuant to division (B) of section 3319.081 of the Revised Code.

(B) If employed as a replacement for twelve months or more but less than twenty-four months, the person shall be employed under a contract valid for a period equal to twenty-four months less the number of months employed as a replacement. Subsequent reemployment shall be pursuant to division (B) of section 3319.081 of the Revised Code.

(C) If employed as a replacement for more than twenty-four months, the person shall be employed pursuant to division (B) of section 3319.081 of the Revised Code.

For purposes of this section, employment during any part of a month shall count as employment during the entire month.

Effective Date: 03-31-2003

A public school teacher who has completed five years of service may, with the permission of the board of education and the superintendent of schools, be entitled to take a leave of absence with part pay, for one or two semesters subject to the following restrictions: The teacher shall present to the superintendent for approval, a plan for professional growth prior to such a grant of permission, and at the conclusion of the leave provide evidence that the plan was followed. The teacher may be required to return to the district at the end of the leave for a period of at least one year, unless the teacher has completed twenty-five years of teaching in this state.

The board of education may not grant such a leave unless there is available a satisfactory substitute, nor grant such leaves to more than five per cent of the professional staff at any one time, nor allow a part salary in excess of the difference between the substitute’s pay and the teacher’s expected salary, nor grant a leave longer than one school year, nor grant a leave to any teacher more often than once for each five years of service, nor grant a leave a second time to the same individual when other members of the staff have filed a request for such a leave.

Effective Date: 09-06-1957

Any teacher who has left, or leaves, a teaching position, by resignation or otherwise, and within forty school days thereafter entered, or enters, the uniformed services and whose service is terminated in a manner other than as described in section 4304 of Title 38 of the United States Code, “Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994,” 108 Stat. 3149, 38 U.S.C.A. 4304, shall be reemployed by the board of education of the district in which the teacher held such teaching position, under the same type of contract as that which the teacher last held in such district, if the teacher applies to the board of education for reemployment in accordance with the “Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994,” 108 Stat. 3149, 38 U.S.C.A. 4312. Upon such application, the teacher shall be reemployed at the first of the next school semester, if the application is made not less than thirty days prior to the first of the next school semester, in which case the teacher shall be reemployed the first of the following school semester, unless the board of education waives the requirement for the thirty-day period.

For the purposes of seniority and placement on the salary schedule, years of absence performing service in the uniformed services shall be counted as though teaching service had been performed during such time.

The board of education of the district in which such teacher was employed and is reemployed under this section may suspend the contract of the teacher whose services become unnecessary by reason of the return of a teacher from service in the uniformed services in accordance with section 3319.17 or 3319.171 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 06-30-2000

Each person who is employed by any board of education in this state shall be entitled to fifteen days sick leave with pay, for each year under contract, which shall be credited at the rate of one and one-fourth days per month. Teachers and non-teaching school employees, upon approval of the responsible administrative officer of the school district, may use sick leave for absence due to personal illness, pregnancy, injury, exposure to contagious disease which could be communicated to others, and for absence due to illness, injury, or death in the employee’s immediate family. Unused sick leave shall be cumulative up to one hundred twenty work days, unless more than one hundred twenty days are approved by the employing board of education. The previously accumulated sick leave of a person who has been separated from public service, whether accumulated pursuant to section 124.38 of the Revised Code or pursuant to this section, shall be placed to his credit upon his re-employment in the public service, provided that such re-employment takes place within ten years of the date of the last termination from public service. A teacher or nonteaching school employee who transfers from one public agency to another shall be credited with the unused balance of his accumulated sick leave up to the maximum of the sick leave accumulation permitted in the public agency to which the employee transfers. Teachers and nonteaching school employees who render part-time, seasonal, intermittent, per diem, or hourly service shall be entitled to sick leave for the time actually worked at the same rate as that granted like full-time employees. Each board of education may establish regulations for the entitlement, crediting and use of sick leave by those substitute teachers employed by such board pursuant to section 3319.10 of the Revised Code who are not otherwise entitled to sick leave pursuant to such section. A board of education shall require a teacher or nonteaching school employee to furnish a written, signed statement on forms prescribed by such board to justify the use of sick leave. If medical attention is required, the employee’s statement shall list the name and address of the attending physician and the dates when he was consulted. Nothing in this section shall be construed to waive the physician-patient privilege provided by section 2317.02 of the Revised Code. Falsification of a statement is grounds for suspension or termination of employment under sections 3319.081 and 3319.16 of the Revised Code. No sick leave shall be granted or credited to a teacher after his retirement or termination of employment.

Except to the extent used as sick leave, leave granted under regulations adopted by a board of education pursuant to section 3319.08 of the Revised Code shall not be charged against sick leave earned or earnable under this section. Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect in any other way the granting of leave pursuant to section 3319.08 of the Revised Code and any granting of sick leave pursuant to such section shall be charged against sick leave accumulated pursuant to this section.

This section shall not be construed to interfere with any unused sick leave credit in any agency of government where attendance records are maintained and credit has been given for unused sick leave. Unused sick leave accumulated by teachers and nonteaching school employees under section 124.38 of the Revised Code shall continue to be credited toward the maximum accumulation permitted in accordance with this section. Each newly hired regular nonteaching and each regular nonteaching employee of any board of education who has exhausted his accumulated sick leave shall be entitled to an advancement of not less than five days of sick leave each year, as authorized by rules which each board shall adopt, to be charged against the sick leave he subsequently accumulates under this section.

This section shall be uniformly administered.

Effective Date: 06-23-1976

Each board of education shall adopt rules entitling regular nonteaching employees, during each school year, to a minimum of three days of personal leave at the employee’s regular compensation. The rules shall govern the use and administration of personal leave, but they need not specify each occasion or purpose for which personal leave may be taken. Personal leave shall be administered by the superintendent or an administrative employee designated by him. Personal leave days shall not be charged against sick leave earned under section 3319.141 of the Revised Code.

If a board of education fails to adopt rules as required by this section, each regular nonteaching employee of the board is entitled to three days of unrestricted personal leave during the school year.

Effective Date: 06-23-1976

Notwithstanding section 3319.141 of the Revised Code, the board of education of a city, exempted village, local or joint vocational school district may adopt a policy of assault leave by which an employee who is absent due to physical disability resulting from an assault which occurs in the course of board employment will be maintained on full pay status during the period of such absence. A board of education electing to effect such a policy of assault leave shall establish rules for the entitlement, crediting, and use of assault leave and file a copy of same with the state board of education. A board of education adopting this policy shall require an employee to furnish a signed statement on forms prescribed by such board to justify the use of assault leave. If medical attention is required, a certificate from a licensed physician stating the nature of the disability and its duration shall be required before assault leave can be approved for payment. Falsification of either a signed statement or a physician’s certificate is ground for suspension or termination of employment under section 3319.16 of the Revised Code.

Assault leave granted under rules adopted by a board of education pursuant to this section shall not be charged against sick leave earned or earnable under section 3319.141 of the Revised Code or leave granted under rules adopted by a board of education pursuant to section 3319.08 of the Revised Code. This section shall be uniformly administered in those districts where such policy is adopted.

Effective Date: 09-30-1976

No teacher shall terminate the teacher’s contract after the tenth day of July of any school year or during the school year, prior to the termination of the annual session, without the consent of the board of education; and such teacher may terminate the teacher’s contract at any other time by giving five days’ written notice to the employing board. Upon complaint by the employing board to the state board of education and after investigation by it, the license of a teacher terminating the teacher’s contract in any other manner than provided in this section may be suspended for not more than one year.

Effective Date: 10-29-1996

(A) No person shall reveal to any student any specific question that the person knows is part of a test to be administered under section 3301.0711 of the Revised Code or in any other way assist a pupil to cheat on such a test.

(B) On a finding by the state board of education, after investigation, that a school employee who holds a license issued under sections 3319.22 to 3319.31 of the Revised Code has violated division (A) of this section, the license of such teacher shall be suspended for one year. Prior to commencing an investigation, the board shall give the teacher notice of the allegation and an opportunity to respond and present a defense.

(C)(1) Violation of division (A) of this section is grounds for termination of employment of a nonteaching employee under division (C) of section 3319.081 or section 124.34 of the Revised Code.

(2) Violation of division (A) of this section is grounds for termination of a teacher contract under section 3319.16 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 10-29-1996

The contract of any teacher employed by the board of education of any city, exempted village, local, county, or joint vocational school district may not be terminated except for gross inefficiency or immorality; for willful and persistent violations of reasonable regulations of the board of education; or for other good and just cause. Before terminating any contract, the employing board shall furnish the teacher a written notice signed by its treasurer of its intention to consider the termination of his contract with full specification of the grounds for such consideration. The board shall not proceed with formal action to terminate the contract until after the tenth day after receipt of the notice by the teacher. Within ten days after receipt of the notice from the treasurer of the board, the teacher may file with the treasurer a written demand for a hearing before the board or before a referee, and the board shall set a time for the hearing which shall be within thirty days from the date of receipt of the written demand, and the treasurer shall give the teacher at least twenty days’ notice in writing of the time and place of the hearing. If a referee is demanded by either the teacher or board, the treasurer also shall give twenty days’ notice to the superintendent of public instruction. No hearing shall be held during the summer vacation without the teacher’s consent. The hearing shall be private unless the teacher requests a public hearing. The hearing shall be conducted by a referee appointed pursuant to section 3319.161 of the Revised Code, if demanded; otherwise, it shall be conducted by a majority of the members of the board and shall be confined to the grounds given for the termination. The board shall provide for a complete stenographic record of the proceedings, a copy of the record to be furnished to the teacher. The board may suspend a teacher pending final action to terminate his contract if, in its judgment, the character of the charges warrants such action.

Both parties may be present at such hearing, be represented by counsel, require witnesses to be under oath, cross-examine witnesses, take a record of the proceedings, and require the presence of witnesses in their behalf upon subpoena to be issued by the treasurer of the board. In case of the failure of any person to comply with a subpoena, a judge of the court of common pleas of the county in which the person resides, upon application of any interested party, shall compel attendance of the person by attachment proceedings as for contempt. Any member of the board or the referee may administer oaths to witnesses. After a hearing by a referee, the referee shall file his report within ten days after the termination of the hearing. After consideration of the referee’s report, the board, by a majority vote, may accept or reject the referee’s recommendation on the termination of the teacher’s contract. After a hearing by the board, the board, by majority vote, may enter its determination upon its minutes. Any order of termination of a contract shall state the grounds for termination. If the decision, after hearing, is against termination of the contract, the charges and the record of the hearing shall be physically expunged from the minutes, and, if the teacher has suffered any loss of salary by reason of being suspended, he shall be paid his full salary for the period of such suspension.

Any teacher affected by an order of termination of contract may appeal to the court of common pleas of the county in which the school is located within thirty days after receipt of notice of the entry of such order. The appeal shall be an original action in the court and shall be commenced by the filing of a complaint against the board, in which complaint the facts shall be alleged upon which the teacher relies for a reversal or modification of such order of termination of contract. Upon service or waiver of summons in that appeal, the board immediately shall transmit to the clerk of the court for filing a transcript of the original papers filed with the board, a certified copy of the minutes of the board into which the termination finding was entered, and a certified transcript of all evidence adduced at the hearing or hearings before the board or a certified transcript of all evidence adduced at the hearing or hearings before the referee, whereupon the cause shall be at issue without further pleading and shall be advanced and heard without delay. The court shall examine the transcript and record of the hearing and shall hold such additional hearings as it considers advisable, at which it may consider other evidence in addition to the transcript and record.

Upon final hearing, the court shall grant or deny the relief prayed for in the complaint as may be proper in accordance with the evidence adduced in the hearing. Such an action is a special proceeding, and either the teacher or the board may appeal from the decision of the court of common pleas pursuant to the Rules of Appellate Procedure and, to the extent not in conflict with those rules, Chapter 2505. of the Revised Code.

In any court action, the board may utilize the services of the prosecuting attorney, village solicitor, city director of law, or other chief legal officer of a municipal corporation as authorized by section 3313.35 of the Revised Code, or may employ other legal counsel.

A violation of division (A)(7) of section 2907.03 of the Revised Code is grounds for termination of a teacher contract under this section.

Effective Date: 07-19-1994

For the purpose of providing referees for the hearings required by section 3319.16 of the Revised Code, the superintendent of public instruction shall compile a list of resident electors from names that he shall solicit annually from the state bar association.

Upon receipt of notice that a referee has been demanded by a teacher or by a board of education, the superintendent of public instruction shall immediately designate three persons from such list, from whom the referee to hear the matter shall be chosen, and he shall immediately notify the designees, the teacher, and the board of the school district involved. If within five days of receipt of the notice, the teacher and board are unable to select a mutually agreeable designee to serve as referee, the superintendent of public instruction shall appoint one of the three designees to serve as referee. The appointment of the referee shall be entered in the minutes of the board. The referee appointed shall be paid his usual and customary fee for attending the hearing which shall be paid from the school district general fund upon vouchers approved by the superintendent of public instruction and presented to the treasurer of the district. No referee shall be a member of, an employee of, or teacher employed by the board of education nor related to any such person by consanguinity or marriage. No person shall be appointed to hear more than two contract termination cases in any school year.

Effective Date: 05-16-1979

(A) As used in this section, “interdistrict contract” means any contract or agreement entered into by an educational service center governing board and another board or other public entity pursuant to section 3313.17, 3313.841, 3313.842, 3313.843, 3313.844, 3313.845, 3313.91, or 3323.08 of the Revised Code, including any such contract or agreement for the provision of services funded under division (I) of section 3317.024 of the Revised Code or provided in any unit approved under section 3317.05 of the Revised Code.

(B) When, for any of the following reasons that apply to any city, exempted village, local, or joint vocational school district or any educational service center, the board decides that it will be necessary to reduce the number of teachers it employs, it may make a reasonable reduction:

(1) In the case of any district or service center, return to duty of regular teachers after leaves of absence including leaves provided pursuant to division (B) of section 3314.10 of the Revised Code, suspension of schools, territorial changes affecting the district or center, or financial reasons;

(2) In the case of any city, exempted village, local, or joint vocational school district, decreased enrollment of pupils in the district;

(3) In the case of any governing board of a service center providing any particular service directly to pupils pursuant to one or more interdistrict contracts requiring such service, reduction in the total number of pupils the governing board is required to provide with the service under all interdistrict contracts as a result of the termination or nonrenewal of one or more of these interdistrict contracts;

(4) In the case of any governing board providing any particular service that it does not provide directly to pupils pursuant to one or more interdistrict contracts requiring such service, reduction in the total level of the service the governing board is required to provide under all interdistrict contracts as a result of the termination or nonrenewal of one or more of these interdistrict contracts.

(C) In making any such reduction, any city, exempted village, local, or joint vocational school board shall proceed to suspend contracts in accordance with the recommendation of the superintendent of schools who shall, within each teaching field affected, give preference first to teachers on continuing contracts and then to teachers who have greater seniority. In making any such reduction, any governing board of a service center shall proceed to suspend contracts in accordance with the recommendation of the superintendent who shall, within each teaching field or service area affected, give preference first to teachers on continuing contracts and then to teachers who have greater seniority.

On a case-by-case basis, in lieu of suspending a contract in whole, a board may suspend a contract in part, so that an individual is required t