THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2541

TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to education, contains numerous sections covering employer-employee issues.  The legislature further finds that many of these employer-employee issues should be left to the collective bargaining process rather than be legislatively mandated.

     The purpose of this Act is to repeal various sections of chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, in order to allow employer-employee issues to be negotiated pursuant to the collective bargaining process.  The repeal of those sections does not reflect a prohibitive view of these collective bargaining issues, but rather it reflects the fact that all of those areas are already permissive within the collective bargaining process.

     SECTION 2.  Section 302A-101, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by deleting the definition of "job sharing".

     [""Job-sharing" means the voluntary sharing of a full-time, permanent employee's position with another employee, with each employee working one-half of the total number of hours of work required per week and performing one-half of the work required of the respective full-time position, and with each employee receiving one-half of the salary to which each employee is respectively entitled and at least one-half of each employee benefit afforded to full-time employees."]

     SECTION 3.  Section 302A-102, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "[[]§302A-102[]]  Smoking prohibited[; exception].  [(a)]  All public schools within the State, from kindergarten through grade twelve, shall prohibit the use of tobacco at public schools or at public school functions.

     [(b)  The department shall provide affected public employees with breaks throughout the work day during which they may smoke at locations off-campus.  The number and duration of such breaks shall be subject to collective bargaining.

     (c)  The department shall provide a smoking cessation program for public employees who are interested in participating; provided that issues relating to the costs of the program shall be subject to collective bargaining.

     (d)  This section shall not be subject to part II of chapter 328K.]"

     SECTION 4.  Section 302A-626, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

     "(b)  Teachers and educational officers who have served satisfactorily for three years in their maximum increment step or in any longevity step and who have complied with the other requirements of sections 302A-602 to 302A-640, and 302A-701, shall receive longevity step increases; provided that the board may grant principals and vice-principals longevity step increases more frequently than once every three years [pursuant to section 302A-625]."

     SECTION 5.  Section 302A-703, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

     "(b)  The department shall develop a definition of "exemplary" in consultation with the appropriate collective bargaining representative.

     Salary ranges and salary incentives for educational officer positions shall be subject to the requirements of [sections 302A-625 and] section 302A-626."

     SECTION 6.  Section 302A-608, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["[§302A-608]  Reemployed teachers; rights.  After the completion of the probationary period without discharge, such teachers as are thereupon reemployed shall continue in service in the public schools during good behavior and competent service and prior to the age at which the teachers are eligible for retirement, pursuant to section 88-73 or 88-281, and shall not be discharged or demoted except for one or more of the causes specified in section 302A-609."]

     SECTION 7.  Section 302A-610, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["§302A-610  Job-sharing.  (a)  A job-sharing program is established in the department subject to the requirements in this section.

     (b)  The superintendent shall announce the job-sharing program to all full-time, tenured, certificated personnel of the department, excluding educational officers, and shall solicit the voluntary requests of personnel interested in participating in the program.

     The superintendent, in consultation with the recognized employee bargaining units, shall formulate and adopt guidelines for the implementation of this section.  Employees who respond to the announcement and other persons who request information shall receive a full written description of the terms of the program when the guidelines are finalized, and those persons desiring to participate may apply to participate in the program.  The employees who apply for participation shall obtain the concurrence of their immediate supervisor, other appropriate personnel officers, and the superintendent.  Those persons who qualify then shall be interviewed by a personnel officer of the department.

     Upon the selection of a permanent, full-time employee for job-sharing, the superintendent shall convert the position of the employee into two job-sharing positions, one of which shall be filled by the employee, and the other by the hiring of a new hire or by another tenured, certificated employee of the department, excluding any educational officer.

     A person hired to fill a job-sharing position shall be recruited through this section and shall possess the minimum requirements of the full-time position that was converted into a job-sharing position under this section.

     (c)  Benefits that can be divided in half, such as the number of days of sick leave, and are considered to be an equitable share when divided, shall be computed on that basis.  Benefits that cannot be divided, such as eligibility for membership in the public employees' health plan shall be given to the job-sharers without the foregoing division, notwithstanding any provision of chapter 87 or 88 to the contrary.  The newly hired job-sharer shall be excluded from collective bargaining under chapter 89.

     The full-time permanent employee shall not lose membership in an employee bargaining unit because of participation in this program, any other law to the contrary notwithstanding.  Union membership or service fees paid by the job-sharer under this section shall be at a level consistent with normal union membership dues or service fees.  The State's contribution to the job-sharers' prepaid health, prepaid dental, and group life insurance plans shall be the same as for full-time employees, any other law to the contrary notwithstanding.  Job-sharers shall be covered under chapter 386 and the applicable provisions of chapter 383.  Service credit for the tenured teacher participating in the program under this section shall be given on the same basis as that for full-time employees.  Nothing in this section shall be construed, however, to vest any person with any rights to permanent employment status, whether under civil service or otherwise, which did not exist prior to the participation of the person in the job-sharing program.  The granting of tenure shall be under applicable statutes.  No full-time position shall be abolished or reduced to a half-time position except for the purpose of job-sharing.  In a reduction-in-force procedure, consideration of a job-sharer's tenure rights shall be on the same basis as that of a full-time employee.  Nothing in this section shall impair the employment or employment rights or benefits of any employee.

     (d)  Tenured employees sharing full-time positions with other tenured employees shall not be required to relinquish their duty-free period.  The job-sharing team shall submit to its principal a job-sharing proposal that preserves its duty-free period and meets the educational needs of its students.  Where the job-sharing team cannot reach a reasonable scheduling agreement, the team may agree to waive its contractual rights by executing a contract waiver.

     (e)  Participation in the program shall require the commitment on the part of all parties to a contractual agreement for one year; provided that the employee shall be given the option to renew the contract for another year, subject to approval by the immediate supervisor and personnel officer of the department.

     (f)  No job-sharing position committed to a specified period of time under the terms of the contractual agreement shall be converted to full-time status before the termination of the contractual agreement.  A job-sharing vacancy created by the resignation, retirement, or other permanent or temporary severance of employment with the department on the part of any person may be filled by the department either through recruitment of another person pursuant to this section, or by increasing the remaining half-time job-sharing person to full-time employment by mutual agreement.

     (g)  Upon the termination of contractual agreements, all job-sharing positions shall be renegotiated or reconverted to full-time positions, and the employees who held the full-time positions prior to their participation in the job-sharing program under this section shall be entitled to resume their positions without loss of previous tenure or other employee rights.

     (h)  Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, this section shall be interpreted as though the term "certificated" read "licensed" as the latter term is used in subpart D, and as circumstances require."]

     SECTION 8.  Section 302A-611, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["[§302A-611]  Authorized leaves of absence; tenure status unaffected.  The granting of authorized leaves of absence by the department to regularly employed teachers shall not affect any of the tenure rights that the teacher may have acquired prior thereto under section 302A-608."]

     SECTION 9.  Section 302A-613, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["[§302A-613]  Exchange teachers and educational officers; terms of contract.  (a)  The superintendent may contract for the exchange of teachers and educational officers of the State with teachers and educational officers of any other state, country, or territory.  Teachers and educational officers of the State so exchanged shall be paid their regular salaries.  The qualifications of all teachers and educational officers from any such state, country, or territory so exchanged shall be equal to the qualifications of the teachers and educational officers exchanged by the State.  In the selection of teachers and educational officers to be exchanged, preference shall be given in the following order:  teachers over educational officers; principals and vice-principals over other educational officers.

     (b)  All teachers and educational officers so exchanged by the State shall be furnished transportation to and from the state, country, or territory with which exchanged.

     (c)  No compensation shall be paid by the State to teachers and educational officers exchanged from any other state, country, or territory; provided that in any case where the exchanged teacher or educational officer sent from Hawaii becomes incapacitated or, for any reason, leaves the exchange position permanently, the department may pay the visiting exchange teacher or educational officer an amount not to exceed the salary rating of the teacher or educational officer on exchange from Hawaii.  The arrangement may continue until the end of the current school year or until such time as some satisfactory adjustment has been made."]

     SECTION 10.  Section 302A-614, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["[§302A-614]  Sabbatical leaves authorized.  (a)  The department may grant a year's or six months' sabbatical leave of absence to any teacher or educational officer who has served seven years in the public schools of the State.  The teacher or educational officer shall be guaranteed a return to the teacher's or educational officer's or an equivalent position at the expiration of the leave.

     (b)  In granting sabbatical leaves, the department shall consider, but not be limited to, the following:

     (1)  The nature and length of professional educational course work, research, or other professional activity approved by the department; and

     (2)  Applicant's seniority; provided that seniority shall not be the dominant factor in granting sabbatical leaves.

     (c)  The leave shall not be extended beyond one year and may not be repeated until after a period of seven additional years of service."]

     SECTION 11.  Section 302A-615, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["[§302A-615]  Pay while on sabbatical.  Teachers or educational officers on sabbatical leave shall be paid an amount equal to one-half of the salary to which the teacher or educational officer would be entitled if regularly reappointed.  The payments shall be made in regular monthly installments, the last two of which shall not be made until after the teacher or educational officer has returned to the teacher's or educational officer's position in the department.  A teacher or educational officer granted sabbatical leave may engage in any form of employment provided the conditions established in section 302A-616 are fulfilled."]

     SECTION 12.  Section 302A-616, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["§302A-616  Conditions of sabbatical leave of absence.  (a)  A teacher or educational officer on sabbatical leave shall devote one-half of the teacher's or educational officer's total leave to professional educational course work, research, or other professional activity approved by the department.  The department shall establish guidelines and criteria of professional educational course work, research, or other professional activity.  Before granting a sabbatical leave to a teacher or educational officer, the department and the teacher or educational officer shall enter into a contract, which shall provide for the following:

     (1)  That the teacher or educational officer agrees to return to serve in the department, the University of Hawaii, or any community college for a period of not less than two years within one year after termination of the teacher's or educational officer's sabbatical leave;

     (2)  That upon failure of the teacher or educational officer to comply with paragraph (1), the teacher or educational officer agrees to refund to the department all moneys received while on sabbatical leave;

     (3)  That upon failure of the teacher or educational officer to comply with paragraph (2), the teacher or educational officer agrees to pay for all costs incurred by the department in enforcing paragraph (2);

     (4)  That upon failure to comply with paragraph (1), the educational officer's Hawaii teaching certificate shall be canceled by the department; and

     (5)  Any other provisions deemed necessary by the department to be included in the contract.

     (b)  Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, this section shall be interpreted as though the term "certificate" read "license", as the latter terms are used in subpart D, and as circumstances require."]

     SECTION 13.  Section 302A-618, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["§302A-618  Classification, teachers.  (a)  The designation of any teacher to any given class shall be determined by the department in accordance with licensing requirements.

     (b)  Any teacher teaching technical school courses who is transferred to a community college under the jurisdiction of the board of regents of the University of Hawaii shall not suffer any loss of salary, seniority, prior service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefit or privilege.

     (c)  Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, this section shall be interpreted as though the terms "certification" and "certificate" read "licensing" and "license", as the latter terms are used in subpart D, and as circumstances require."]

     SECTION 14.  Section 302A-623, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["[§302A-623]  Salary ranges, educational officers.  Salary ranges for educational officer positions of the department shall be determined by the board based on the position classification/compensation plan approved by the board.  Salary ranges for educational officer positions shall be subject to the requirements of sections 302A-625 and 302A-626."]

     SECTION 15.  Section 302A-625, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["§302A-625  Educational officers' salary schedules.  The salary schedule for all educational officers of the department shall be negotiated pursuant to section 89-9."]

     SECTION 16.  Section 302A-629, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["[§302A-629]  Educational officers; demotion, transfers.  Any educational officer demoted to a position in a lower salary range shall continue to be paid the educational officer's previous salary for the first year of the educational officer's demotion, after which time the educational officer shall be compensated at the appropriate step in the salary range to which the educational officer has been demoted.  Unless otherwise provided by the department, any educational officer who is in a school in which the school rating has declined to a number that would place the educational officer in a lower classification shall continue to be paid at the educational officer's same salary range as long as the educational officer remains in the same position in the same school."]

     SECTION 17.  Section 302A-631, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["§302A-631  Educational officers with special assignments; principals and vice-principals at special needs schools.  (a)  Educational officers at the state, district, and school levels with special assignments, where their duties and responsibilities are greater than the duties and responsibilities falling within the scope of their ordinary duties and responsibilities, shall be provided additional benefits by the department.

     (b)  Principals and vice-principals at special needs schools shall be provided additional benefits by the department pursuant to section 302A-625.  As used in this subsection, "special needs schools" means those schools having a relatively large proportion of students exhibiting low performance, as indicated by such factors as low standardized achievement test scores, a high retention rate, and a low graduation rate for the area."]

     SECTION 18.  Section 302A-632, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["[§302A-632]  Additional benefits to certain [school personnel and] teachers.  The department shall provide additional benefits to grade level chairpersons, department heads, registrars, and librarians in schools.  The department shall also provide additional benefits to teachers assigned to schools in areas designated as limited environment communities by the department."]

     SECTION 19.  Section 302A-633.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["§302A-633.6  Allocations for coaches.  (a)  Persons who serve as coaches for school activities shall be paid a portion or all of their allocation for their services, which shall increase by the same percentage as specified in a collectively bargained agreement negotiated for bargaining unit (5) and in force for that time period.

     (b)  The base stipend for coaches shall be the compensation amounts for coaches for the 2000-2001 school year.  Effective July 1, 2003, the base stipend for all coaches of department of education activities shall be increased by fifty per cent for coaches who are employed by the department of education in a teaching capacity and by twenty-five per cent for coaches who are not employed by the department of education in a teaching capacity.

     (c)  Coaches covered by this section may choose to waive all or part of the coach's right or interest in the payment stipend.  If a coach chooses to waive all or part of the stipend, the department of budget and finance shall dispense funds in the amount of the waiver directly to the school to be used for the benefit of the coach's team.  No amount waived under this section shall be deemed to be or reported as income of the coach choosing to waive."]

     SECTION 20.  Section 302A-636, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["§302A-636  Cafeteria managers.  All cafeteria managers employed in the department shall be employed and have their salaries fixed in accordance with chapter 76 and the appropriate collective bargaining agreement, executive order, executive directive, or rule, and the monthly rates of basic compensation so determined shall be payable over a twelve-month period without proration or deduction for periods when school is not in session.  Cafeteria managers shall have the same vacation and sick leave allowances as school teachers and principals."]

     SECTION 21.  Section 302A-639, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["§302A-639  Houseparents; statewide center for students with hearing and visual impairments.  All houseparents at the statewide center for students with hearing and visual impairments employed in the department shall be employed and have their compensation adjusted according to chapter 76 and the appropriate collective bargaining agreement, executive order, executive directive, or rule, and the monthly rates of basic compensation so determined shall be payable for employment over a twelve-month period.  All houseparents shall be employed for twelve months on a full-time basis."]

     SECTION 22.  On or before July 1, 2012, any existing rule, ordinance, executive order, directive, or provision in a collective bargaining agreement that is not consistent with this Act shall be amended to ensure that it includes language repealed by this Act.

     SECTION 23.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 24.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2012.


 


 

Report Title:

Education; Collective Bargaining

 

Description:

Repeals various sections of chapter 302A, HRS, in order to leave employer-employee issues to be negotiated pursuant to the collective bargaining process.  (SD1)

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.