California Education Law: Certificated School District Employees, Know Your Suspension Rights

The California education attorneys at the San Francisco firm of Slote & Links have handled many suspension cases over the years and are amazed at how often the procedure goes wrong. In a typical situation, a Senior Administrator (sometimes the Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent) sends a notice to a teacher or principal informing them that they will be suspended without pay within 10 days. In some cases, the letter will offer a “hearing” of some sort.

But these notices violate the procedure set forth in the California Education Code, which governs the termination and suspension of certificated employees. Indeed, there is a very detailed procedure set forth in the code and, unless the school district has negotiated an alternate procedure with an employee union, the “code procedures” govern suspensions.

There are several points to keep in mind.

First, employees should know that the Superintendent or upper level administrators do not have the power to suspend employees. The code allocates that responsibility to the governing board (in most cases the governing body is called the Board of Trustees or the Board of Education). This rule is set forth in Education Code § 44932(b).

Second, everyone should understand that the Education Code provides a number of particulars. Indeed, in order to suspend (or dismiss) an employee:

• Verified charges must be brought to the governing board (“verified” means the charges must be attested under oath) (§44934);

• A majority of the governing board must vote to suspend or dismiss (§44934);

• The employee must receive notice of the board’s action and be afforded 30 days in which to request a hearing (§§ 44934, 44937, 44941);

• If no hearing is requested within 30 days, it is waived (§§ 44937, 44941);

• If the employee requests a hearing, it must be conducted before a “Commission on Professional Competence” composed of three persons – one nominated by the district; one by the employee; and the third member is a California Administrative Law Judge, who chairs the proceeding and “shall be responsible for assuring that the legal rights of the parties are protected at the hearing.” (§44944(a) & (b));

• The employee has full discovery rights and can take depositions, subpoena documents and witnesses – in short, the employee can conduct the proceeding the same as if it were an administrative hearing conducted pursuant to the California Government Code (§§ 44941, 44944(a));

• The tribunal decides by majority vote, and must prepare a written determination of issues, with a disposition that must be one of the following:

1) That the employee should be suspended for a specific period of time without pay;
2) That the employee should not be suspended (44944(c)(1));

• The decision of the Commission on Professional Competence is final and binding on the governing board (44944(c)(4)).

In several cases where a school district has ignored these procedures, but nevertheless attempted to suspend an employee without pay, our attorneys have been successful in convincing the district to withdraw the discipline and start over with full recognition of the employee’s legal rights. Employees and employers alike should know what the law requires and should insist that mandated procedures be followed.

If you need a California education law attorney, please contact Slote & Links. In addition to California education law, our firm also defends professionals and businesses on license applications and denials, revocations/suspensions, interim/temporary suspension orders. For a free consultation on California administrative law or similar issues, visit www.slotelaw.com today.