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February 21, 2003SCHOOL EMPLOYEES INSURANCE PLAN STUDY AND DESIGN COMMITTEE – REDEN & ANDERS’ “GROUP AND PLAN DATA REQUEST” Recently, all superintendents were electronically sent the data request noted above and asked to complete and return it to Reden & Anders. As a result of concerns expressed to Reden & Anders, MSBA, and other Committee members regarding the complexity of the request and the amount of time necessary to complete it, the Committee (at its February 19, 2003, meeting) directed Reden & Anders to simplify its request and again send it to all districts. Consequently, districts will be receiving a one-page group plan and data request within the next few days. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT ALL DISTRICTS COMPLETE AND RETURN THE DATA REQUEST ACCORDING TO THE TIME LINES THAT WILL BE INDICATED IN THAT REQUEST, and your MSBA, along with the Committee members, thanks you in advance for your anticipated cooperation.TENURE AND SENIORITY Your MSBA staff has responded to a number of calls recently that dealt with tenure and seniority and how they interact. It is important to note that tenure, as is provided for under M.S. 122A.40, subd. 5(a), simply provides an employee with additional rights to continuing employment. Once a teacher has met the criteria to be considered a tenured teacher in Minnesota, he/she no longer may be terminated without just cause and must be placed on ULA should reductions be considered under M.S. 122A.40, subd. 11.
Seniority rights are granted to teachers under M.S. 122A.40, subd. 11(b), and districts must place them on unrequested leave of absence “in fields in which they are licensed in the inverse order in which they were employed by the school district.” Most of our districts’ practices regarding seniority have been negotiated with exclusive representatives. It is in the best interest of school administrators to understand the processes they are required to follow when setting up their seniority lists and to work for language in negotiations that will limit the district’s responsibilities to provide bumping or recall rights.
The only issue that ties tenure and seniority together is addressed in M.S. 122A.40, subd. 11(d). This portion of the statute makes it illegal to place a tenured teacher on ULA if a probationary teacher, regardless of seniority, holds a position for which he/she is licensed. It is important for districts to keep this in mind if they are forced to nonrenew or place staff on unrequested leave this spring. Districts are also reminded that probationary teachers have no statutory right to placement on unrequested leave of absence; only tenured teachers have that right.HOME SCHOOLED DATA On October 29, 2002, Independent School District No. 191, Burnsville-Eagan-Savage, filed a request with the Minnesota Department of Administration to reclassify data on home schooled students as private data. The Department accommodated this request on January 13, 2003. In the Department of Administration’s opinion, the Commissioner noted that data on home schooled students “are similar to data classified by Minnesota Statutes section 13.32, Educational data, which classifies as private the same data when those data are maintained about students enrolled” in a public school district. As such, all data retained by a school district that relate to resident home schooled children will now be considered as private data on individuals. This classification will stay in place until June 1, 2005, unless reclassified by the Legislature before that date. Bills addressing the reclassification of home schooled students’ data have already been introduced at the Legislature. As we have mentioned previously, as people get more and more familiar with the new ESEA, “No Child Left Behind,” new requirements and responsibilities will surface. Similarly, as policymakers learn more about the impact this new legislation will have on our schools, it is likely that the law will change or be interpreted differently as we work toward full implementation. For that reason, it is important for board members, district administrators, and those working directly with the law to be alert to new information that is made available to them.
The NCLB Act underscores a number of new protections for homeless students. Among them are requirements that LEA’s provide homeless students with services that are comparable to those provided other students and that each LEA must identify a staff person who will be responsible for homeless students in the district. Since students will have a right to continue to be enrolled in their school while homeless, requirements for transporting those students will be enforced. Districts will be required to provide homeless students with transportation to and from their school of origin if requested. Districts are required to provide this transportation whether the student’s temporary residence is in the same district or not. All transportation must be comparable to that provided other students under Section 1119 of the NCLB Act.
Principals of schools operating schoolwide or targeted Title I programs will also pick up an additional duty. Beginning this year, principals will be required to “attest annually in writing” that their school is in compliance with six separate requirements of the NCLB Act. These will include assurances that teachers and paraprofessionals in their schools meet the requirements of the Act and that paraprofessionals are providing services only under the direct supervision of a teacher. With many districts still getting up to speed on the new law, it is possible that some principals will be concerned about and reluctant to sign such a document. For further information about the requirements of Section 1119, check the MSBA website – click on “Management Services Newsletters” under the “No Child Left Behind Resource Page.”LOCAL CONTINUING TIME STUDIES In the January 3, 2003, Management Services Newsletter, MSBA staff addressed proposed changes to the Medicaid Reimbursements for School-Based Administrative Claiming that are being considered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Staff noted, at that time, that the impact in Minnesota could be far less than in other states due to the way Minnesota runs its Medicaid reimbursement program.
With the CMS still reviewing the comments it received regarding the proposed changes, it is hard to tell what actual impact, if any, that changes might have on Minnesota’s public school districts. That determination will have to wait until an analysis of final rules changes is made.
With the state suffering a financial shortfall of monumental proportions, districts need to watch this and other issues evolve. More importantly, however, districts need to seriously consider their involvement in their Local Continuing Time Studies (LCTS). Many districts have found these collaboratives to be excellent ways of expanding offerings to their students and communities while others have not. Therefore, each and every district needs to take seriously its involvement in its LCTS. Districts play a major role in the operation of the LCTS and should play an integral part in the planning and delivery of its programs.SCHOOLFINANCES.COM SchoolFinances.com has prepared a new system for costing 2003-2005 teacher negotiations. The system initializes by computing the cost of having no change in the salary schedule. SchoolFinances.com has also updated the management reports on attendance, dropouts, mobility, and completion studies and has prepared Profiles reports using the draft of the 2002 Profiles that the CFL has published. This information, together with the settlement reports of districts going back four rounds of negotiations, is valuable for districts preparing for negotiations. The management reports and systems of SchoolFinances.com are endorsed by MSBA. You can order reports or samples of reports by contacting ann@schoolfinances.com or jim@schoolfinances.com.Return to Management Services Newsletter Home Page
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