49-5-511 - Dismissal or suspension of teachers Causes for dismissal Position reduction Written notice Preferred list for employment Convictions License revocation.
49-5-511. Dismissal or suspension of teachers Causes for dismissal Position reduction Written notice Preferred list for employment Convictions License revocation.
(a) (1) No teacher shall be dismissed or suspended except as provided in this part.
(2) The causes for which a teacher may be dismissed are as follows: incompetence, inefficiency, neglect of duty, unprofessional conduct and insubordination, as defined in § 49-5-501.
(3) A director of schools may suspend a teacher at any time that may seem necessary, pending investigation or final disposition of a case before the board or an appeal. If vindicated or reinstated, the teacher shall be paid the full salary for the period during which the teacher was suspended.
(4) When charges are made to the board of education against a teacher, charging the teacher with offenses that would justify dismissal of the teacher under the terms of this part, the charges shall be made in writing, specifically stating the offenses that are charged, and shall be signed by the party or parties making the charges.
(5) If, in the opinion of the board, charges are of such a nature as to warrant the dismissal of the teacher, the director of schools shall give the teacher a written notice of this decision, together with a copy of the charges and a copy of a form, which shall be provided by the commissioner of education, advising the teacher as to the teacher's legal duties, rights and recourse under the terms of this part.
(b) (1) When it becomes necessary to reduce the number of teaching positions or nonlicensed positions in the system because of a decrease in enrollment or for other good reasons, the board shall be empowered to dismiss such teachers or nonlicensed employees as may be necessary.
(2) The board shall give the teacher or nonlicensed employee written notice of dismissal explaining fully the circumstances or conditions making the dismissal necessary.
(3) A tenured teacher who has been dismissed because of abolition of a position shall be placed on a preferred list for reemployment in the first vacancy the teacher is qualified by training and experience to fill. Nothing in this subsection (b) shall be construed to deprive the director of schools of the power to determine the fitness of the teacher for reemployment in such vacancy on the basis of the director of schools evaluation of the teacher's competence, compatibility and suitability to properly discharge the duties required in the vacancy considered in the light of the best interest of the students in the school where the vacancy exists; provided, however, that the action shall be in accordance with board policy and any locally negotiated agreement.
(4) The right to remain on the preferred list for employment shall remain in effect until:
(A) The teacher refuses a bona fide offer of reemployment for a comparable position within the LEA; or
(B) The director, after the teacher has been on the preferred list for reemployment for two (2) consecutive years, notifies the teacher in writing by April 1 of the second consecutive year that the teacher's name will be removed from the list. A written notification to the teacher's last known address shall meet the requirements of the notification. The teacher receiving the notification shall retain the right to stay on the preferred list for reemployment by notifying the director of schools in writing by April 15 of each subsequent year of the desire to stay on the preferred list for reemployment.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding subsection (a), but subject to the appeal and review provisions of §§ 49-5-512 and 49-5-513, any teacher convicted of a felony listed in § 40-35-501(i)(2) or convicted of an offense listed in § 39-17-417 shall be immediately suspended, and dismissed subject to subdivision (c)(2).
(2) If the dismissal of the teacher is upheld in the board and court reviews provided for in §§ 49-5-512 and 49-5-513, the director shall notify in writing the commissioner of education who shall begin licensure revocation proceedings under applicable rules of the state board of education.
[Acts 1951, ch. 76, §§ 2, 6, 7, 15 (Williams, §§ 2345.2, 2345.6, 2345.7, 2345.15); Acts 1955, ch. 343, § 2; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), §§ 49-1410, 49-1412 49-1415; Acts 1989, ch. 197, § 1; 1990, ch. 948, § 23; 1999, ch. 43, § 1; 2001, ch. 197, § 1; 2002, ch. 535, § 1; 2008, ch. 612, §§ 1-3.]