§ 16-13-3. Probationary period — Tenure after probation.
(a) Three (3) annual contracts within five (5) successive school years shall be considered
evidence of satisfactory teaching and shall constitute a probationary period. Teachers
who complete the probationary period shall be considered in continuous service and
shall not be subject to annual renewal or nonrenewal of their contracts. No tenured
teacher in continuous service shall be dismissed except for good and just cause. Whenever
a tenured teacher in continuous service is to be dismissed, the notice of the dismissal
shall be given to the teacher, in writing, on or before March 1 of the
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§ 16-13-3. Probationary period — Tenure after probation.
(a) Three (3) annual contracts within five (5) successive school years shall be considered
evidence of satisfactory teaching and shall constitute a probationary period. Teachers
who complete the probationary period shall be considered in continuous service and
shall not be subject to annual renewal or nonrenewal of their contracts. No tenured
teacher in continuous service shall be dismissed except for good and just cause. Whenever
a tenured teacher in continuous service is to be dismissed, the notice of the dismissal
shall be given to the teacher, in writing, on or before March 1 of the school year
immediately preceding the school year in which the dismissal is to become effective.
If the dismissal is based on fiscal exigency or program reorganization, the notice
of dismissal shall be given to the teacher, in writing, on or before June 1 of the
school year immediately preceding the school year in which the dismissal is to become
effective. The teacher shall be furnished with a complete statement of the cause(s)
for the dismissal by the governing body of the school and shall be entitled to a hearing
and appeal pursuant to the procedure set forth in § 16-13-4.
(b) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prohibit, or at any time to
have prohibited, a school committee from agreeing, in a collective bargaining agreement,
to the arbitration of disputes arising out of the dismissal of a tenured teacher pursuant
to subsection (a) of this section.
(c) Any teacher employed by a local or regional school committee who has attained tenure
in a Rhode Island public school system; who is appointed to an administrative position
of principal, assistant principal, vice principal, superintendent, assistant superintendent,
director, or other central office personnel in any Rhode Island public school system,
including the original school district of employment; or who is hired for an administrative
position as a fellow, education specialist, or director by the Rhode Island department
of education, shall be granted an unpaid leave of absence, not to exceed three (3)
years, in order to be employed in an administrative position of principal, assistant
principal, vice principal, superintendent, assistant superintendent, director, or
other central office personnel in any Rhode Island school system or the Rhode Island
department of education. Said teachers shall, upon completion of their administrative
position employment contract, or termination or resignation of the administrative
position, be allowed to return to his or her former status as a tenured teacher within
the system from which the leave of absence was taken. Such leaves of absence shall
not be deemed to be an interruption of service for the purposes of seniority and teacher
retirement.
P.L. 1946, ch. 1775, § 3; G.L. 1956, § 16-13-3; P.L. 1975, ch. 258, § 1; P.L. 1992, ch. 170, § 1; P.L. 1995, ch. 387, § 1; P.L. 1997, ch. 307, § 1; P.L. 2013, ch. 267, § 1; P.L. 2013, ch. 362, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 278, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 335, § 1.