Policy 5000 Training Mason County Schools August 11

Policy 5000 Training Mason County Schools August 11, 2016

Filling Regular Professional Vacancies • One set of qualification criteria - 9 factors to be considered when filling professional vacancies other than classroom teachers - 11 factors to be considered when filling classroom teacher positions.

Regardless of whether 9 or 11 factors are considered • School officials must be able to show that all applicable factors were, indeed, considered for the candidates • The process must be fair and untainted • The Board may have to defend the hiring of one candidate over another, which involves a head-to-head comparison

Regardless of whether 9 or 11 factors are considered: • Hiring decisions are judged based upon the information in hand at the time of the decision (No “piling on”) • Major prerequisites for a job are highly suspect when announced only after a grievance is filed • Negative aspects of a candidate’s performance cannot be used unless brought to the employee’s attention through regularly performed evaluations.

Regardless of whether 9 or 11 factors are considered: • A failure to accept the conclusions of the assessor(s) of qualifications, with whom the greatest opportunity to accurately judge credentials rests, is a warning sign that the ultimate selection may have been arbitrary and capricious -But a board may reject a name for valid reasons • Where assessments based on interviews or personal observations significantly impacted the selection, those judgements will be closely examined and weighed against objective facts

Qualification Criteria • 1. Appropriate certification, licensure or both • 2. Amount of experience relevant to the position or, in the case of a classroom teaching position, the amount of teaching experience in the required certification area • 3. The amount of course work, degree level or both in the relevant field and degree level generally • 4. Academic Achievement

Qualification Criteria • 5. In the case of a classroom teaching position or the position of principal, certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards • 6. Specialized training relevant to the performance of the duties of the job • 7. Past performance evaluations conducted pursuant to W. Va. Code 18 A-2 -12 and 18 A-3 C-2 or, in the case of a classroom teacher, past evaluations of the applicant’s performance in the teaching profession

Qualification Criteria • 8. Seniority • 9. Other measures or indicators upon which the relative qualifications of the applicant may fairly be judged • 10. In the case of a classroom teaching position, the recommendation of the principal of the school at which the applicant will be performing a majority of his or her duties

Qualification Criteria • 11. In the case of a classroom teaching position, the recommendation, if any, resulting from the process established pursuant to the provisions of the 18 -5 A-5 by the faculty senate of the school at which the employee will be performing a majority of his or her duties

Qualification Criteria - Weighting • Classroom teaching positions: -When one or more permanently employed instructional personnel apply: -When no permanently employed instructional personnel apply: • All other professional positions: • Sample matrices illustrate these rules

Qualification Criteria • 1. Appropriate certification, licensure or both -Yes or no? -Permits and out of field authorizations may qualify

Qualification Criteria • 2. Amount of experience relevant to the position or, in the case of a classroom teaching position, the amount of teaching experience in the required certification area - This is a quantity - It is not limited to regular full-time experience - It is not limited to experience teaching for the school board in question - It is not limited to experience teaching in public school - The experience must have been earned while certified or licensed to teach

Qualification Criteria • 3. The amount of course work, degree level or both in the relevant field and degree level generally - The relevant field is likely identified in the posting - School boards may exercise reasonable discretion in determining relevancy and the subject area - Count Bachelors, Master, and Doctoral degrees - Plus hours are not a degree level

Qualification Criteria • 4. Academic achievement - Criteria must be established

Qualification Criteria • Yes or no? • 5. In the case of a classroom teaching position or the position of principal certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

Qualification Criteria • 6. Specialized training relevant to the performance of the duties of the job - The specialized training need not be stated in the job description - Place burden on applicant to identify training considered relevant

Qualification Criteria • 7. Past performance evaluations conducted pursuant to W. Va. Code 18 A-2 -12 and 18 A-3 C-2 or, in the case of a classroom teacher, past evaluations of the applicant’s performance in the teaching profession - No backward time limitation, except that evaluations pre-dating 18 A 2 -12 are not counted for non -classroom teacher vacancies - No requirement that only “overall” ratings be considered - The evaluations must be Policy 5310 evaluations for non-classroom teacher vacancies - They may be from another WV public school system

Qualification Criteria • 8. Seniority - This is a quantity - Only seniority earned by working for the hiring school board counts - Substitutes who work more than 133 days in any school year earn seniority exclusively for the purpose of applying for employment under this factor - Some applicants who substituted for the school system before September of 1990 may have additional seniority to be considered - RIF’d teachers on the preferred recall list have seniority with which to compete

Qualification Criteria • 9. Other measures or indicators upon which the relative qualifications of the applicant may fairly be judged - The other measures or indicators must be related to qualifications - The interview may be used, but only as to relevant information - Documented prior discipline may be considered - Reference information may be considered

Qualification Criteria • 10. In the case of a classroom teaching positon, the recommendation of the principal of the school at which the applicant will be performing a majority of his or her duties - Principal must consider factors 1 -9

Qualification Criteria • 11. In the case of a classroom teaching position, the recommendation, if any resulting from the process established pursuant to the provisions of 18 A-5 A-5 by the faulty senate of the school at which the employee will be performing a majority of his or her duties. - The full faculty senate does not make a recommendation. The senate must choose one of 4 processes under Policy 5000 - Faculty senate process must consider factors 1 -9 - Faculty senate process need not assign any particular weight to factors in formulating a recommendation

Qualification Criteria • Consider each factor • Give the factors appropriate weight • Break overall ties on the basis of qualifications • In cases where factors 1 -9 must be equally weighted and factors 10 and 11 double weighted, beware point systems that deviate from awards of a single point for factors 1 -9 and two points each for factors 10 -11

Other Issues in Filling Vacancies • Applicants on the preferred recall list • Anticipated certification • Application and interview questions • Interview consistency • The “stay put rules: restrictions on transferring to another job during the semester/school year (W. Va. Code 18 A-2 -7 b)