THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY COX, BAKER, BOYD, CUTLER, DENLINGER, EVERETT, GODSHALL, GROVE, MAJOR, MILLER, MOUL, MUSTIO, RAPP, ROCK, SWANGER AND TALLMAN, APRIL 7, 2011

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, APRIL 7, 2011  

AN ACT

Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An

act relating to the public school system, including certain

provisions applicable as well to private and parochial

schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the

laws relating thereto," further providing for transfer of

programs and classes.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 1113 of the act of March 10, 1949

(P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949,

amended August 5, 1991 (P.L.219, No.25), June 22, 2001 (P.L.530,

No.35) and July 20, 2007 (P.L.278, No.45), is amended to read:

Section 1113.  Transferred Programs and Classes.--(a)  When a

program or class is transferred as a unit from one or more

school entities to another school entity or entities,

professional employes who were assigned to the class or program

immediately prior to the transfer and are classified as teachers

as defined in section 1141(1) and are suspended as a result of

the transfer and who are properly certificated shall be offered

[employment in the program or class by the receiving entity or

entities when services of a professional employe are needed to

sustain the program or class transferred, as long as there is no

suspended professional employe in the receiving entity who is

properly certificated to fill the position in the transferred

class or program] first consideration for employment by the

receiving entity or entities when services of a professional

employe are needed to sustain the program or class transferred

as long as there is no suspended professional employe in the

receiving entity who is properly certificated to fill the

position in the transferred class or program. The terms of

employment of a person employed by the receiving entity who had

been employed in the transferred program or class immediately

prior to the transfer shall be subject to the collective

bargaining agreement between the receiving school entity and the

employe representative of the receiving school entity.

[(b)  Transferred professional employes shall be credited by

the receiving entity only for their sick leave accumulated in

the sending entity and also for their years of service in the

sending entity, the latter for purposes of sabbatical leave

eligibility and placement in the salary schedule: Provided,

however, That such employes shall not utilize the sabbatical

leave until they have taught in the receiving entity for a

period of three (3) years. Such employes shall transfer their

accrued seniority in the area of certification required for the

transferred program or class only.

(b.1)  Professional employes who are classified as teachers

and who are not transferred with the classes to which they are

assigned or who have received a formal notice of suspension

shall form a pool of employes within the school entity. No new

professional employe who is classified as a teacher shall be

employed by a school entity assuming program responsibility for

transferred students while there is:

(1)  a properly certificated professional employe who is

classified as a teacher suspended in the receiving entity; or

(2)  if no person is qualified under clause (1), a properly

certificated member of the school entity pool who is willing to

accept employment with the school entity assuming program

responsibility for transferred students. Members of the pool

shall have the right to refuse employment offers from such

school entity and remain in the pool. For purposes of sections

401 and 402 of the act of December 5, 1936 (2nd Sp.Sess., 1937

P.L.2897, No.1), known as the "Unemployment Compensation Law,"

an employer policy is hereby established under which members of

the pool are not required to accept employment offers from the

school entity assuming program responsibility for transferred

students.

(b.2)  (1)  The following shall apply to professional and

temporary professional employes of a distressed school district

in which pupils have been reassigned to another school district

pursuant to section 1607.1:

(i)  The distressed school district shall create a pool

comprised of the professional and temporary professional

employes who have received formal notice of suspension from the

distressed school district as a result of the curtailment of the

high school program.

(ii)  Employes in the pool created under subclause (i) shall

be offered employment by any school district with a border that

is no more than three miles from a border of a distressed school

district, as set forth in section 1607.1(a)(1), whenever that

school district has a vacancy for a position that an employe in

the pool is certified to fill, provided that no employe of the

school district in which the vacancy exists, including a

suspended or demoted employe, has a right to such vacancy under

this act or the collective bargaining agreement of that school

district.

(iii)  No new employe shall be hired by any school district

with a border that is three miles or less from a border of a

distressed school district until the position has been offered,

in order of seniority, to all properly certified members of the

pool created under subclause (i).

(2)  Employes hired from the pool as provided under this

subsection shall be credited by the hiring school district for

all sick leave accumulated in the distressed school district and

shall be credited for years of service in the distressed school

district for purposes of salary schedule placement. Temporary

professional and professional employes shall further be credited

for their years of service in the distressed school district for

purposes of sabbatical leave eligibility, suspension and

realignment rights and eligibility for any retirement incentives

or severance payments in a hiring school district.

(c)  Nothing contained in subsections (a) and (b.1) shall be

construed to supersede or preempt any provision of a collective

bargaining agreement in effect on February 4, 1982, and

negotiated by a school entity and an exclusive representative of

the employes in accordance with the act of July 23, 1970

(P.L.563, No.195), known as the "Public Employe Relations Act."

(d)  (1)  As used in this section, the term "school entity"

or "school entities" shall mean an intermediate unit and its

participating school districts or an area vocational-technical

school and its sending school districts.

(2)  As used in this section, the term "unit" shall mean a

program or class whose membership falls within the minimum and

maximum class size as defined in Department of Education

standards.]

Section 2.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.