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2015 Op. Miss. Att'y Gen. [1] (2015)

handle is hein.sag/sagms0088 and id is 1 raw text is: Mississippi Attorney General Opinions Willie Griffin Office of the Attorney General February 6, 2015 Office of the Attorney General State of Mississippi *1 Opinion No. 2014-00306 *1 February 6, 2015 Re: Request for Opinion of Status of Part-Time Licensed Retirees *1 Willie Griffin *1 Attorney at Law *1 P.O. Box 189 *1 Greenville, MS 38702-0189 Dear Mr. Griffin: *1 Attorney General Jim Hood has received your opinion request on behalf of the West Bolivar Consolidated School District and has assigned it to me for research and reply. Issues Presented *1 Your question is: *1 Whether or not the licensed retirees employed part-time meet the definition of licensed employees under Miss. Code Ann. Section 37-9- 105 and are covered by Education Employment Procedures Law (EEPL). Response *1 Licensed educators who are issued written contracts in accordance with Miss. Code Ann. Sections 37-9-17 and 37-9-23 and who meet statutory time of employment requirements should be considered employees for the purposes of EEPL, regardless of their status as retirees and that they work part-time. However, licensed educators who work on a casual basis without written contracts per Section 37-9-17 and 37- 9-23 would not be considered employees for the purposes of EEPL. Applicable Law and Discussion *1 Per Miss. Code Ann. Section 37-9-17, certain licensed public school educators (educators) are employed by contracts executed by the local superintendent of schools with the recommendation of the school principal and approval of the local school board. Educator contracts shall be in forms as prescribed by the State Board of Education. Miss. Code Ann. Section 37-9-23. Educators may be employed for less than a full school year (187 days) if the contract states the exact period of time the person is to be employed. Miss. Code Ann. Section 37-9-24. Educator contracts are typically for one school year, although such contracts may be for up to a period not exceeding four (4) scholastic years. Miss. Code Ann. Section 37-9-25. In order to be continuously employed, an educator's contract must be renewed for each period of employment. The EEPL, codified at Miss. Code Ann. Section 37-9-101, et seq., establishes procedures relating to notice and the opportunity to be heard that school districts must follow when nonrenewing certain educators. *1 The EEPL applies to teachers and other licensed educational professionals meeting the definition of employee set out in Miss. Code Ann. Section 37-9-103. An employee includes: *1 (a) Any teacher, principal, superintendent or other professional personnel employed by the local school district for a continuous period of two (2) years with that district and required to have a valid license issued by the State Department of Education as a prerequisite of employment; or *1 (b) Any teacher, principal, superintendent or other professional personnel who has completed a continuous period of two (2) years of employment in a Mississippi public school district and one (1) full year of employment with the school district of current employment, and who is required to have a valid license issued by the State Department of Education as a prerequisite of employment. *2 Consequently, for the purposes of EEPL, an educator must be licensed and employed in a position requiring such licensure. Further, employment must be by contract in accordance with Section 37-9-17, and the contract must be in the form prescribed by the State Board of Education per Section 37-9-23. As an additional requirement, Section 37-9-103 specifies one of two different periods of employment that must be fulfilled in order for the educator to be considered an employee. *2 Section 37-9-1 03(a) applies to educators who have been employed by the local school district for a continuous period of two (2) years with that district... We believe there is no distinction in Subsection (a) as to whether the two (2) years' employment is part-time or full-time. So long as an otherwise qualified educator has been employed with his or her current district for two (2) continuous years by an employment

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