1. Mason County Schools August 11, 2016
Policy 5000 Training
Mason County Schools
August 11, 2016

2. Filling Regular Professional Vacancies
One set of qualification criteria
9 factors to be considered when filling professional vacancies other than classroom teachers
11 factors to be considered when filling classroom teacher positions.

3. Regardless of whether 9 or 11 factors are considered
School officials must be able to show that all applicable factors were, indeed, considered for the candidates
The process must be fair and untainted
The Board may have to defend the hiring of one candidate over another, which involves a head-to-head comparison

4. Regardless of whether 9 or 11 factors are considered:
Hiring decisions are judged based upon the information in hand at the time of the decision
(No “piling on”)
Major prerequisites for a job are highly suspect when announced only after a grievance is filed
Negative aspects of a candidate’s performance cannot be used unless brought to the employee’s attention through regularly performed evaluations.

5. Regardless of whether 9 or 11 factors are considered:
A failure to accept the conclusions of the assessor(s) of qualifications, with whom the greatest opportunity to accurately judge credentials rests, is a warning sign that the ultimate selection may have been arbitrary and capricious
-But a board may reject a name for valid reasons
Where assessments based on interviews or personal observations significantly impacted the selection, those judgements will be closely examined and weighed against objective facts

6. Qualification Criteria
1. Appropriate certification, licensure or both
2. Amount of experience relevant to the position or, in the case of a classroom teaching position, the amount of teaching experience in the required certification area
3. The amount of course work, degree level or both in the relevant field and degree level generally
4. Academic Achievement

7. Qualification Criteria
5. In the case of a classroom teaching position or the position of principal, certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
6. Specialized training relevant to the performance of the duties of the job
7. Past performance evaluations conducted pursuant to W. Va. Code 18A-2-12 and 18A-3C-2 or, in the case of a classroom teacher, past evaluations of the applicant’s performance in the teaching profession

8. Qualification Criteria
8. Seniority
9. Other measures or indicators upon which the relative qualifications of the applicant may fairly be judged
10. In the case of a classroom teaching position, the recommendation of the principal of the school at which the applicant will be performing a majority of his or her duties

9. Qualification Criteria
11. In the case of a classroom teaching position, the recommendation, if any, resulting from the process established pursuant to the provisions of the 18-5A-5 by the faculty senate of the school at which the employee will be performing a majority of his or her duties

10. Qualification Criteria - Weighting
Classroom teaching positions:
-When one or more permanently employed instructional personnel apply:
-When no permanently employed instructional personnel apply:
All other professional positions:
Sample matrices illustrate these rules

11. Qualification Criteria
1. Appropriate certification, licensure or both
-Yes or no?
-Permits and out of field authorizations may qualify

12. Qualification Criteria
2. Amount of experience relevant to the position or, in the case of a classroom teaching position, the amount of teaching experience in the required certification area
- This is a quantity
- It is not limited to regular full-time experience
It is not limited to experience teaching for the school board in question
It is not limited to experience teaching in public school
The experience must have been earned while certified or licensed to teach

13. Qualification Criteria
3. The amount of course work, degree level or both in the relevant field and degree level generally
The relevant field is likely identified in the posting
School boards may exercise reasonable discretion in determining relevancy and the subject area
Count Bachelors, Master, and Doctoral degrees
Plus hours are not a degree level

14. Qualification Criteria
4. Academic achievement
- Criteria must be established

15. Qualification Criteria
Yes or no?
5. In the case of a classroom teaching position or the position of principal certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

16. Qualification Criteria
6. Specialized training relevant to the performance of the duties of the job
The specialized training need not be stated in the job description
- Place burden on applicant to identify training considered relevant

17. Qualification Criteria
7. Past performance evaluations conducted pursuant to W. Va. Code 18A-2-12 and 18A-3C-2 or, in the case of a classroom teacher, past evaluations of the applicant’s performance in the teaching profession
No backward time limitation, except that evaluations pre-dating 18A2-12 are not counted for non-classroom teacher vacancies
No requirement that only “overall” ratings be considered
The evaluations must be Policy 5310 evaluations for non-classroom teacher vacancies
They may be from another WV public school system

18. Qualification Criteria
8. Seniority
This is a quantity
Only seniority earned by working for the hiring school board counts
Substitutes who work more than 133 days in any school year earn seniority exclusively for the purpose of applying for employment under this factor
Some applicants who substituted for the school system before September of may have additional seniority to be considered
RIF’d teachers on the preferred recall list have seniority with which to compete

19. Qualification Criteria
9. Other measures or indicators upon which the relative qualifications of the applicant may fairly be judged
The other measures or indicators must be related to qualifications
The interview may be used, but only as to relevant information
Documented prior discipline may be considered
Reference information may be considered

20. Qualification Criteria
10. In the case of a classroom teaching positon, the recommendation of the principal of the school at which the applicant will be performing a majority of his or her duties
Principal must consider factors 1-9

21. Qualification Criteria
11. In the case of a classroom teaching position, the recommendation, if any resulting from the process established pursuant to the provisions of 18A-5A-5 by the faulty senate of the school at which the employee will be performing a majority of his or her duties.
The full faculty senate does not make a recommendation. The senate must choose one of 4 processes under Policy 5000
Faculty senate process must consider factors 1-9
Faculty senate process need not assign any particular weight to factors in formulating a recommendation

22. Qualification Criteria
Consider each factor
Give the factors appropriate weight
Break overall ties on the basis of qualifications
In cases where factors 1-9 must be equally weighted and factors 10 and 11 double weighted, beware point systems that deviate from awards of a single point for factors 1-9 and two points each for factors

23. Other Issues in Filling Vacancies
Applicants on the preferred recall list
Anticipated certification
Application and interview questions
Interview consistency
The “stay put rules: restrictions on transferring to another job during the semester/school year (W. Va. Code 18A-2-7b)