Board Administrative Rule

Attachment #1

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BOARD ADMINISTRATIVE RULE Return to "G" Rules: Title | Return to "G" Rules: Index

8/13/08 Discipline, Suspension, and Dismissal of Staff GCQF 9/9/09

RATIONALE/OBJECTIVE:

The Cobb County School District (District) expects its employees to protect the health, safety and general welfare of students and fellow employees. The District seeks to ensure the citizens of Cobb County a degree of accountability within the education profession and to help define conduct justifying disciplinary action.

Employee discipline seeks to:

 Prevent reoccurrences of inappropriate employee conduct;  Remediate poor job performance;  Address violations of the Code of Ethics for Educators promulgated by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (Administrative Rule GBEA [Staff Ethics]).

A. GUIDELINES: 1. All administrators will utilize the Policy of Progressive Discipline (Section B below) adopted by the Board of Education (Board) in the treatment of all employees under their supervision. Permission must be obtained from the Office of Employee Relations prior to an administrator making an exception to the Policy of Progressive Discipline. Failure to obtain such prior permission is subject to disciplinary action. 2. All employees shall be allowed to have an individual of their choosing, who is not an attorney, present in any Disciplinary Conference. A Disciplinary Conference is described as the following: a. Any conference held, whether requested by the administrator or the employee, related to a Letter of Direction Suspension Without Pay, Termination, Nonrenewal or placement on a Professional Development Plan (PDP). b. Any conference designated as a Disciplinary Conference by an administrator. The administrator must, except in cases involving extraordinary circumstances, provide the employee advance notice of the conference date. c. Employees may audio tape record a disciplinary Conference in lieu of having a representative (see Administrative Rule CFIA [Monitoring- Recording Staff and Students]) . LINK NEEDED 3. An administrator should not schedule a Verbal Counseling or Disciplinary Meeting with an employee at any level during the lunch time of the employee, except under extraordinary circumstances. 4. An employee who receives a letter of direction from their supervisor may submit a written rebuttal letter to the supervisor within ten (10) business

of 3 days. B. POLICY OF PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE: The District utilizes progressive discipline in which disciplinary actions normally follow a gradually escalating path. However, depending on the seriousness of the offense, more than one Progressive Discipline Action may occur simultaneously or it may be determined

that progressive discipline is not appropriate and any disciplinary action may be imposed.

The action taken should be consistent with precedent in similar situations, appropriate to the offense, and documented. An employee who holds a certificate with the Georgia Professional Standards Commission may be reported at any time for a violation of the Code of Ethics for Educators. Except in rare cases involving prior approval from Human Resources, an employee should be given a minimum of one formal written warning prior to being placed on a PDP, and the employee should be given a reasonable opportunity for remediation prior to the initiation of a PDP. Listed below is a chart of the Policy of Progressive Discipline:

Local Site District Level Progressive Progressive Discipline Actions Disciplinary Actions

Letter of Reprimand Verbal from the Counseling/Verbal Superintendent (in Warning certain cases)

↓ ↓

Suspension Without Written Warning Pay

↓ ↓

Demotion Letter of Concern (in certain cases)

↓ ↓

Final Warning/ Letter of Direction Intent to Terminate Letter

↓ ↓

of 3 Placement on a Professional Employment Development Plan Termination or (PDP) and/or Nonrenewal Referral of case to Human Resources

Adopted: 8/13/08 Revised: 9/9/09