By:  Barrientos                                        S.B. No. 428
         99S0291/1                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                       AN ACT
 1-1     relating to school district policies and procedures for terminating
 1-2     the employment of certain educational support employees.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 22, Education Code, is
 1-5     amended by adding Section 22.006 to read as follows:
 1-6           Sec. 22.006.  TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT OF EDUCATIONAL
 1-7     SUPPORT EMPLOYEE.  (a)  The board of trustees of each school
 1-8     district shall adopt written employment policies that comply with
 1-9     this section and that must be followed before the district may
1-10     terminate the employment of a nonprobationary educational support
1-11     employee. The district policies shall:
1-12                 (1)  provide for a probationary period not to exceed
1-13     135 days;
1-14                 (2)  provide for written evaluation of educational
1-15     support employees at least annually; and
1-16                 (3)  specify the grounds on which employment may be
1-17     terminated.
1-18           (b)  A person who proposes to terminate the employment of a
1-19     nonprobationary educational support employee must give written
1-20     notice of that proposal to the employee.  The notice must contain a
1-21     statement of the grounds for the proposed termination and any other
1-22     material facts related to the proposed termination. The
1-23     superintendent of the district must review the grounds for the
1-24     proposed termination and any other material facts and must, on
 2-1     request by the employee, conduct a termination review proceeding
 2-2     affording the employee an opportunity to contest the proposed
 2-3     termination orally and in writing.  A written or audiotape record
 2-4     of this proceeding must be made.
 2-5           (c)  This section does not deprive an educational support
 2-6     employee of any right or procedure to which the employee is
 2-7     entitled under any policy adopted by the board of trustees.
 2-8           (d)  In this section:
 2-9                 (1)  "Educational support employee" or "employee" means
2-10     an employee of a school district who does not fall within the
2-11     definition of "teacher" in Section 21.201.  The terms include but
2-12     are not limited to bus drivers, custodians, food service employees,
2-13     maintenance employees, security personnel, educational aides,
2-14     educational secretaries, and paraprofessionals.
2-15                 (2)  "Superintendent" includes a designee of the
2-16     superintendent who is a district administrator superior in rank to
2-17     the person proposing the termination of the educational support
2-18     employee.
2-19           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-20           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-21     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-22     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-23     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-24     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.