The Durant Public School District shall employ licensed staff on a professional basis without regard to age, race, color, gender, or national origin.  Every school teacher employed in this school system must possess a valid license and shall execute a written contract with the local Board of Education.

 

The Board of Trustees has the power and authority to select all school district personnel in the manner provided by law and to provide for such employee fringe benefit programs including accident reimbursement plans, as may be deemed necessary and appropriate by the board. 

§ 37‑7‑301 (p)  

 

The superintendent of the school district shall have the power, authority and duty to enter into contracts in the manner provided by law for each assistant superintendent, principal and teacher of the public schools under his supervision, after such assistant superintendent, principal and teachers have been selected and approved in the manner provided by law. 

§ 37‑9‑14 (2) (a)  

 

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT

 

The superintendent will ensure that all employee manuals and handbooks are in compliance with federal law and include:

 

C         The education and experience required of all new instructional employees;

C         Any credentials that current instructional employees must acquire;

C         A timetable for meeting any new requirements; and,

C         The consequences for employees who fail to comply.

 

All employees are to be advised of the revisions of the handbooks or manuals and of any implications for existing personnel.

 

The superintendent will ensure that parents/guardians of students of Title I schools are informed of their right to know the professional qualifications of their child’s teacher and will describe where and how this information may be obtained.  The superintendent will monitor Title I schools to ensure that parents/guardians of all students are notified when those students are taught for four (4) or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who is not highly qualified as defined by law.   

 

Staffing patterns will be reviewed annually to ensure that poor and minority students are not, at rates higher than are other children in the district, taught by inexperienced, unqualified, or out-of-field teachers.  If such patterns are noted, strategies to correct the problem will be developed.

 

In employing professional staff, the school district shall comply with applicable provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. 

 

Beginning in the 2002-03 school year, districts may hire only highly qualified teachers for Title I support programs.

 

Districts must develop a plan to have all teachers be highly qualified by the end of the 2005-06 school year.

 

The Mississippi Department of Education must develop a plan to have all teachers teaching in core academic subjects be highly qualified by the end of the 2005-06 school year.

 

EMPLOYEE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

 

All employees will be provided with an explanation of both their responsibilities and their rights under law in terms of actions they may take to maintain order, discipline, and an appropriate educational environment.  Training will be provided that defines approved actions, and informs employees that they may be liable for harm when they engage in criminal, grossly negligent or reckless conduct, or act with flagrant indifference to the rights and safety of another person who suffers harm as a result.  The superintendent will develop rules that prescribe the circumstances under which the district administration and/or parents/guardians are to be notified of actions taken, any written documentation of actions taken that is necessary, and other appropriate procedures including staff training.

 

A student code of conduct, developed under the leadership of the district administration, and in cooperation with staff, will be made available and distributed to parents and students outlining student conduct expectations and possible disciplinary actions, including consequences for disorderly conduct, as required by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA).  In addition, each school may publish a student/parent handbook detailing additional rules specific to that school. [All rules applying to student conduct shall be posted in a prominent place in each school building.]

 

LICENSED AND NON-INSTRUCTIONAL EMPLOYEES

 

On or before April 1 of each year, the principal of each school shall recommend to the superintendent of the local school district the licensed employees or non-instructional employees to be employed for the school involved except those licensed employees or non-instructional employees who have been previously employed and who have a contract valid for the ensuing scholastic year.  If such recommendations meet with the approval of the superintendent, the superintendent shall recommend the employment of such licensed employees or noninstructional employees to the local school board, and, unless good reason to the contrary exists, the board shall elect the employees so recommended.  If, for any reason, the local school board shall decline to elect any employee so recommended, additional recommendations for the places to be filled shall be made by the principal to the superintendent and then by the superintendent to the local school board as provided above. 

 

PERSONNEL SUPERVISOR

 

The Board of Trustees of the Durant Public School District shall be authorized to designate a   principal employed by the school district to recommend to the superintendent licensed employees or noninstructional employees; however, this authorization shall be restricted to no more than two (2) positions for each employment period for each school in the local school district.  Any noninstructional employee employed upon the recommendation of a personnel supervisor or another principal employed by the local school district must have been employed by the local school district at the time the superintendent was elected or appointed to office; a non-instructional employee employed under this authorization may not be paid compensation in excess of the statewide average compensation for such noninstructional position with comparable experience, as established by the State Department of Education. 

 

The school board of any local school district shall be authorized to designate a personnel supervisor or another principal employed by the school district to accept the recommendations of principals or their designees for licensed employees or noninstructional employees and to transmit approved recommendations to the local school board; however, this authorization shall be restricted to no more than two (2) positions for each employment period for each school in the local school district.

 

When the licensed employees have been elected as provided in the preceding paragraph, the superintendent of the district shall enter into a contract with such persons in the manner provided in this chapter. 

 

If, at the commencement of the scholastic year, any licensed employee shall present to the superintendent a license of a higher grade than that specified in such individual=s contract, such individual may, if funds are available from minimum education program funds of the district, or from district funds, be paid from such funds the amount to which such higher grade license would have entitled the individual, had the license been held at the time the contract was executed.  § 37‑9‑17  

 

CRIMINAL RECORDS BACKGROUND CHECK / CHILD ABUSE REGISTRY CHECK

Overview of Senate Bill 2658 / § 37‑9‑17 (2)  (2000)

 

On May 22, 2000, the Governor signed SB 2658 into law.  It provides for an implementation date of July 1, 2000, and mandates the following actions:

 

All new hire licensed and non-licensed employees after the implementation date must have a state child abuse registry check and criminal records background check via fingerprint card. 

 

The cards will be forwarded by the school district to the Department of Public Safety who will in turn forward them to the FBI.

 

The district may charge the applicant up to $50.00 or may pay the fee at its discretion.

 

Information obtained via these checks is for employment use only and cannot be disseminated.

 

Applicants are ineligible for employment if checks disclose a guilty plea, conviction, or nolo contendere plea to a felony conviction for:

b.                  Possession or sale of drugs.

c.                   Murder, Manslaughter, or Armed Robbery.

d.                  Rape, Sexual Battery, or sex offense as listed in Section 45-31-3 (1).

e.                   Child Abuse, Arson, Grand Larceny, or Burglary.

f.                   Gratification of Lust or Aggravated Assault.

 

If the school district has hired an applicant contingent upon a background check and derogatory information is obtained, that applicant’s contract is voidable at the time of the report and the applicant’s contract should so state.

 

The school board may, at its discretion, waive any convictions and hire an applicant with a criminal record based on:

 

Age at commission of the crime.

Circumstances surrounding the crime.

Length of time and criminal history since the crime.

Work history and current employment and character.

Other evidence demonstrating the ability of the person to perform the job and does not pose a threat to the health or safety of the school children.

 

No school district or employee may be held liable in an employment discrimination suit involving this statute.

 

The checks are required for new hire personnel (licensed and non-licensed) after July 1, 2000.  The school district may hire applicants and let them work contingent upon the successful completion of the criminal background check.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONVICTION BASED ON ERRONEOUS INFORMATION

 

In the event an applicant wishes to contest a conviction based on erroneous information the applicant shall appeal the information to the Department of Public Safety.  The applicant will show the school board or its designee proof of the corrected record.