Reference is to the bill as introduced.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by deleting all after the enacting words and inserting:
/ SECTION 1. Section 59-25-410 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-25-410.
(A) On or before April
fifteenth of each year, The boards of trustees of the
several school districts annually before May first shall
decide and notify, in writing, the teachers
a teacher, as defined in Section 59-1-130, in
their employ whom the district employs
concerning their employment his
reemployment for the ensuing year. If the board, or
the person designated by it, superintendent
fails to notify a teacher who has been employed by a school
district for a majority of the current school year of his status
for the ensuing year, the teacher shall be
deemed is considered to be reemployed for the
ensuing year and the board shall issue a contract to
such teacher him as though the board had
reemployed such teacher him in the usual
manner. Notices Notice of
intent the superintendent's
recommendation not to renew an employment contract
shall must be given in writing
no later than April fifteenth of each year
before May first.
(B) On or before
August fifteenth, the superintendent, principal, where
applicable, or supervisor shall notify the teacher of his
tentative assignment for the ensuing school year.
(C) This section
shall does not apply to
any a teacher whose contract of
employment or dismissal is under appeal under Section
59-25-450.
(D) For purposes
of this article, 'teacher' means all employees
an employee possessing a professional certificate issued
by the State Department of Education, except those
employees an employee working pursuant to
multi-year contracts a multiyear
contract."
SECTION 2. Section 59-25-420 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-25-420.
(A) Any
A teacher who is reemployed by written notification
pursuant to Section 59-25-410 shall by April
twenty-fifth first before May eleventh notify
the board of trustees in writing of his acceptance of the
contract. Failure on the part of the teacher to notify the board
of acceptance within the specified time limit shall
be is conclusive evidence of the teacher's
rejection of the contract.
(B)
Any A teacher, receiving a notice
that he will not be reemployed for the ensuing year,
shall have has the same notice and
opportunity for a hearing provided in subsequent
sections for teachers this article for a teacher
dismissed for cause during the school year."
SECTION 3. Section 59-25-460 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-25-460.
(A) No
A teacher shall may not be
dismissed unless written notice specifying the cause of
dismissal is first is given the teacher
by the District Board of Trustees
superintendent and the teacher is given an
opportunity for a an evidentiary hearing
has been afforded the teacher. The
superintendent or his designee may meet with the teacher before
issuing a notice of dismissal to discuss alternative
resolutions. The parties attending this meeting must have the
option of having a representative present.
Such This written notice
shall must include the fact that a
hearing before the board or its designee is available to
the teacher upon request provided, such if
the request is made in writing within fifteen days as
prescribed by provided in Section
59-25-470. Any such hearing shall must
be public unless the teacher requests in writing that it be
private. A board that chooses to delegate the evidentiary
hearing to one or more designees, as provided in this section,
shall indicate in board policy that it engages in this practice.
The hearing process becomes effective when the board adopts the
policy, and must be communicated to all affected employees
within fifteen days. A subsequent change only may be made
pursuant to the board policy revision process.
(B)(1) If
the board chooses to delegate the evidentiary hearing to a
designee, the designee must be:
(a)
an attorney licensed to practice law in this
State;
(b)
certified by the South Carolina Supreme Court as
a mediator or arbitrator; and
(c)
designated by the board to hear all evidentiary
hearings in the district for the school year, except when:
(i)
both parties consent to use
an alternate hearing officer; or
(ii)
the district uses more than one designee, in
which case the parties may by mutual consent select one of these
designees for their hearing or, if they fail to reach such an
agreement, the board randomly shall select one of its designees
for the hearing.
(2)
If the designee holds the evidentiary hearing,
he shall issue a written report and recommendation containing
findings of facts and conclusions of law to the board,
superintendent, and teacher within fifteen days after the
hearing concludes. The superintendent and the teacher may
submit a written response to this report and recommendation to
the board within ten days after the date on which the report and
recommendation are issued, after which the board shall issue a
decision affirming or withdrawing the notice of suspension or
dismissal within thirty days. In the interim, the board may
conduct a hearing on the order to consider any written responses
from the superintendent and teacher, but this hearing may not
operate to extend the thirty day limit in which the board shall
issue its decision affirming or withdrawing the notice of
suspension or dismissal. The board retains final
decision-making authority regarding the teacher dismissal or
suspension recommendation based on its consideration of the
record, the report and recommendation, and any written
submission of the superintendent and teacher.
(C) If
the board holds the evidentiary hearing, the board shall issue
its decision within the thirty days after the hearing. This
decision must be in writing and must include findings of facts
and conclusions of law.
(D) The
board shall determine if the evidence shows good and just cause
for the notice of suspension or dismissal, and accordingly shall
render a decision to affirm or withdraw the notice of suspension
or dismissal.
(E) The District
Board of Trustees as provided in subsection (C), or its
designee, as provided in subsection (B), may issue subpoenas
requiring the attendance of witnesses at any
the hearing and, at the request of the teacher against
whom a charge is made, shall issue such
these subpoenas, but it may limit the number of
these witnesses to be subpoenaed in behalf of the
teacher to not more than ten. All
Testimony at any a hearing
shall must be taken under oath.
Any A member of the board, or its
designee, may administer oaths to witnesses. The board,
or its designee, shall cause a record of the proceedings to
be kept and shall employ a competent reporter to take
stenographic or stenotype notes of all of the
testimony.
(F) If the
board's decision is favorable to the teacher, the board shall
pay the cost of the reporter's attendance and services at the
hearing. If the decision is unfavorable to the teacher, one-half
of the cost of the reporter's attendance and services
shall must be borne by the teacher.
Either A party desiring a transcript of
the hearing shall must pay for the costs
thereof of obtaining the
transcript."
SECTION 4. Section 59-25-470 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-25-470.
(A) Within fifteen days after
receipt of notice of suspension or dismissal, a teacher may
serve upon the chairman of the board or the superintendent a
written request for a hearing before the board, or its
designee.
(B) If the
teacher fails to make such a request, or after a hearing as
herein provided for in this
article, the District board of
Trustees shall take such action and
shall enter such an order as it
deems considers lawful and appropriate.
(C) The hearing
shall must be held by the board
not less than ten nor more than fifteen, or
its designee, within forty-five days after the request is
served, and. A notice of the time and
place of the hearing shall must be given
the teacher not less than five days prior to
before the date of the hearing.
(D) The teacher
has the privilege of being may be
present at the hearing with counsel and
of cross-examining at the hearing, and may
cross-examine witnesses and, may
offer evidence and witnesses, and present any and
all defenses to the charges. Hearsay otherwise
inadmissible under the South Carolina Rules of Evidence only may
be considered if corroborated and found reliable by the board or
its designee; provided, however, that no factual finding may be
based solely on hearsay. The board, or its designee,
shall order the appearance of any witness requested by the
teacher, subject to the limitations of Section 59-25-460.
The complainants superintendent shall
initiate the introduction of evidence in substantiation of the
charges. Within ten days following the hearing, the
board shall determine whether the evidence showed good and just
cause for the notice of suspension or dismissal and shall render
its decision accordingly, either affirming or withdrawing the
notice of suspension or dismissal."
SECTION 5. Section 59-25-480 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-25-480.
(A) The decision of the
district board of trustees shall be is
final, unless within thirty days thereafter
afterward an appeal is made to the court of
common pleas of any county in which the major portion of such
district lies Administrative Law Court
(ALC).
(B)
Notice of the appeal and the grounds thereof shall
be filed with the district board of trustees. The district board
shall, within thirty days thereafter, file a certified copy of
the transcript record with the clerk of such court.
An appeal to the ALC must be taken in accordance with Section
1-23-600(D) and the appellate rules of procedure for the
ALC. Any An appeal from the order
of the circuit court shall ALC must be
taken in the manner provided by the South Carolina Appellate
Court Rules. If the decision of the board is reversed on appeal,
on a motion of either party the trial
court ALC shall order reinstatement and
shall determine the amount for which the board
shall be is liable for actual damages
and court costs if either party moves for this relief.
In no event shall any Liability may not
extend beyond two years from after the
effective date of dismissal. Amounts An
amount earned or amounts earnable with
reasonable diligence by the person wrongfully suspended
shall must be deducted from any back
pay."
SECTION 6. Section 59-25-490 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-25-490.
Any A party to such
proceedings may cause to be taken the depositions of
witnesses a proceeding conducted pursuant to this
chapter may depose a witness within or without the State and
either by commission or de bene esse. Such depositions
shall The deposition must be taken in
accordance with pursuant and subject to the same
provisions, conditions, and restrictions
as that apply to the
taking of like similar depositions in
civil actions at law
brought in the court of common pleas;
and. The same rules with respect to the giving
of notice to the opposite party, the taking and transcribing of
testimony, the transmission and certification
thereof of them and matters of practice
relating thereto shall to them
apply."
SECTION 7. Section 59-25-520 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-25-520.
The court of common pleas ALC
shall, on application of the district board, enforce by proper
proceedings the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the
production and examination of books, papers and records
and shall have the power to punish as for contempt of
court, by a fine or imprisonment or both,. The
unexcused failure or refusal to attend and give testimony or
produce books, papers, and records as may have
been required in any by
subpoena issued by the district board must be considered
contempt of court by the ALC, punishable by a fine,
imprisonment, or both, by the court. The district board may
issue to the sheriff of the county in which any
a hearing is held a warrant requiring him to produce at
the hearing any witness who shall have
has ignored or failed to comply with any
a subpoena issued by the district board and duly served
upon such the witness. Such
a This warrant shall
must authorize the sheriff to arrest the witness
and produce at the hearing such witness, and it
shall be his is the duty of the
sheriff to do so; but. The failure
of a witness so to appear in response to
any such a subpoena may be excused on
the same grounds as provided by law in the courts of this State
as to regarding the attendance of
witnesses and jurors."
SECTION 8. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.