Public Act 90-0224 of the 90th General Assembly
Public Act 90-0224
SB559 Enrolled SRS90S0029KSsa
AN ACT to amend the School Code by changing Section
24-12.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing
Section 24-12 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/24-12) (from Ch. 122, par. 24-12)
Sec. 24-12. Removal or dismissal of teachers in
contractual continued service. If a teacher in contractual
continued service is removed or dismissed as a result of a
decision of the board to decrease the number of teachers
employed by the board or to discontinue some particular type
of teaching service, written notice shall be mailed to the
teacher and also given the teacher either by certified mail,
return receipt requested or personal delivery with receipt at
least 60 days before the end of the school term, together
with a statement of honorable dismissal and the reason
therefor, and in all such cases the board shall first remove
or dismiss all teachers who have not entered upon contractual
continued service before removing or dismissing any teacher
who has entered upon contractual continued service and who is
legally qualified to hold a position currently held by a
teacher who has not entered upon contractual continued
service. As between teachers who have entered upon
contractual continued service, the teacher or teachers with
the shorter length of continuing service with the district
shall be dismissed first unless an alternative method of
determining the sequence of dismissal is established in a
collective bargaining agreement or contract between the board
and a professional faculty members' organization and except
that this provision shall not impair the operation of any
affirmative action program in the district, regardless of
whether it exists by operation of law or is conducted on a
voluntary basis by the board. Any teacher dismissed as a
result of such decrease or discontinuance shall be paid all
earned compensation on or before the third business day
following the last day of pupil attendance in the regular
school term. If the board has any vacancies for the
following school term or within one calendar year from the
beginning of the following school term, the positions thereby
becoming available shall be tendered to the teachers so
removed or dismissed so far as they are legally qualified to
hold such positions; provided, however, that if the number of
honorable dismissal notices based on economic necessity
exceeds 15% of the number of full time equivalent positions
filled by certified employees (excluding principals and
administrative personnel) during the preceding school year,
then if the board has any vacancies for the following school
term or within 2 calendar years from the beginning of the
following school term, the positions so becoming available
shall be tendered to the teachers who were so notified and
removed or dismissed whenever they are legally qualified to
hold such positions. Each board shall, in consultation with
any exclusive employee representatives, each year establish a
list, categorized by positions, showing the length of
continuing service of each teacher who is qualified to hold
any such positions, unless an alternative method of
determining a sequence of dismissal is established as
provided for in this Section, in which case a list shall be
made in accordance with the alternative method. Copies of
the list shall be distributed to the exclusive employee
representative on or before February 1 of each year.
Whenever the number of honorable dismissal notices based upon
economic necessity exceeds 5, or 150% of the average number
of teachers honorably dismissed in the preceding 3 years,
whichever is more, then the board also shall hold a public
hearing on the question of the dismissals. Following the
hearing and board review the action to approve any such
reduction shall require a majority vote of the board members.
If a dismissal or removal is sought for any other reason
or cause, including those under Section 10-22.4, the board
must first approve a motion containing specific charges by a
majority vote of all its members. Written notice of such
charges shall be served upon the teacher within 5 days of the
adoption of the motion. Such notice shall contain a bill of
particulars. No hearing upon the charges is required unless
the teacher within 10 days after receiving notice requests in
writing of the board that a hearing be scheduled, in which
case the board shall schedule a hearing on those charges
before a disinterested hearing officer on a date no less than
15 nor more than 30 days after the enactment of the motion.
The secretary of the school board shall forward a copy of the
notice to the State Board of Education. Within 5 days after
receiving this notice of hearing, the State Board of
Education shall provide a list of 5 prospective, impartial
hearing officers. Each person on the list must be accredited
by a national arbitration organization and have had a minimum
of 5 years of experience directly related to labor and
employment relations matters between educational employers
and educational employees or their exclusive bargaining
representatives. No one on the list may be a resident of the
school district. The Board and the teacher or their legal
representatives within 3 days shall alternately strike one
name from the list until only one name remains. Unless
waived by the teacher, the teacher shall have the right to
proceed first with the striking. Within 3 days of receipt of
the first list provided by the State Board of Education, the
board and the teacher or their legal representatives shall
each have the right to reject all prospective hearing
officers named on the first list and to require the State
Board of Education to provide a second list of 5 prospective,
impartial hearing officers, none of whom were named on the
first list. Within 5 days after receiving this request for a
second list, the State Board of Education shall provide the
second list of 5 prospective, impartial hearing officers.
The procedure for selecting a hearing officer from the second
list shall be the same as the procedure for the first list.
In the alternative to selecting a hearing officer from the
first or second list received from the State Board of
Education, the board and the teacher or their legal
representatives may mutually agree to select an impartial
hearing officer who is not on a list received from the State
Board of Education either by direct appointment by the
parties or by using procedures for the appointment of an
arbitrator established by the Federal Mediation and
Conciliation Service or the American Arbitration Association.
The parties shall notify the State Board of Education of
their intent to select a hearing officer using an alternative
procedure within 3 days of receipt of a list of prospective
hearing officers provided by the State Board of Education.
Any person selected by the parties under this alternative
procedure for the selection of a hearing officer shall not be
a resident of the school district and shall have the same
qualifications and authority as a hearing officer selected
from a list provided by the State Board of Education. The
State Board of Education shall promulgate uniform standards
and rules of procedure for such hearings. As to prehearing
discovery, such rules and regulations shall, at a minimum,
allow for: (1) discovery of names and addresses of persons
who may be called as expert witnesses at the hearing, the
omission of any such name to result in a preclusion of the
testimony of such witness in the absence of a showing of good
cause and the express permission of the hearing officer; (2)
bills of particulars; (3) written interrogatories; and (4)
production of relevant documents. The per diem allowance for
the hearing officer shall be determined and paid by the State
Board of Education and may not exceed $300. The hearing
officer shall hold a hearing and render a final decision.
The hearing shall be public at the request of either the
teacher or the board. The teacher has the privilege of being
present at the hearing with counsel and of cross-examining
witnesses and may offer evidence and witnesses and present
defenses to the charges. The hearing officer may issue
subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum requiring the attendance
of witnesses and, at the request of the teacher against whom
a charge is made or the board, shall issue such subpoenas,
but the hearing officer may limit the number of witnesses to
be subpoenaed in behalf of the teacher or the board to not
more than 10. All testimony at the hearing shall be taken
under oath administered by the hearing officer. The hearing
officer shall cause a record of the proceedings to be kept
and shall employ a competent reporter to take stenographic or
stenotype notes of all the testimony. The costs of the
reporter's attendance and services at the hearing shall be
paid by the State Board of Education. Either party desiring a
transcript of the hearing shall pay for the cost thereof. If
in the opinion of the board the interests of the school
require it, the board may suspend the teacher pending the
hearing, but if acquitted the teacher shall not suffer the
loss of any salary by reason of the suspension.
Before setting a hearing on charges stemming from causes
that are considered remediable, a board must give the teacher
reasonable warning in writing, stating specifically the
causes which, if not removed, may result in charges; however,
no such written warning shall be required if the causes have
been the subject of a remediation plan pursuant to Article
24A. The hearing officer shall consider and give weight to
all of the teacher's evaluations written pursuant to Article
24A. The hearing officer shall, within 30 days from the
conclusion of the hearing or closure of the record, whichever
is later with reasonable dispatch, make a decision as to
whether or not the teacher shall be dismissed and shall give
a copy of the decision to both the teacher and the school
board. If the hearing officer fails to render a decision
within 30 days, the State Board of Education shall
communicate with the hearing officer to determine the date
that the parties can reasonably expect to receive the
decision. The State Board of Education shall provide copies
of all such communications to the parties. In the event the
hearing officer fails without good cause to make a decision
within the 30 day period, the name of such hearing officer
shall be struck for a period of not more than 24 months from
the master list of hearing officers maintained by the State
Board of Education. If a hearing officer fails without good
cause to render a decision within 3 months after the hearing
is concluded or the record is closed, whichever is later, the
State Board of Education shall provide the parties with a new
list of prospective, impartial hearing officers, with the
same qualifications provided herein, one of whom shall be
selected, as provided in this Section, to review the record
and render a decision. The parties may mutually agree to
select a hearing officer pursuant to the alternative
procedure, as provided in this Section, to rehear the charges
heard by the hearing officer who failed to render a decision.
If the hearing officer fails without good cause to render a
decision within 3 months after the hearing is concluded or
the record is closed, whichever is later, the hearing officer
shall be removed from the master list of hearing officers
maintained by the State Board of Education. The board shall
not lose jurisdiction to discharge a teacher if the hearing
officer fails to render a decision within the time specified
in this Section. The decision of the hearing officer is
final unless reviewed as provided in Section 24-16 of this
Act. In the event such review is instituted, any costs of
preparing and filing the record of proceedings shall be paid
by the board.
If a decision of the hearing officer is adjudicated upon
review or appeal in favor of the teacher, then the trial
court shall order reinstatement and shall determine the
amount for which the board is liable including but not
limited to loss of income and costs incurred therein.
Any teacher who is reinstated by any hearing or
adjudication brought under this Section shall be assigned by
the board to a position substantially similar to the one
which that teacher held prior to that teacher's suspension or
dismissal.
If, by reason of any change in the boundaries of school
districts, or by reason of the creation of a new school
district, the position held by any teacher having a
contractual continued service status is transferred from one
board to the control of a new or different board, the
contractual continued service status of such teacher is not
thereby lost, and such new or different board is subject to
this Act with respect to such teacher in the same manner as
if such teacher were its employee and had been its employee
during the time such teacher was actually employed by the
board from whose control the position was transferred.
(Source: P.A. 89-618, eff. 8-9-96.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming a law and shall apply to hearings requested on or
after such effective date.