CSSB 132(HES): "An Act relating to teacher tenure, teacher layoff and rehire rights, review of decisions of school boards concerning teachers, and to a retirement incentive program for employees of school districts and regional educational attendance areas; and providing for an effective date."
00CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 132(HES) 01 "An Act relating to teacher tenure, teacher layoff and rehire rights, review of 02 decisions of school boards concerning teachers, and to a retirement incentive 03 program for employees of school districts and regional educational attendance 04 areas; and providing for an effective date." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 * Section 1. AS 14.20.147(b) is amended to read: 07 (b) When a school operated by a federal agency is transferred to or absorbed 08 into a new or existing school district, the teachers shall also be transferred if mutually 09 agreed by the teacher or teachers and the school board of the new or existing district. 10 A teacher transferred from a federal agency school that [, WHICH] does not have an 11 official salary schedule or teacher tenure in the same manner as a public school district 12 in the state [,] shall be placed on a position on the salary schedule of the absorbing 13 district; the salary may not be less than the teacher would have received in the federal 14 agency school. If the teacher taught five [TWO] or more years in the federal agency
01 school and, at the time of transfer, had a valid Alaska teaching certificate, that teacher 02 shall be placed on tenure in the absorbing district. 03 * Sec. 2. AS 14.20.150 is amended to read: 04 Sec. 14.20.150. ACQUISITION OF TENURE RIGHTS. (a) A teacher 05 acquires tenure rights in a district when the teacher 06 (1) possesses a standard teaching certificate; 07 (2) has been employed as a teacher in the same district continuously 08 for five [TWO] full school years and is reemployed for the school year immediately 09 following the five [TWO] full school years. 10 (b) The tenure rights acquired under (a) of this section become effective on the 11 first day the teacher performs teaching services in the district during the school year 12 immediately following the five [TWO] full school years. 13 * Sec. 3. AS 14.20.160 is amended to read: 14 Sec. 14.20.160. LOSS OF TENURE RIGHTS. Tenure rights are lost when the 15 teacher's employment in the district is interrupted or terminated. However, a teacher 16 on layoff status does not lose tenure rights during the period of layoff except as 17 provided by regulation adopted under AS 14.20.177. 18 * Sec. 4. AS 14.20.175(b) is amended to read: 19 (b) A teacher who has acquired tenure rights is subject to nonretention for the 20 following school year only for the following causes: 21 (1) incompetency, which is defined as the inability or the unintentional 22 or intentional failure to perform the teacher's customary teaching duties in a 23 satisfactory manner; 24 (2) immorality, which is defined as the commission of an act that, 25 under the laws of the state, constitutes a crime involving moral turpitude; or 26 (3) substantial noncompliance with the school laws of the state, the 27 regulations or bylaws of the department, the bylaws of the district, or the written rules 28 of the superintendent [; OR 29 (4) A NECESSARY REDUCTION OF STAFF OCCASIONED BY A 30 DECREASE IN SCHOOL ATTENDANCE]. 31 * Sec. 5. AS 14.25 is amended by adding a new section to read:
01 Sec. 14.20.177. LAYOFFS. (a) A school district may place a teacher who has 02 acquired tenure rights on layoff status but only if it is necessary for the district to 03 reduce the number of teachers 04 (1) because of a decrease in school attendance or school district 05 revenue; or 06 (2) to better meet the academic program needs of the district. 07 (b) The department shall adopt regulations to establish 08 (1) procedures under which a district may lay off tenured teachers; 09 (2) the length of time that a teacher retains rehire rights after a layoff; 10 (3) the circumstances under which a teacher may lose rehire rights after 11 a layoff; and 12 (4) other provisions to implement this section. 13 * Sec. 6. AS 14.20.205 is amended to read: 14 Sec. 14.20.205. JUDICIAL REVIEW. If a school board reaches a decision 15 unfavorable to a tenured teacher, the tenured teacher is entitled to appeal the 16 decision to [A DE NOVO TRIAL IN] the superior court. The scope of judicial 17 review shall be the same as an appeal from a decision of an administrative agency 18 under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act). A [HOWEVER, A] teacher who 19 is not tenured [HAS NOT ATTAINED TENURE RIGHTS] is not entitled to judicial 20 review under [ACCORDING TO] this section. 21 * Sec. 7. AS 23.40 is amended by adding a new section to read: 22 Sec. 23.40.185. SCHOOL DISTRICT NEGOTIATIONS OPEN TO THE 23 PUBLIC. Negotiations between a school district or regional educational attendance 24 area and a bargaining organization representing its employees shall be conducted at 25 meetings that are open to the public. 26 * Sec. 8. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE OF RETIREMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM. 27 Many school districts are facing the need to restructure their operations and their work forces 28 in order to reduce expenditures and balance budgets. Retirement incentives is a management 29 tool that has been used extensively by the private sector, the federal government, and other 30 state and local governments across the country. The purpose of secs. 8 - 17 of this Act is to 31 make that management tool temporarily available to school districts of the state. Sections 8 -
01 17 of this Act will enable school districts to be more efficient and cost-effective by 02 eliminating certain non-essential positions, and producing a net reduction in personnel costs. 03 * Sec. 9. RETIREMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM. (a) A school district may adopt a 04 retirement incentive plan under secs. 10 and 11 of this Act and designate categories of 05 employees eligible to participate in the plan. A school district need not extend the incentive 06 plan to all employees who would otherwise be eligible, but may choose to extend the plan 07 only to employees 08 (1) in specific budget or administrative components of the school district; 09 (2) in specific job classifications; 10 (3) in specific geographic locations; or 11 (4) on the basis of any combination of factors set out in (1) - (3) of this 12 subsection. 13 (b) An employee is eligible to participate in a retirement incentive plan under secs. 8 - 14 17 of this Act only if 15 (1) the employee is a vested member of the public employees' retirement 16 system or the teachers' retirement system; 17 (2) the employee will be qualified to retire under AS 14.25.110 or 18 AS 39.35.370 after receipt of the credit described in (f) of this section; 19 (3) the savings to the school district in personal services costs for the 20 employee's position will exceed the costs to the school district for that position within three 21 years after the employee is appointed to retirement. 22 (c) A school district shall file its proposed retirement incentive plan with the 23 commissioner of administration. The commissioner shall approve the plan if the plan meets 24 the requirements of secs. 8 - 17 of this Act. A proposed plan filed under this section must 25 (1) identify job classifications of employees, and specific budget or 26 administrative components, eligible to participate in the plan; 27 (2) include a reimbursement agreement that 28 (A) requires the school district, for each employee who retires under 29 the plan, to reimburse the appropriate retirement system, within three years after the 30 end of the fiscal year in which the employee is appointed to retirement, in an amount 31 equal to
01 (i) the actuarial equivalent of the difference between the benefits 02 the participant receives after the addition of the credit under (f) of this section 03 and the amount the participant would have received without the credit, less the 04 amount the participant has paid on the indebtedness determined under (d) or (e) 05 of this section; and 06 (ii) an appropriate share of the administrative costs of the 07 program; and 08 (B) provides that contributions from the school district under this 09 section take priority over other obligations of the employer to the maximum extent 10 permitted by law. 11 (d) A member of the teachers' retirement system who participates in an approved 12 retirement incentive plan under secs. 8 - 17 of this Act is indebted to that system for an 13 amount calculated under this subsection. The indebtedness is 25.95 percent of the member's 14 actual compensation for the school year in which the member terminates employment, or the 15 calculated school year compensation for a member who works less than the entire school year. 16 An outstanding indebtedness at the time a member is appointed to retirement under an 17 approved retirement incentive plan requires an actuarial adjustment to the benefits payable to 18 that member. 19 (e) A member of the public employees' retirement system who participates in an 20 approved retirement incentive plan under secs. 8 - 17 of this Act is indebted to that system 21 for an amount calculated under this subsection. The indebtedness is 20-1/4 percent of the 22 member's actual annual compensation for the year in which the member terminates 23 employment, or the calculated annual compensation for a member who works fewer than 12 24 months. An outstanding indebtedness at the time a member is appointed to retirement under 25 an approved retirement incentive plan requires an actuarial adjustment to the benefits payable 26 to that member. 27 (f) An employee who participates in an approved retirement incentive plan under 28 secs. 8 - 17 of this Act receives a credit of three years. The three years shall be applied in 29 the following order until exhausted: 30 (1) to meet the age or service required for eligibility for normal retirement 31 under AS 14.25.110 or AS 39.35.370, as appropriate;
01 (2) to meet the age required for early retirement under AS 14.25.110 or 02 AS 39.35.370, as appropriate; 03 (3) to reduce the actuarial adjustment required for early retirement under 04 AS 14.25.110 or AS 39.35.370, as appropriate; 05 (4) as years of credited service for calculating retirement benefits. 06 * Sec. 10. AUTHORIZATION FOR RETIREMENT INCENTIVE FOR SCHOOL 07 DISTRICT EMPLOYEES IN THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM. (a) 08 The school board of a school district that has elected to participate in the public employees' 09 retirement system under AS 39.35.550 - 39.35.650 may adopt, and file with the commissioner 10 of administration for approval, a proposed retirement incentive plan for its employees. A plan 11 adopted under this section must provide that the application period for participation in the 12 retirement incentive plan is December 31, 1995 through June 30, 1996. 13 (b) The commissioner of administration may not accept the application of an employee 14 to participate in an approved retirement incentive plan adopted under this section unless the 15 employee will be appointed to retirement on or before February 1, 1997. In a plan adopted 16 under this section, a school board may set an earlier date by which an employee must be 17 appointed to retirement in order to participate in the plan. 18 * Sec. 11. AUTHORIZATION FOR RETIREMENT INCENTIVE FOR SCHOOL 19 DISTRICT EMPLOYEES IN THE TEACHERS' RETIREMENT SYSTEM. (a) A school 20 board may adopt, and file with the commissioner of administration for approval, a proposed 21 retirement incentive plan for employees of the school district who are members of the 22 teachers' retirement system. A plan adopted under this section must provide that the 23 application period for participation in the retirement incentive plan is June 30, 1995 through 24 December 31, 1995. 25 (b) The commissioner of administration may not accept the application of an employee 26 to participate in an approved retirement incentive plan adopted under this section unless the 27 employee will be appointed to retirement on or before August 1, 1996. The school board, in 28 a plan adopted under this section, may set an earlier date by which an employee must be 29 appointed to retirement in order to participate in the plan. 30 * Sec. 12. RECOVERY OF EMPLOYER DELINQUENCIES. To recover a delinquency 31 owed by a school district under an agreement entered into under sec. 9(c)(2) of this Act, the
01 Department of Administration may 02 (1) direct that the amount of the delinquency or a lesser amount be withheld 03 from any money payable to the school district by a state department or agency and that the 04 amount withheld be credited to the delinquency; and 05 (2) bring an action against the school district. 06 * Sec. 13. REEMPLOYMENT INDEBTEDNESS; PROHIBITION ON 07 REEMPLOYMENT. (a) If an individual is reemployed as a member of the public employees' 08 retirement system under AS 39.35, the teachers' retirement system under AS 14.25, the judicial 09 retirement system under AS 22.25, or the optional university retirement program under 10 AS 14.40.661 - 14.40.799 after appointment to retirement under secs. 8 - 17 of this Act, that 11 individual forfeits the incentive credit received under sec. 9(f) of this Act and is indebted to 12 the system under which the individual took retirement. The indebtedness is 110 percent of 13 the amount the individual received as a result of participation in a retirement incentive plan 14 under secs. 8 - 17 of this Act and to which the individual would not otherwise have been 15 entitled, including the cost of health insurance. The amount that the individual has paid under 16 sec. 9(d) or (e) of this Act will be applied as a credit toward the reemployment indebtedness. 17 Interest on the reemployment indebtedness accrues from the date of reemployment until the 18 date that the individual either is appointed to retirement and accepts an actuarial adjustment 19 to the individual's future benefits or repays the indebtedness in full. The rate of interest is that 20 established by regulation for the public employees' retirement system by the public employees' 21 retirement board and for the teachers' retirement system by the teachers' retirement board. 22 (b) An individual who was appointed to retirement under secs. 8 - 17 of this Act may 23 not be employed by, or enter into a contract for personal services with, a state agency or the 24 University of Alaska within the three years after the date of appointment to retirement, except 25 that 26 (1) the University of Alaska may enter into a personal services contract with 27 the individual for teaching or research; and 28 (2) the individual may accept employment with the legislature during a 29 legislative session if the employment is on an hourly basis and does not entitle the individual 30 to receive retirement, health, or leave benefits. 31 (c) Notwithstanding the prohibition in (b) of this section, a state agency or the
01 University of Alaska may enter into a personal services contract with an individual who was 02 appointed to retirement under secs. 8 - 17 of this Act if the Board of Regents, for the 03 University of Alaska, or the commissioner of administration, for a state agency, determines 04 that there is a compelling reason to do so because of the individual's specialized or extensive 05 experience that relates to a particular program or project of the state agency or university. 06 * Sec. 14. OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET. (a) The office of management 07 and budget shall submit to the legislature annual reports on the retirement incentive program 08 under secs. 8 - 17 of this Act beginning January 15, 1997, and continuing through January 15, 09 1999, and shall submit a final report January 15, 2000. Each report must provide the 10 information necessary for the legislature to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in 11 achieving its objectives. The report must include information on the designated employee 12 categories under the incentive program, including the cost of each incentive program per 13 participant, the cost to the school district, the cost to the employee, the number of positions 14 deleted or left vacant, and the projected or actual net savings over the three-year period. 15 * Sec. 15. PROGRAM CHANGES. An individual employee does not have a vested or 16 contractual right to a benefit under secs. 8 - 17 of this Act until an agreement is executed with 17 the commissioner of administration that specifically authorizes that employee to participate 18 in the retirement incentive program under secs. 8 - 17 of this Act. The legislature reserves 19 the right to change any aspect of the retirement incentive program as it relates to employees 20 for whom participation agreements have not yet been executed with the commissioner of 21 administration. 22 * Sec. 16. REGULATIONS. The commissioner of administration may adopt regulations 23 under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) to implement and interpret secs. 8 - 17 of this 24 Act. 25 * Sec. 17. DEFINITIONS. (a) Unless provided otherwise in secs. 8 - 17 of this Act, the 26 definitions set out in AS 14.25.220 apply to provisions in secs. 8 - 13 of this Act that relate 27 to the teachers' retirement system and members of the teachers' retirement system. 28 (b) Unless provided otherwise in secs. 8 - 17 of this Act, the definitions set out in 29 AS 39.35.680 apply to provisions in secs. 8 - 13 of this Act that relate to the public 30 employees' retirement system and members of the public employees' retirement system. 31 (c) In secs. 8 - 17 of this Act,
01 (1) "office of management and budget" means the office of management and 02 budget in the Office of the Governor; 03 (2) "public employees' retirement system" means the Public Employees' 04 Retirement System of Alaska (AS 39.35); 05 (3) "school district" means a city or borough school district or a regional 06 educational attendance area; 07 (4) "teachers' retirement system" means the Teachers' Retirement System of 08 Alaska (AS 14.25). 09 * Sec. 18. The amendments made by secs. 1 - 6 of this Act apply to teachers first hired 10 by a school district on or after the effective date of this Act. 11 * Sec. 19. Section 9 of this Act is repealed July 1, 1999. 12 * Sec. 20. Sections 10 and 11 of this Act are repealed July 1, 1997. 13 * Sec. 21. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).