(a) A county board of education shall make decisions affecting the filling of vacancies in professional positions of employment on the basis of the applicant with the highest qualifications: Provided, That the county superintendent shall be hired under separate criteria pursuant to §18-4-2 of this code.
(b) In judging qualifications for the filling of vacancies of professional positions of employment, consideration shall be given to each of the following:
(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;
(5) In the case of a principal or classroom teaching position, certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards;
(6) Specialized training relevant to performing the duties of the job;
(7) Past performance evaluations conducted pursuant to §18A-2-12 and §18A-3C-2 of this code or, in the case of a classroom teacher, past evaluations of the applicant’s performance in the teaching profession;
(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; and
(11) In the case of a classroom teaching position, the recommendation, if any, resulting from the process established pursuant to the provisions of §18-5A-5 of this code by the faculty senate of the school at which the employee will be performing a majority of his or her duties.
(c) When filling of a vacancy pursuant to this section, a county board is entitled to determine the appropriate weight to apply to each of the criterion when assessing an applicant’s qualifications: Provided, That if one or more permanently employed instructional personnel apply for a classroom teaching position and meet the standards set forth in the job posting, each criterion under subsection (b) of this section shall be given equal weight except that the criterion in subdivisions (10) and (11) shall each be double weighted.
(d) For a classroom teaching position, if the principal and faculty senate recommend the same applicant pursuant to subdivisions (10) and (11), subsection (b) of this section, and the superintendent concurs with those recommendations, then the other provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of this section do not apply and the county board shall appoint that applicant notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary.
(e) The state board shall promulgate a rule, including an emergency rule if necessary, in accordance with the provisions of §29A-3B-1 et seq. of this code to implement and interpret the provisions of this section. The rule may provide for a classroom teacher who directly participates in making recommendations pursuant to this section to be compensated at the appropriate daily rate during periods of participation beyond his or her individual contract.
(f) The recommendations of the principal and faculty senate made pursuant to subdivisions (10) and (11), subsection (b) of this section shall be based on a determination as to which applicant is the most highly qualified for the position: Provided, That nothing in this subsection may require principals or faculty senates to assign any amount of weight to any factor in making a recommendation.
(g) With the exception of guidance counselors, the seniority of classroom teachers, as defined in section one, article one of this chapter, shall be determined on the basis of the length of time the employee has been employed as a regular full-time certified and/or licensed professional educator by the county board of education and shall be granted in all areas that the employee is certified, licensed or both.
(h) If two or more employees with the same certification establish an identical seniority date as a result of initial employment as a regular teacher on or after July 1, 2019, the priority between these employees shall be determined by a random selection system established by the employees and approved by the county board. A board shall conduct the random selection within 30 days of the time the employees with the same certification establish an identical seniority date. All employees with an identical seniority date and the same certification shall participate in the random selection. As long as the affected employees hold the identical seniority date within a certification, the initial random selection conducted by the board shall be permanent for the duration of the employment of the employees by the board.
(i) Upon completion of 133 days of employment in any one school year, substitute teachers, except retired teachers and other retired professional educators employed as substitutes, shall accrue seniority exclusively for the purpose of applying for employment as a permanent, full-time professional employee. One hundred thirty-three days or more of said employment shall be prorated and shall vest as a fraction of the school year worked by the permanent, full-time teacher.
(j) Guidance counselors and all other professional employees, as defined in §18A-1-1 of this code, except classroom teachers, shall gain seniority in their nonteaching area of professional employment on the basis of the length of time the employee has been employed by the county board of education in that area: Provided, That if an employee is certified as a classroom teacher, the employee accrues classroom teaching seniority for the time that employee is employed in another professional area. For the purposes of accruing seniority under this subsection, employment as principal, supervisor or central office administrator, as defined in §18A-1-1 of this code, shall be considered one area of employment.
(k) Employment for a full employment term equals one year of seniority, but an employee may not accrue more than one year of seniority during any given fiscal year. Employment for less than the full employment term shall be prorated.
(l) All decisions on reductions in force shall be based on qualifications as set forth in a county board policy. Furthermore, for the purposes of this subsection and subsections (m) through (t), inclusive, of this section, the word "qualifications" means the qualifications set forth in county board policy and only means qualifications set forth in subsection (b) of this section to the extent those qualifications are set forth in county board policy: Provided, That in defining the word "qualifications" in its policy, the county board:
(1) Shall consider including the following criteria:
(A) Seniority;
(B) Appropriate certification, licensure, or both;
(C) 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;
(D) The amount of course work, degree level, or both in the relevant field and degree level generally;
(E) Academic achievement;
(F) In the case of a principal or classroom teaching position, certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards;
(G) Specialized training relevant to performing the duties of the job;
(H) Past performance evaluations conducted pursuant to §18A-2-12 and §18A-3C-2 of this code or, in the case of a classroom teacher, past evaluations of the applicant’s performance in the teaching profession;
(I) Other measures or indicators upon which the relative qualifications of the applicant may fairly be judged;
(J) In the case of transfer or recall to 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; and
(K) In the case of transfer or recall to a classroom teaching position, the recommendation, if any, resulting from the process established pursuant to the provisions of §18-5A-5 of this code by the faculty senate of the school at which the employee will be performing a majority of his or her duties;
(2) Shall consider other criteria set forth in subdivision (1) of this subsection to the extent they are included in the county board policy only after considering personnel whose last performance evaluation conducted pursuant to §18A-2-12 or §18A-3C-2 of this code, as applicable, is less than satisfactory; and
(3) May not include salary as one of the criteria in the definition.
(m) Whenever a county board is required to reduce the number of professional personnel in its employment, the selection of the employee to be properly notified and released from employment pursuant to the provisions of section two, article two of this chapter shall be based upon seniority, certification, licensure and performance evaluations. The provisions of this subsection are subject to the following:
(1) In the event of a reduction in force, a county board of education may properly notify and release from employment pursuant to the provisions of section two, article two of this chapter any classroom teacher with unsatisfactory evaluations for the previous two consecutive years regardless of years of service instead of release from employment of less senior classroom teachers with satisfactory performance evaluations;
(2) All persons employed in a certification area to be reduced who are employed under a temporary permit shall be properly notified and released before a fully certified employee in such a position is subject to release;
(3) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, for any vacancy in an established, existing or newly created position that, on or before March 1, is known to exist for the ensuing school year, upon recommendation of the superintendent, the board shall appoint the successful applicant from among all qualified applicants. All employees subject to release shall be considered applicants for the positions for which they are qualified and shall be considered before posting such vacancies for application by nonemployees;
(4) An employee subject to release shall be employed in any other professional position where the employee is certified and was previously employed or to any lateral area for which the employee is certified, licensed or both, if the employees seniority is greater than the seniority of any other employee in that area of certification, licensure or both;
(5) If an employee subject to release holds certification, licensure or both in more than one lateral area and if the employees seniority is greater than the seniority of any other employee in one or more of those areas of certification, licensure or both, the employee subject to release shall be employed in the professional position held by the employee with the least seniority in any of those areas of certification, licensure or both; and
(6) If, prior to August 1 of the year, a reduction in force is approved, the reason for any particular reduction in force no longer exists as determined by the county board in its sole and exclusive judgment, the board shall rescind the reduction in force or transfer and shall notify the released employee in writing of his or her right to be restored to his or her position of employment. Within five days of being so notified, the released employee shall notify the board, in writing, of his or her intent to resume his or her position of employment or the right to be restored shall terminate. Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision, if there is another employee on the preferred recall list with proper certification and higher seniority, that person shall be placed in the position restored as a result of the reduction in force being rescinded.
(n) For the purpose of this article, all positions which meet the definition of "classroom teacher" as defined in §18A-1-1 of this code shall be lateral positions. For all other professional positions, the county board of education shall adopt a policy by October 31, 1993, and may modify the policy thereafter as necessary, which defines which positions shall be lateral positions. In adopting the policy, the board may give consideration to the rank of each position in terms of title; nature of responsibilities; salary level; and certification, licensure or both; along with the days in the period of employment.
(o) All professional personnel whose lesser qualifications, as determined by county board policy, with the county board is insufficient to allow their retention by the county board during a reduction in workforce shall be placed upon a preferred recall list. As to any professional position opening within the area where they had previously been employed or to any lateral area for which they have certification, licensure or both, the employee shall be recalled on the basis of qualifications if no regular, full-time professional personnel, or those returning from leaves of absence with greater qualifications apply for and accept the position.
(p) The board shall annually notify professional personnel on the preferred list of the job application procedures and any websites used to advertise vacancies. The notice shall be sent by certified mail via the U.S. Postal Service to the last known address of the employee, and it shall be the duty of each professional person to notify the board of continued availability annually of any change in address, or of any change in certification, licensure or both.
(q) Openings in established, existing or newly created positions shall be processed as follows:
(1) Boards shall be required to post and date notices of each opening at least once. At their discretion, boards may post an opening for a position other than classroom teacher more than once in order to attract more qualified applicants. At their discretion, boards may repost an opening for a classroom teacher after the first posting in order to attract more qualified applicants subject to the following:
(A) Each notice shall be posted in conspicuous working places for all professional personnel to observe for at least five working days which may include any website maintained by the county board;
(B) At least one notice shall be posted within 20 working days of the position openings and shall include the job description;
(C) Any special criteria or skills that are required by the position shall be specifically stated in the job description and directly related to the performance of the job;
(D) Postings for vacancies made pursuant to this section shall be written so as to ensure that the largest possible pool of qualified applicants may apply; and
(E) Job postings may not require criteria which are not necessary for the successful performance of the job and may not be written with the intent to favor a specific applicant;
(2) No vacancy may be filled until after the five-day minimum posting period of the most recent posted notice of the vacancy;
(3) If one or more applicants under all the postings for a vacancy meets the qualifications listed in the job posting, the successful applicant to fill the vacancy shall be selected by the board within 30 working days of the end of the first posting period;
(4) A position held by a teacher who is certified, licensed or both, who has been issued a permit for full-time employment and is working toward certification in the permit area shall not be subject to posting if the certificate is awarded within five years; and
(5) Nothing provided herein may prevent the county board of education from eliminating a position due to lack of need.
(r) Notwithstanding any other provision of the code to the contrary, where the total number of classroom teaching positions in an elementary school does not increase from one school year to the next, but there exists in that school a need to realign the number of teachers in one or more grade levels, kindergarten through six, teachers at the school may be reassigned to grade levels for which they are certified without that position being posted: Provided, That the employee and the county board mutually agree to the reassignment.
(s) Reductions in classroom teaching positions in elementary schools shall be determined pursuant to the considerations set forth in county board policy and processed as follows:
(1) When the total number of classroom teaching positions in an elementary school needs to be reduced, the reduction shall be made on the basis of qualifications with the least qualified classroom teacher being recommended for transfer; and
(2) When a specified grade level needs to be reduced and the least qualified employee in the school is not in that grade level, the least qualified classroom teacher in the grade level that needs to be reduced shall be reassigned to the position made vacant by the transfer of the least qualified classroom teacher in the school without that position being posted: Provided, That the employee is certified, licensed or both and agrees to the reassignment.
(t) Any board failing to comply with the provisions of this article may be compelled to do so by mandamus and shall be liable to any party prevailing against the board for court costs and reasonable attorney fees as determined and established by the court. Further, employees denied promotion or employment in violation of this section shall be awarded the job, pay and any applicable benefits retroactive to the date of the violation and payable entirely from local funds. Further, the board shall be liable to any party prevailing against the board for any court reporter costs including copies of transcripts.
(u) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, upon recommendation of the principal and approval by the classroom teacher and county board, a classroom teacher assigned to the school may at any time be assigned to a new or existing classroom teacher position at the school without the position being posted.
(v) All personnel in a public charter school shall continue to accrue seniority in the same manner that they would accrue seniority if employed in a noncharter public school in the county for the purpose of employment in noncharter public schools.