On December 10th, the State Board of Education Certification (SBEC) adopted updated rules for contract abandonment and corresponding sanctions. As a quick review, the administrative rules proposed by SBEC go way beyond the call of the original legislation (HB 2519).
Included in the amended rules, SBEC redefined the term "mitigating factors" to include "a change in campus assignment," "a change in base pay," or a classroom situation that may "reasonably pose an immediate threat of significant physical harm to the educator." Further, all mitigating factors shall (rather than the previous "may") be considered in determining appropriate sanctions.
BCEC submitted feedback about the proposed rules (found here) along with 88 other state organizations opposing the change and requesting that SBEC stick to the legislative intent of HB 2519. Unfortunately, SBEC did adopt the rules and only made one change - striking the "change in classroom assignment" addition to mitigating factors.
The SBOE must approve these rules before they are effective. SBOE is set to approve these rules at the end of January. BCEC will submit a letter to our SBOE representatives to ensure they know our concerns with the new rules. I will send out a draft letter via email for you all to review before releasing the letter.
Please let me know if you have any questions.