House File 859 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 859 BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 217) A BILL FOR An Act requiring school districts, charter schools, and 1 innovation zone schools to adopt policies related to 2 carrying out a reduction in force. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 2656HV (1) 91 jda/jh

H.F. 859 Section 1. Section 256E.7, subsection 2, Code 2025, is 1 amended by adding the following new paragraph: 2 NEW PARAGRAPH . 0r. Be subject to and comply with the 3 requirements of section 279.87 relating to the adoption and 4 publication of a policy related to carrying out a reduction in 5 force in the same manner as a school district. 6 Sec. 2. Section 256F.4, subsection 2, Code 2025, is amended 7 by adding the following new paragraph: 8 NEW PARAGRAPH . 0p. Be subject to and comply with the 9 requirements of section 279.87 relating to the adoption and 10 publication of a policy related to carrying out a reduction in 11 force in the same manner as a school district. 12 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 279.87 Reduction in force policies. 13 1. As used in this section: 14 a. “Administrative staff member” means a school 15 district employee who does not hold a license, certificate, 16 authorization, or statement of recognition issued by the board 17 of educational examiners. 18 b. “Practitioner” means a school district employee who is 19 an administrator, teacher, or other professional licensed by 20 the board of educational examiners, including an individual who 21 holds a statement of professional recognition, who provides 22 educational assistance to students. 23 c. “Practitioner performance” means an assessment of the 24 quality of the practitioner that is measured using factors that 25 include all of the following: 26 (1) Student academic performance. 27 (2) Student growth measures. 28 (3) Performance evaluations. 29 d. “Reduction in force” means the termination of a 30 practitioner’s employment due to economic reasons that include 31 any of the following: 32 (1) Decreased funding. 33 (2) Decreased enrollment, including enrollment in a 34 particular program, grade, or attendance center. 35 -1- LSB 2656HV (1) 91 jda/jh 1/ 4

H.F. 859 (3) The closure or reorganization of schools in the school 1 district. 2 2. The board of directors of each school district shall 3 adopt a policy related to carrying out a reduction in force 4 and publish the policy on the school district’s internet site 5 within ten days after adoption. The policy must satisfy all 6 of the following requirements: 7 a. Require the board of directors of the school district to 8 consider whether to terminate the employment of administrative 9 staff members prior to carrying out a reduction in force. 10 b. Require the board of directors of the school district to 11 use practitioner performance as the sole factor or a primary 12 factor when carrying out a reduction in force. 13 c. Identify the factor or factors that are used to measure 14 practitioner performance for purposes of carrying out a 15 reduction in force, and the weight the board of directors of 16 the school district assigns to each factor, if more than one 17 factor is used. 18 d. Prohibit the board of directors of the school district 19 from using a practitioner’s seniority or tenure as the sole 20 factor or a primary factor when carrying out a reduction in 21 force. 22 e. Include a timeline for notifying practitioners who may 23 be affected by a reduction in force and practitioners whose 24 employment has been terminated due to a reduction in force. 25 f. Include a description of any grievance procedures 26 available to a practitioner whose employment is terminated due 27 to a reduction in force, including any rights available to the 28 practitioner under sections 279.15, 279.16, 279.18, 279.24, 29 279.25, and 279.27, as applicable. 30 EXPLANATION 31 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 32 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 33 This bill requires school districts, charter schools, and 34 innovation zone schools to adopt policies related to carrying 35 -2- LSB 2656HV (1) 91 jda/jh 2/ 4

H.F. 859 out a reduction in force. 1 The bill defines “administrative staff member” as a 2 school employee who does not hold a license, certificate, 3 authorization, or statement of recognition issued by the 4 board of educational examiners (BOEE). The bill defines 5 “practitioner” as a school employee who is an administrator, 6 teacher, or other professional licensed by the BOEE who 7 provides educational assistance to students. The bill also 8 defines “practitioner performance” as an assessment of the 9 quality of the practitioner that is measured using factors 10 that include student academic performance, student growth 11 measures, and performance evaluations. Additionally, the 12 bill defines “reduction in force” as the termination of a 13 practitioner’s employment due to economic reasons that include 14 decreased funding, decreased enrollment, and the closure or 15 reorganization of schools in the school system. 16 The bill requires schools to adopt a policy related to 17 carrying out a reduction in force and publish the policy on 18 the school’s internet site within 10 days after adoption. 19 The policy must require the school to consider whether to 20 terminate the employment of administrative staff members prior 21 to carrying out a reduction in force. The policy must also 22 require the school to use practitioner performance as the sole 23 factor or a primary factor when carrying out a reduction in 24 force. Additionally, the policy must identify the factor or 25 factors that are used to measure practitioner performance for 26 purposes of carrying out a reduction in force. The policy must 27 prohibit the school from using a practitioner’s seniority or 28 tenure as the sole factor or a primary factor when carrying out 29 a reduction in force. Also, the policy must include a timeline 30 for notifying practitioners who may be affected by a reduction 31 in force and practitioners whose employment has been terminated 32 due to a reduction in force. Finally, the policy must include 33 a description of any grievance procedures available to a 34 practitioner whose employment is terminated due to a reduction 35 -3- LSB 2656HV (1) 91 jda/jh 3/ 4

H.F. 859 in force. 1 -4- LSB 2656HV (1) 91 jda/jh 4/ 4