Public school personnel; powers and duties of the district school board.

The district school board shall:

(1) Designate positions to be filled, prescribe qualifications for those positions, and provide for the appointment, compensation, promotion, suspension, and dismissal of employees as follows, subject to the requirements of this chapter:

(a) Positions, qualifications, and appointments.—

1. The district school board shall act upon written recommendations submitted by the district school superintendent for positions to be filled, for minimum qualifications for personnel for the various positions, and for the persons nominated to fill such positions.

2. The district school board may reject for good cause any employee nominated.

3. If the third nomination by the district school superintendent for any position is rejected for good cause, if the district school superintendent fails to submit a nomination for initial employment within a reasonable time as prescribed by the district school board, or if the district school superintendent fails to submit a nomination for reemployment within the time prescribed by law, the district school board may proceed on its own motion to fill such position.

4. The district school board’s decision to reject a person’s nomination does not give that person a right of action to sue over the rejection and may not be used as a cause of action by the nominated employee.

5. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “good cause” means the district school board has determined any of the following:

a. That the nominated employee fabricated or materially exaggerated his or her credentials or background.

b. That the nominated employee does not meet the minimum requirements for the position.

c. That the nominated employee’s educator certificate has been revoked by another state.

(b) Time to act on nominations.—The district school board shall act no later than 3 weeks following the receipt of statewide, standardized assessment scores and data under s. 1008.22 and school grades, or June 30, whichever is later, on the district school superintendent’s nominations of supervisors, principals, and members of the instructional staff.

(c) Compensation and salary schedules.—

1. Definitions.—As used in this paragraph:

a. “Adjustment” means an addition to the base salary schedule that is not a bonus and becomes part of the employee’s permanent base salary and shall be considered compensation under s. 121.021(22).

b. “Grandfathered salary schedule” means the salary schedule or schedules adopted by a district school board before July 1, 2014, pursuant to subparagraph 4.

c. “Instructional personnel” means instructional personnel as defined in s. 1012.01(2)(a)-(d), excluding substitute teachers.

d. “Performance salary schedule” means the salary schedule or schedules adopted by a district school board pursuant to subparagraph 5.

e. “Salary schedule” means the schedule or schedules used to provide the base salary for district school board personnel.

f. “School administrator” means a school administrator as defined in s. 1012.01(3)(c).

g. “Supplement” means an annual addition to the base salary for the term of the negotiated supplement as long as the employee continues his or her employment for the purpose of the supplement. A supplement does not become part of the employee’s continuing base salary but shall be considered compensation under s. 121.021(22).

2. Cost-of-living adjustment.—A district school board may provide a cost-of-living salary adjustment if the adjustment:

a. Does not discriminate among comparable classes of employees based upon the salary schedule under which they are compensated.

b. Does not exceed 50 percent of the annual adjustment provided to instructional personnel rated as effective.

3. Advanced degrees.—A district school board may use advanced degrees in setting a salary schedule for instructional personnel or school administrators if the advanced degree is held in the individual’s area of certification.

4. Grandfathered salary schedule.—

a. The district school board shall adopt a salary schedule or salary schedules to be used as the basis for paying all school employees hired before July 1, 2014. Instructional personnel on annual contract as of July 1, 2014, shall be placed on the performance salary schedule adopted under subparagraph 5. Instructional personnel on continuing contract or professional service contract may opt into the performance salary schedule if the employee relinquishes such contract and agrees to be employed on an annual contract under s. 1012.335. Such an employee shall be placed on the performance salary schedule and may not return to continuing contract or professional service contract status. Any employee who opts into the performance salary schedule may not return to the grandfathered salary schedule.

b. In determining the grandfathered salary schedule for instructional personnel, a district school board must base a portion of each employee’s compensation upon performance demonstrated under s. 1012.34 and shall provide differentiated pay for both instructional personnel and school administrators based upon district-determined factors, including, but not limited to, additional responsibilities, school demographics, high-demand teacher needs areas, and level of job performance difficulties.

5. Performance salary schedule.—By July 1, 2014, the district school board shall adopt a performance salary schedule that provides annual salary adjustments for instructional personnel and school administrators based upon performance determined under s. 1012.34. Employees hired on or after July 1, 2014, or employees who choose to move from the grandfathered salary schedule to the performance salary schedule shall be compensated pursuant to the performance salary schedule once they have received the appropriate performance evaluation for this purpose.

a. Base salary.—The base salary shall be established as follows:

(I) The base salary for instructional personnel or school administrators who opt into the performance salary schedule shall be the salary paid in the prior year, including adjustments only.

(II) Instructional personnel or school administrators new to the district, returning to the district after a break in service without an authorized leave of absence, or appointed for the first time to a position in the district in the capacity of instructional personnel or school administrator shall be placed on the performance salary schedule.

b. Salary adjustments.—Salary adjustments for highly effective or effective performance shall be established as follows:

(I) The annual salary adjustment under the performance salary schedule for an employee rated as highly effective must be at least 25 percent greater than the highest annual salary adjustment available to an employee of the same classification through any other salary schedule adopted by the district.

(II) The annual salary adjustment under the performance salary schedule for an employee rated as effective must be equal to at least 50 percent and no more than 75 percent of the annual adjustment provided for a highly effective employee of the same classification.

(III) A salary schedule shall not provide an annual salary adjustment for an employee who receives a rating other than highly effective or effective for the year.

c. Salary supplements.—In addition to the salary adjustments, each district school board shall provide for salary supplements for activities that must include, but are not limited to:

(I) Assignment to a Title I eligible school.

(II) Assignment to a school that earned a grade of “F” or three consecutive grades of “D” pursuant to s. 1008.34 such that the supplement remains in force for at least 1 year following improved performance in that school.

(III) Certification and teaching in high-demand teacher needs areas. Statewide high-demand teacher needs areas shall be identified by the State Board of Education under s. 1012.07. However, the district school board may identify other areas of high-demand needs within the school district for purposes of this sub-sub-subparagraph and may remove areas identified by the state board which do not apply within the school district.

(IV) Assignment of additional academic responsibilities.

If budget constraints in any given year limit a district school board’s ability to fully fund all adopted salary schedules, the performance salary schedule shall not be reduced on the basis of total cost or the value of individual awards in a manner that is proportionally greater than reductions to any other salary schedules adopted by the district. Any compensation for longevity of service awarded to instructional personnel who are on any other salary schedule must be included in calculating the salary adjustments required by sub-subparagraph b.

(d) Contracts and terms of service.—The district school board shall provide written contracts for all regular members of the instructional staff.

(e) Transfer and promotion.—The district school board shall act on recommendations of the district school superintendent regarding transfer and promotion of any employee. The district school superintendent’s primary consideration in recommending an individual for a promotion must be the individual’s demonstrated effectiveness under s. 1012.34.

(f) Suspension, dismissal, and return to annual contract status.—The district school board shall suspend, dismiss, or return to annual contract members of the instructional staff and other school employees; however, no administrative assistant, supervisor, principal, teacher, or other member of the instructional staff may be discharged, removed, or returned to annual contract except as provided in this chapter.

(g) Awards and incentives.—The district school board shall provide for recognition of district employees, students, school volunteers, and advisory committee members who have contributed outstanding and meritorious service in their fields or service areas. After considering recommendations of the district school superintendent, the district school board shall adopt rules establishing and regulating the meritorious service awards necessary for the efficient operation of the program. An award or incentive granted under this paragraph may not be considered in determining the salary schedules required by paragraph (c). Monetary awards shall be limited to persons who propose procedures or ideas adopted by the board which will result in eliminating or reducing district school board expenditures or improving district or school center operations. Nonmonetary awards shall include, but are not limited to, certificates, plaques, medals, ribbons, and photographs. The district school board may expend funds for such recognition and awards. No award granted under this paragraph shall exceed $2,000 or 10 percent of the first year’s gross savings, whichever is greater.

(h) Planning and training time for teachers.—The district school board shall adopt rules to make provisions for teachers to have time for lunch, professional planning, and professional learning when they will not be directly responsible for the children if some adult supervision is furnished for the students during such periods.

(i) Comprehensive program of staff development.—The district school board shall establish a comprehensive program of staff development that incorporates school improvement plans pursuant to s. 1001.42 and is aligned with principal leadership training pursuant to s. 1012.986 as a part of the plan.

(j) Temporary removal from the classroom.—The district school board shall adopt a policy temporarily removing instructional personnel from the classroom within 24 hours after a notification by law enforcement or a self-reporting employee of his or her arrest for a felony offense or for a misdemeanor offense listed in s. 435.04(2).

(k) Nondisclosure or confidentiality.—A school district employee may not be required or otherwise incentivized to sign a nondisclosure agreement or confidentiality agreement. A school district may not impose conditions on employment to circumvent this paragraph.

(2) Adopt policies relating to personnel leave as follows:

(a) Annual leave.—The district school board may adopt rules that provide for the earning of annual leave by employees, including educational support employees, who are employed for 12 calendar months a year.

(b) Sick leave.—The district school board may adopt rules relating to sick leave, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(c) Illness-in-line-of-duty leave.—The district school board may adopt rules relating to illness-in-the-line-of-duty leave, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(d) Sabbatical leave.—The district school board may adopt rules relating to sabbatical leave, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(3)(a) Collective bargaining.—Notwithstanding provisions of chapter 447 related to district school board collective bargaining, collective bargaining may not preclude a district school board from carrying out its constitutional and statutory duties related to the following:

1. Providing incentives to effective and highly effective teachers.

2. Implementing intervention and support strategies under s. 1008.33 to address the causes of low student performance and improve student academic performance and attendance.

3. Implementing student discipline provisions required by law, including a review of a student’s abilities, past performance, behavior, and needs.

4. Implementing school safety plans and requirements.

5. Implementing staff and student recognition programs.

6. Distributing correspondence to parents, teachers, and community members related to the daily operation of schools and the district.

7. Providing any required notice or copies of information related to the district school board or district operations which is readily available on the school district’s website.

8. The school district’s calendar.

(b) Appearances before the board.—If a district school superintendent appears before the state board to provide an update under s. 1011.62(14)(e), the state board must require that the president of the collective bargaining unit that represents the school district also must appear.