Arizona Laws 15-538.01. Offer of contract to continuing teacher; definition
A. The governing board shall offer to each continuing teacher a contract renewal for the next ensuing school year unless the governing board, a member of the board acting on behalf of the board or the superintendent of the school district gives notice to the teacher of the board’s intent not to offer a contract and to dismiss the teacher as provided in section 15-539.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 15-538.01
- Certificated teacher: means a person who holds a certificate from the state board of education to work in the schools of this state and who is employed under contract in a school district in a position that requires certification except a psychologist or an administrator who devotes at least fifty percent of the person's time to classroom teaching. See Arizona Laws 15-501
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Governing board: means the governing board of a school district or a county school superintendent in the case of accommodation schools located in such a county. See Arizona Laws 15-501
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Performance classifications: means the performance classifications adopted by the governing board. See Arizona Laws 15-501
- School district: means a political subdivision of this state with geographic boundaries organized for the purpose of the administration, support and maintenance of the public schools or an accommodation school. See Arizona Laws 15-101
- Superintendent: means the superintendent of schools of a school district. See Arizona Laws 15-501
- United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
B. The teacher’s acceptance of the contract must be indicated within fifteen business days from the date of the teacher’s receipt of the written contract or the offer of a contract is revoked. Receipt under this subsection will be deemed to have occurred when the written contract is personally delivered, placed in the teacher’s school provided mailbox, including electronic mail, or two days after being placed in a United States postal service mailbox. The teacher accepts the contract by signing the contract and returning it to the governing board or by making a written instrument that accepts the terms of the contract and delivering it to the governing board. If the written instrument includes terms in addition to the terms of the contract offered by the board, the teacher fails to accept the contract.
C. A certificated teacher who is currently a continuing teacher as defined in this section but who has been designated after an evaluation conducted according to the requirements pursuant to section 15-537 in the lowest performance classification for the current school year shall become a probationary teacher as defined in section 15-536 for the subsequent school year and shall remain a probationary teacher until that teacher’s performance classification is designated in either of the two highest performance classifications.
D. For the purposes of this section, "continuing teacher" means a certificated teacher who has been and is currently employed by the school district for the major portion of three consecutive school years and who has not been designated in the lowest performance classification for the previous school year or who has not regained continuing status after being designated as a probationary teacher pursuant to subsection C of this section.