HBA-MPM H.B. 1784 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1784 By: Dutton Public Education 3/11/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, education support personnel in school districts are considered at-will employees, which means that they can be terminated with no reason or notice given. There are no laws requiring that support personnel be given performance evaluations, and they may never be told the reason for disciplinary action. H.B. 1784 requires districts to evaluate their support personnel annually and provides for a hearing before they can be terminated. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 22, Education Code, by adding Subchapter D, as follows: SUBCHAPTER D. SUPPORT EMPLOYEES Sec. 22.101. DEFINITIONS. Defines "board" as the board of trustees of a school district, and "support employee" as an employee of a school district (district) who is not entitled under Section 21.002 (Teacher Employment Contracts), Education Code, to be employed under a contract. Sec. 22.102. ANNUAL EVALUATION. Requires a board to adopt rules providing for an annual evaluation of the performance of each support employee in the district. Sec. 22.103. TERMINATION; NOTICE. (a) Prohibits a district from terminating or suspending a support employee without pay unless the superintendent of the district recommends the action in writing to the board. Authorizes the board to reject or accept the recommendation after consideration of the recommendation and any performance evaluations of the support employee conducted under Section 22.102. (b) Requires the board, if it proposes to accept the superintendent's recommendation and terminate or suspend the support employee without pay, to provide written notice to the employee of the proposed action and the grounds for it, and to provide a hearing for the employee at the employee's request. Sec. 22.104. REQUEST FOR HEARING. Provides that a support employee who wishes to protest a proposed action must file a written request for a hearing under this subchapter with the board no later than the 13th day after the employee receives written notice of the proposed action. Sec. 22.105. CONDUCT OF HEARING. (a) Provides that should a support employee request a hearing under this subchapter in a timely manner, the board must hold a hearing and render a decision no earlier than the 31st day and no later than the 61st day after receiving the employee's request. (b) Requires the hearing to be conducted in the same manner as a trial without jury in a district court in this state, and that the superintendent must show good cause for the termination or suspension of the support employee without pay. Provides that the superintendent has the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence. (c) Requires the superintendent to provide the support employee certain information and documentation no later than the 10th school day before the hearing. (d) Requires the board to retain, at its expense, a court reporter to record the hearing under this subchapter. Provides that the court reporter must meet the qualifications provided by law for official court reporters. (e) Prohibits the board from discussing or deliberating the subject matter of a hearing under this subchapter until the presentation of evidence at the hearing is concluded. (f) Provides that a procedure specified in this section may be modified or waived by the written agreement of the support employee, the superintendent, and the board. SECTION 2. Makes this Act applicable with the 1999-2000 school year. SECTION 3.Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.