3.25—LICENSED PERSONNEL GRIEVANCES

The purpose of this policy is to provide an orderly process for employees to resolve, at the lowest possible level, their concerns related to the personnel policies or salary payments of this district.

Definitions
“Employee” means any person employed under a written contract by this school district.

“Grievance” means a claim or concern raised by an individual employee of this school district related to the interpretation, application, or claimed violation of the personnel policies, including salary schedules; federal laws and regulations; state laws and rules; or terms or conditions of employment. Other matters for which the means of resolution are provided or foreclosed by statute or administrative procedures shall not be considered grievances. Specifically, no grievance may be entertained against a supervisor for directing, instructing, reprimanding, or “writing up” an employee under his/her supervision. A group of employees who have the same grievance may file a group grievance.

“Group Grievance” means a grievance that may be filed as a group if all of the following criteria are met and the group’s issue is a subject that may be grieved under this policy’s definition of grievance:

More than one individual has an interest in the matter; and
The group has a well-defined common interest in the facts and/or circumstances of the grievance; and
The group has designated an employee spokesperson to meet with administration and/or the board; and
All individuals within the group are requesting the same relief.

Simply meeting all of the criteria above alone does not ensure that the subject presented by the group is eligible to be grieved.

“Immediate Supervisor” means the person immediately superior to an employee who directs and supervises the work of that employee.

“Working day” means any weekday other than a holiday whether or not the employee under the provisions of their contract is scheduled to work or whether they are currently under contract.

Process
Level One: An employee who believes that he/she has a grievance shall inform that employee’s immediate supervisor that the employee has a potential grievance. Except for a grievance concerning back pay, the employee must inform his/her immediate supervisor of the existence of a potential grievance within five (5) working days of the occurrence of the grievance. The supervisor shall schedule a conference with the employee to hear the employee’s potential grievance that shall be held no later than five (5) working days after the supervisor is informed of the existence of the potential grievance and offer the employee an opportunity to have a witness or representative who is not a member of the employee’s immediate family present at their conference. If the grievance is not advanced to Level Two within five (5) working days following the conference, the matter will be considered resolved and the employee shall have no further right with respect to said grievance.

If the grievance cannot be resolved by the immediate supervisor, the employee can advance the grievance to Level Two. To do this, the employee must complete the top half of the Level Two Grievance Form within five (5) working days of the discussion with the immediate supervisor, citing the manner in which the specific personnel policy was violated that has given rise to the grievance, and submit the Grievance Form to his/her immediate supervisor. The supervisor will have ten (10) working days to respond to the grievance using the bottom half of the Level Two Grievance Form which he/she will submit to the building principal or, in the event that the employee’s immediate supervisor is the building principal, the superintendent.

Level Two (when an appeal is to the building principal): Upon receipt of a Level Two Grievance Form, the building principal will have ten (10) working days to schedule a conference with the employee filing the grievance. The principal shall offer the employee an opportunity to have a witness or representative who is not a member of the employee’s immediate family present at their conference. After the conference, the principal will have ten (10) working days in which to deliver a written response to the grievance to the employee. If the grievance is not advanced to Level Three within five (5) working days from the date of the principal’s written response, the matter will be considered resolved and the employee shall have no further right with respect to said grievance.

Level Two (when an appeal is to the superintendent): Upon receipt of a Level Two Grievance Form, the superintendent will have ten (10) working days to schedule a conference with the employee filing the grievance. The superintendent shall offer the employee an opportunity to have a witness or representative who is not a member of the employee’s immediate family present at their conference. After the conference, the superintendent will have ten (10) working days in which to deliver a written response to the grievance to the employee.

Level Three: If the proper recipient of the Level Two Grievance was the building principal, and the employee remains unsatisfied with the written response to the grievance, the employee may advance the grievance to the superintendent by submitting a copy of the Level Two Grievance Form and the principal’s reply to the superintendent within five (5) working days of his/her receipt of the principal’s written reply. The superintendent will have ten (10) working days to schedule a conference with the employee filing the grievance. The superintendent shall offer the employee an opportunity to have a witness or representative who is not a member of the employee’s immediate family present at their conference. After the conference, the superintendent will have ten (10) working days in which to deliver a written response to the grievance to the employee.

Appeal to the Board of Directors: An employee who remains unsatisfied by the written response of the superintendent may appeal the superintendent’s decision to the Board of Directors within five (5) working days of his/her receipt of the Superintendent’s written response by submitting a written request for a Board hearing to the superintendent. If the grievance is not appealed to the Board of Directors within five (5) working days of his/her receipt of the superintendent’s written response, the matter will be considered resolved and the employee shall have no further right with respect to said grievance.

The school board will address the grievance at the next regular meeting of the school board unless the employee agrees in writing to an alternate date for the hearing. Based on a review of the Level Two Grievance Form and the superintendent’s reply, the board shall:

For a grievance filed as an individual, determine if the grievance, on its face, is a subject that may be grieved under district policy.
For a grievance that is filed as a group grievance, review the composition of the group and either:

Rule that the group has met the requirements to qualify as a group grievance and then determine whether the matter of the grievance is, on its face, a subject that may be grieved under District policy; or
Rule that the composition of the group does not meet the definition of a group grievance under District policy.

If the Board rules that the grievance, whether filed as an individual or as a group, is not a subject that may be grieved, the matter shall be considered closed. If the Board rules that the composition of the group does not meet the definition of a group grievance under District policy, employees who had filed a grievance as part of a group grievance that the Board ruled to not meet the policy’s definition of a group grievance may choose to subsequently file an individual grievance by starting with Level One of the process; in such cases, a grievance will be considered to be timely filed if the notification of the employee’s supervisor requirement under Level 1 is made within five (5) workdays of the Board meeting where the Board ruled that the proposed group grievance did not meet the policy’s definition of a group grievance. If multiple employees have filed individual grievances that are of the same nature so that they would meet the definition of a group grievance if they had been filed by a group, then the Board may consolidate the individual grievances that are of the same nature into a group grievance. If the Board consolidates individual grievances that are of the same nature into a group grievance, then the individuals whose grievances were consolidated shall select one (1) or more individuals from among those whose grievances were consolidated to represent the group grievance holders before the Board.

If the Board rules the grievance to be a subject that may be grieved they shall immediately commence a hearing on the grievance. All parties have the right to representation at the appeal hearing by a person of their own choosing except that no party shall be represented by an individual who is a member of the employee’s immediate family. The employee shall have no less than ninety (90) minutes to present his/her grievance unless a shorter period is agreed to by the employee and both parties shall have the opportunity to present and question witnesses. The hearing shall be open to the public unless the employee requests a private hearing. If the hearing is open to the public, the parent or guardian of any student under the age of eighteen (18) years who gives testimony may elect to have the student’s testimony given in a closed session. At the conclusion of the hearing, if the hearing was closed, the Board of Directors may excuse all parties except board members and deliberate, by themselves, on the hearing. At the conclusion of an open hearing, board deliberations shall also be in open session unless the board is deliberating the employment, appointment, promotion, demotion, disciplining, or resignation of the employee. A decision on the grievance shall be announced no later than the next regular board meeting.

Records
Records related to grievances will be filed separately and will not be kept in, or made part of, the personnel file of any employee.

Reprisals
No reprisals of any kind will be taken or tolerated against any employee because he/she has filed or advanced a grievance under this policy.

Legal References: A.C.A. § 6-17-208, 210

Date Adopted: May 11, 2009
Last Revised: May 18, 2023