FILE:  GBD

Cf:  DFF, GBC, GBDA

Cf:  GBJ, GBM

EMPLOYMENT OF PERSONNEL

The Ouachita Parish School Board and its administrative staff believes that it has an obligation to provide the children attending its schools with the very best personnel available regardless of race, color, creed, sex, age, national origin or any similar personal characteristic.  Age shall be considered only with respect to minimums set by law.

The Superintendent or his/her designee shall be responsible for establishing and maintaining appropriate procedures for reviewing and evaluating any and all applicants for selection, including administrative and supervisory personnel, and assuring adherence to applicable state and federal legal requirements.  Selection of personnel to fill all positions shall be based upon performance, effectiveness, and qualifications applicable to each specific position.  Decisions shall be made on a non-discriminatory basis with selection procedures and evaluative criteria known to all applicants.  Applicants should not resort to the use of political, social, or other pressures to gain employment or promotion.

Teachers and all other personnel shall be selected for employment by the Superintendent.  It shall be the responsibility of the Superintendent to ensure that all persons recommended have proper certification where applicable, and are qualified for the position.  Seniority and tenure shall not be used as the primary criteria when making any employment decision.

The Superintendent shall delegate to the school principal all decisions regarding the employment of any teacher or other personnel at the school in which the principal is employed, subject to the approval of the Superintendent.

The Superintendent and/or his/her designee shall consult with teachers regarding any possible selections made by the Superintendent for the hiring or placement of a principal at the school in which such teachers are employed, subject to the provisions of any applicable court order.

BUS OPERATORS

Whenever a school bus operator is needed to drive a new route or a route vacated by a previous operator, the school bus operator who is tenured and has acquired the greatest seniority shall be offered the opportunity to and may change from driving his/her route to the vacant route before another operator is selected.  The School Board shall notify such bus operator of the route vacancy by mail to his/her residence.  If the tenured bus operator with the greatest seniority chooses not to change to the vacant route, the route shall then be offered in order of seniority to a school bus operator who has acquired tenure.

If no tenured operator chooses to change to the vacant route, the route shall then be offered to a full-time probationary bus operator.

If no regular bus operator, tenured or probationary, chooses to change to the vacant route, then a substitute bus operator shall be selected for the position from a list of approved substitute school bus operators.  If no tenured, probationary, or substitute bus operator wants the route, then a new operator shall be hired.

Whenever a school bus operator owning his/her own bus retires, a vacated route shall be offered first to any person meeting the requirements of the School Board who is willing to acquire the bus of the retiring operator at full appraised value.  This provision shall be applicable only when the bus owned by the retiring operator has been manufactured within a period of five (5) years immediately prior to the operator's retirement and the operator is retiring due to a documented physical disability.

The Superintendent may select an operator to fill a vacant route using a different process than outlined above, but only if the School Board is required to bear an increase in the unreimbursed costs for nonpassenger miles over those attributable to the previous operator who vacated the route.

Whenever a vacancy occurs on a route due to death, resignation, retirement, or the expiration of the regular operator's approved leave, or a new route is established, the route shall be filled with a regular school bus operator using the process stated above no later than the following school year unless the route is consolidated or eliminated.  A substitute bus operator may only be used as a temporary measure until a permanent operator is appointed to a route.

If an operator is on approved leave, his/her route shall not be considered a vacant route.  A substitute shall be used to drive a route for an operator on approved leave regardless of the length of time of the approved leave.

Substitute bus operators for bus routes shall have and shall meet the same qualifications as regular bus operators.

FEDERAL OR STATE GRANT FUNDED POSITIONS

Whenever the School Board is the recipient of grants from federal, state or private funding agencies for supplementing and/or funding of innovative educational strategies, long range planning, and special supportive services, such grants may fund staff positions related to the grants.  Grant-funded positions may be full-time or part-time positions established for specific periods of time, not to exceed the scheduled termination date of the applicable grant funded.  The letter of appointment sent to an employee for grant-funded positions shall state that continuation of the employee’s service in that position shall be contingent upon the continuing availability of funds from the applicable grant funding source.

Ref:    La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:81, 17:81.9, 17:413, 17:493.1, 23:897

Louisiana Handbook for School Administrators, Bulletin 741, Louisiana Department of Education

Board minutes, 1-10-06, 7-23-08, 8-23-12, 8-23-16, 2-13-18, 2-12-19

Ouachita Parish School Board