§ 273.22 — Contracts of new area education agency

Iowa § 273.22

• Jurisdiction: Iowa
• Title VII: EDUCATION, HISTORY, AND CULTURE
• Ch. 273: AREA EDUCATION AGENCIES

Text

1. The terms of employment of the administrator and staff of affected area education
agenciesfortheschoolyearbeginningwiththeeffectivedateoftheformationofthenewarea
education agency shall not be affected by the formation of the new area education agency,
except in accordance with the provisions of sections 279.15 through 279.18, and 279.24, and
the authority and responsibility to offer new contracts or to continue, modify, or terminate
existing contracts pursuant to sections 279.12, 279.13, 279.15 through 279.21, 279.23, and
279.24 for the school year beginning with the effective date of the reorganization shall be
transferred from the boards of the existing area education agencies to the board of the new
area education agency following approval of the reorganization plan by the state board as
provided in section 273.21, subsection 4.
2. a. The collective bargaining agreement of the area education agency with the largest
basic enrollment, as defined in section 257.6, for the year prior to the year the reorganization
is effective, shall serve as the base agreement in the new area education agency and the
employees of the other area education agencies involved in the formation of the new area
education agency shall automatically be accreted to the bargaining unit of that collective
bargaining agreement for purposes of negotiating the contracts for the following years
without further action by the employment appeal board. If only one collective bargaining
agreementisineffectamongtheareaeducationagenciesthatarepartytothereorganization,
that agreement shall serve as the base agreement, and the employees of the other agencies
involved in the formation of the new area education agency shall automatically be accreted
to the bargaining unit of that collective bargaining agreement for purposes of negotiating
the contracts for the following years without further action by the employment appeal board.
b. The board of the newly formed area education agency, using the base agreement as
its existing contract, shall bargain with the combined employees of the affected agencies for
the school year that begins on the effective date of the reorganization. The bargaining shall
be completed by the dates specified in section 20.17 prior to the school year in which the
reorganization becomes effective or within one hundred eighty days after the organization of
the new board, whichever is later. If a bargaining agreement was already concluded by the
board and employees of the affected agency with the contract serving as the base agreement
for the school year beginning with the effective date of the reorganization, that agreement
shall be void. However, if the base agreement contains multiyear provisions affecting school
years subsequent to the effective year of the reorganization, the base agreement shall remain
in effect as specified in the agreement.
c. The provisions of the base agreement shall apply to the offering of new contracts or
continuation, modification, or termination of existing contracts as provided in subsection 1.
3. Thetermsofacontractbetweentheboardofdirectorsofaschooldistrictandtheboard
of directors of an affected area education agency shall be carried out by the school board and
the board of directors of the newly formed area education agency except as provided in this
section.
4. The board of directors of a school district that is under a contract with an affected
area education agency may petition the boards of directors of the affected area education

agencies for release from the contract. If the petition receives a majority of the votes cast by
the members of the boards of the affected area education agencies, the petition is approved
and the contract shall be terminated on the effective date of the area education agency
reorganization.
5. Not later than fifteen days after the state board notifies an area education agency of
its approval of the area education agency’s reorganization plan or dissolution proposal, the
area education agency shall notify, by certified mail, the school districts located within the
area education agency boundaries, the school districts and area education agencies that
are contiguous to its boundaries, and any other school district under contract with the area
education agency, of the state board’s approval of the plan or proposal, and shall provide the
department of education with a copy of any notice sent in accordance with this subsection.
A petition to join an area education agency or for release from a contract with an area
education agency, in accordance with subsections 4, 6, and 7, shall be filed not later than
forty-five days after the state board approves a reorganization plan or dissolution proposal
in accordance with this chapter.
6. Within forty-five days of the state board’s approval, the board of directors of a school
district that is contiguous to a newly reorganized area education agency may petition the
board of directors of their current area education agency and the newly reorganized area
education agency to join the newly reorganized area education agency. If the initial, or
new board if established in time under section 273.23, subsection 3, and the board of the
contiguous area education agency approve the petition, the reorganization, including any
school district whose petition to join the newly reorganized area education agency has been
approved, shall take effect in accordance with the dates established under section 273.21,
subsection 4. Both the initial, or new, and the contiguous area education agency boards
must act within forty-five days of the deadline, as set forth in this subsection, for the filing of
the school district’s petition. Within ten days of an area education agency board’s action, a
school district may appeal to the state board the decision of an area education agency board
to deny the school district’s petition.
7. Within forty-five days of the state board’s approval, the board of directors of a school
district that is within a newly reorganized area education agency and whose school district
is contiguous to another area education agency not included in the newly reorganized area
educationagencymaypetitiontheboardofdirectorsofthenewlyreorganizedareaeducation
agency and the contiguous area education agency to join that area education agency. If the
initial, or new board if established in time under section 273.23, subsection 3, and the board
of the contiguous area education agency approve the petition, the reorganization, excluding
any school district whose petition to join an area education agency contiguous to the newly
reorganized area education agency has been approved, shall take effect in accordance with
the dates established under section 273.21, subsection 4. Both the initial, or new, and the
contiguous area education agency boards must act within forty-five days of the deadline, as
set forth in this subsection, for the filing of the school district’s petition. Within ten days of
an area education agency board’s action, a school district may appeal to the state board the
decision of an area education agency board to deny the school district’s petition.