NRS391.31216. Status of probationary employees during validation study.

      1.  The provisions of this section apply to probationary employees who are employed by a school district that conducts evaluations pursuant to NRS 391.31214 and 391.31215 for the 2013-2014 school year or the 2014-2015 school year, or both, for each school year that the school district conducts evaluations pursuant to those sections. 

      2.  A probationary employee is employed on a contract basis for three 1-year periods and has no right to employment after any of the three probationary contract years.

      3.  The board shall notify each probationary employee in writing on or before May 1 of the first, second and third school years of the employee’s probationary period, as appropriate, whether the employee is to be reemployed for the second or third year of the probationary period or for the fourth school year as a postprobationary employee. Failure of the board to notify the probationary employee in writing on or before May 1 in the first or second year of the probationary period does not entitle the employee to postprobationary status. The employee must advise the board in writing on or before May 10 of the first, second or third year of the employee’s probationary period, as appropriate, of the employee’s acceptance of reemployment. If a probationary employee is assigned to a school that operates all year, the board shall notify the employee in writing, in the first, second and third years of the employee’s probationary period, not later than 45 days before his or her last day of work for the year under his or her contract whether the employee is to be reemployed for the second or third year of the probationary period or for the fourth school year as a postprobationary employee. Failure of the board to notify a probationary employee in writing within the prescribed period in the first or second year of the probationary period does not entitle the employee to postprobationary status. The employee must advise the board in writing within 10 days after the date of notification of his or her acceptance or rejection of reemployment for another year. Failure to advise the board of the employee’s acceptance of reemployment pursuant to this subsection constitutes rejection of the contract.

      4.  A probationary employee who:

      (a) Completes a 3-year probationary period;

      (b) Receives a designation of “satisfactory” on each of his or her performance evaluations for 2 consecutive school years; and

      (c) Receives a notice of reemployment from the school district in the third year of the employee’s probationary period,

Ê is entitled to be a postprobationary employee in the ensuing year of employment.

      5.  If a probationary employee is notified that the employee will not be reemployed for the school year following the 3-year probationary period, his or her employment ends on the last day of the current school year. The notice that the employee will not be reemployed must include a statement of the reasons for that decision.

      6.  A new employee who is employed as an administrator or a postprobationary teacher who is employed as an administrator shall be deemed to be a probationary employee for the purposes of this section and must serve a 3-year probationary period as an administrator in accordance with the provisions of this section. If:

      (a) A postprobationary teacher who is an administrator is not reemployed as an administrator after any year of his or her probationary period; and

      (b) There is a position as a teacher available for the ensuing school year in the school district in which the person is employed,

Ê the board of trustees of the school district shall, on or before May 1, offer the person a contract as a teacher for the ensuing school year. The person may accept the contract in writing on or before May 10. If the person fails to accept the contract as a teacher, the person shall be deemed to have rejected the offer of a contract as a teacher.

      7.  An administrator who has completed his or her probationary period pursuant to subsection 6 and is thereafter promoted to the position of principal must serve an additional probationary period of 1 year in the position of principal. If an administrator is promoted to the position of principal before completion of his or her probationary period pursuant to subsection 6, the administrator must serve the remainder of his or her probationary period pursuant to subsection 6 or an additional probationary period of 1 year in the position of principal, whichever is longer. If the administrator serving the additional probationary period is not reemployed as a principal after the expiration of the probationary period or additional probationary period, as applicable, the board of trustees of the school district in which the person is employed shall, on or before May 1, offer the person a contract for the ensuing school year for the administrative position in which the person attained postprobationary status. The person may accept the contract in writing on or before May 10. If the person fails to accept such a contract, the person shall be deemed to have rejected the offer of employment.

      8.  If a written evaluation of a probationary teacher or probationary administrator designates the overall performance of the teacher or administrator as “unsatisfactory”:

      (a) The written evaluation must include the following statement: “Please be advised that, pursuant to Nevada law, your contract may not be renewed for the next school year. If you receive an ‘unsatisfactory’ evaluation on the first or second evaluation, or both evaluations for this school year, and if you have another evaluation remaining this school year, you may request that the evaluation be conducted by another administrator. You may also request, to the administrator who conducted the evaluation, reasonable assistance in correcting the deficiencies reported in the evaluation for which you request assistance, and upon such request, a reasonable effort will be made to assist you in correcting those deficiencies.”

      (b) The probationary teacher or probationary administrator, as applicable, must acknowledge in writing that he or she has received and understands the statement described in paragraph (a).

      9.  If a probationary teacher or probationary administrator requests that his or her next evaluation be conducted by another administrator in accordance with the notice required by subsection 8, the administrator conducting the evaluation must be:

      (a) Employed by the school district or, if the school district has five or fewer administrators, employed by another school district in this State; and

      (b) Selected by the probationary teacher or probationary administrator, as applicable, from a list of three candidates submitted by the superintendent.

      10.  If a probationary teacher or probationary administrator requests assistance in correcting deficiencies reported in his or her evaluation, the administrator who conducted the evaluation shall ensure that a reasonable effort is made to assist the probationary teacher or probationary administrator in correcting those deficiencies.

      11.  If a probationary employee receives notice that he or she will be dismissed before the completion of the current school year, the probationary employee may request an expedited hearing pursuant to the Expedited Labor Arbitration Procedures established by the American Arbitration Association or its successor organization.

      (Added to NRS by 2013, 3165)