SAI Annual
Conference 2014
Matt Carver, J.D., Legal Services Director
tel - 515.267.1115
fax - 515.267.1066
4/8/2015
1
Updated Guidance on Student Immunizations

April 9, 2014 Memo from Iowa Department of Public Health
Iowa Code 139A.8 requires all students enrolling in an Iowa school to
submit proof of immunizations to the admitting official using an Iowa
Department of Public Health certificate of immunization or a provisional
certificate, unless a valid certificate of religious or medical exemption has
been submitted.
 It is the duty of the admitting official to ensure a valid certificate is on file for
each student in their schools (Iowa Administrative Code (IAC 641-7.8(1)).
Applicants without proper evidence of immunization or exemption are not
entitled to enrollment in an elementary or secondary school. It shall be the
duty of the admitting official to deny enrollment to students who do not
comply with requirements for proof of immunization or immunization
exemption (IAC 641-7.10).
 A student may be provisionally enrolled if they have received at least one
dose of each of the required vaccines or they are a transfer student from
another U.S. school system. In such cases a provisional certificate must be
issued for a medically feasible amount of time in which vaccines needed to
qualify for a certificate of immunization can be administered, not to exceed
60 calendar days (IAC 641-7.7(2)).
2
4/8/2015

Instructional Hours and Start Date– HF 2170

1,080 hours or 180 days with 6 hours of instruction (while times
of attendance may vary, all buildings within a district must be
on the same plan)

If 1,080 hours is chosen, no minimum or maximum length of
any given school day

Those choosing days instead of hours must have at least 30
hours of instruction for any 5 consecutive school days (NOT
27.5 hours)

REMINDER - Public school districts must conduct a hearing
prior to informing DE of hours vs. days on the Spring BEDS
report
4/8/2015
3
Instructional Hours and Start Date– HF 2170

The following ARE COUNTED AS INSTRUCTION for
either option:
 (1) passing time between classes
 (2) parent-teacher conferences
 (3) recess, if under supervision of instructional
professional staff

The following ARE NOT COUNTED AS INSTRUCTION
for either option:
 (1) lunch
 (2) bus travel between buildings
 (3) professional learning
4/8/2015
4
Instructional Hours and Start Date– HF 2170

If inclement weather or emergency health conditions
cause a district/school using 180 instruction days to
record less than 6 hours of instruction, the day still
counts.

Inclement weather exception does not apply for
schools using hours

However, if an emergency closing is for just one
attendance center, the hours or days MAY count for
the district/school!
4/8/2015
5
Instructional Hours and Start Date– HF 2170

Seniors may still complete the school year
30 hours or 5 days early

Early start date requests are submitted in the Spring
BEDS report

An innovative calendar request is distinct from early
start date and is due November 1 (Innovative
calendar only applies to school districts and nonpublics following instructional days model)
4/8/2015
6
Education Appropriations – SF 2347

Attendance Center Performance Report
 Provides $500,000 for the “development of criteria
and administration of a process for school
districts to establish specific performance goals
and to evaluate the performance of each
attendance center operated by the district in order
to arrive at an overall school performance grade
and report card for each attendance center.”
 The
DE issued a legislative report on this topic on
July 1, 2014. More discussion will follow
 Check
4/8/2015
out the DE’s website for more info
7
Education Appropriations – SF 2347

Administrator Coaching and Support
Appropriates
$1 million to the DE to develop and implement
a coaching and support system aligned with the beginning
administrator mentoring and induction program and focused
on administrators in districts implementing a Teacher
Leadership and Compensation (TLC) plan.
Beginning
July 1, 2017, all districts will have access to a
coaching and support system for administrators whether or
not the district has adopted a local TLC plan.
This
legislation also added assistant principals and assistant
superintendents in the definition of “administrator” for the
purposes of the Administrator Quality Program established in
Chapter 284A.
4/8/2015
8
Education Appropriations – SF 2347

AEA Support for Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC)


Provides $1 million to the DE for development of a system
by which Area Education Agencies (AEA’s) support school
districts implementing a local TLC plan
Successful Progression of Early Readers

Appropriates $8 million to the DE for distribution to school
districts for the implementation of Iowa Administrative Code
Chapter 62, “State Standards for Progression in Reading,”
as mandated by Iowa Code section 279.68. Same amount as
FY 2014

The DE recently added guidance to its website
4/8/2015
9
Whole Grade Sharing Incentives – SF 2056

Extends incentives for whole grade sharing and
reorganization from 2014 to 2019.

The level of incentives are the same.
4/8/2015
10
Operational Sharing – HF 2271

Creates tiered
weighting for operational
sharing incentives:

Superintendent = 8 students

Business management, human resources, transportation or
operation and maintenance = 5 students

Curriculum directors and guidance counselors = 3 students

Districts are capped at a total weighting of 21 students
4/8/2015
11
Minor School Licenses – SF 2056

Students with a minor school license are now able to
drive to extracurricular activities at another school if
those activities are covered under a sharing
agreement
4/8/2015
12
Minor Alcohol Consumption – SF 2310

Law enforcement are now required to inform school
officials when students “consume” alcohol

The previous requirement just related to possession,
purchase or attempts to purchase alcohol
4/8/2015
13
Alternative Nicotine Products– HF 2109

Minors are now prohibited from purchasing or
possessing e-cigarettes and other alternative
nicotine products.
4/8/2015
14
DE Technical Corrections Bill – SF 2230

1) New language reduces the publication
requirement from two (2) to (1) for the disposal of
property with a resale value below $5,000

2) New language allows the vote on revenue purpose
statements for school infrastructure funds to occur
at the same time as a reorganization vote
4/8/2015
15
Early Retirement Incentives – SF 220

Eliminates the age cap (formerly 65 years old) for the
use of the management levy for early retirement
incentives.

The management levy may be used for employees 55
years and older.
4/8/2015
16
Iowa Cases




State of Iowa v. Nicoletto, (Iowa 2014).
Facts:
Iowa District Court convicted Nicoletto of sexual exploitation by a
school employee in violation of Iowa Code §§709.15(3)(a) &
(5)(a).
Nicoletto served as a high school basketball coach using a coaching
authorization. He is not a licensed teacher.

The sexual exploitation statute defined “school employee” as a
“practitioner” as defined in Iowa Code §272.1(7).

Section 272.1 defined “practitioner” as “an administrator, teacher,
or other licensed professional, including an individual who holds a
statement of professional recognition, who provides educational
assistance to students.”
4/8/2015
17
Iowa Cases

State of Iowa v. Nicoletto, (Iowa 2014).
The Iowa Supreme Court held:
While coaches with teaching or other professional licenses are
subject to the statute, “a mere holder of a coaching authorization
without a professional license within the meaning of section
272.1(7) does not fall under the sexual exploitation statute.”

As such, the Iowa Supreme Court reversed Nicolleto’s conviction.

Other points to consider:

(1) While this case concerns the criminal code, ethics rules still
applied which impacted the coach’s authorization.

(2) An astute principal helped to uncover the relationship.


4/8/2015
18
BoEE Code of Professional Conduct– HF 2389

This bill required the BoEE to adopt rules stating it is
a violation of the BoEE’s Code of Professional
Conduct and Ethics for any licensee to have a sexual
or romantic relationship within ninety (90) days
with any individual who the licensee taught or
supervised in any school activity when the individual
was a student

The updated BoEE rule is found at:
 282 Iowa Administrative Code 25.3(1)(e)(7).
4/8/2015
19
Sexual Exploitation by a School Employee –
HF 2474

Clarifies that any person holding a coaching
authorization from the BoEE is considered a school
employee for the purposes of Iowa Code Section
709.15, dealing with the sexual exploitation of a
student by a school employee.

It is both criminal behavior and a violation of the
BoEE’s Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for
any person holding a coaching authorization to have
a romantic or sexual relationship with any student
within 30 days of student status

Whether the student is above the “age of consent”
under Iowa law does not make a difference
4/8/2015
20
DE and BoEE Guidance on ADs

July 28, 2014 guidance letter from the DE and BoEE

Activities directors at accredited schools and school
districts must be licensed by the BoEE as teachers
or administrators
 These are individuals who oversee the entire
activity program

Athletic coaches and activity sponsors do not have
to be evaluated by licensed evaluators, but IT IS A
BEST PRACTICE

An activities director does not have to possess a
current and valid evaluator endorsement or license
4/8/2015
21
Guidance on TeachIowa.gov

Iowa Code § 256.27(2) requires school districts, charter schools, or
area education agencies summit ALL of its job openings to the
department for posting on the TEACH IOWA system.

Teach Iowa has the capability to allow districts to designate
postings as internal or external AND to turn off the “APPLY”
button on each posting.

For technical questions, contact Marietta Rives at 515-281-6038 or
Marietta.Rives@iowa.gov

For assistance with legal questions concerning Teach Iowa, contact
Nicole Proesch at 515-281-8661 or Nicole.Proesch@iowa.gov

*TEACH IOWA site is receiving 1 million hits per month
4/8/2015
22
Mandatory Reporting of Ethics Violations

The BOEE has determined that the employee discipline that
must be reported to the BOEE includes written reprimands,
written warnings, job separation agreements, resignations,
nonrenewals, or terminations that resulted from employee
misconduct covered by the following mandatory reporting
areas:

(a) Soliciting, encouraging, or consummating a romantic or
otherwise inappropriate relationship with a student.

(b) Falsifying student grades, test scores, or other official
information or material.

(c) Converting public property or funds to the personal use of
the school employee.
4/8/2015
23
Iowa Cases



Fort Dodge CSD v. PERB and Ft. Dodge Education Association,
(Iowa Ct. App. 2014).
Facts:
The district proposed to eliminate severance pay provisions from
several collective bargaining agreements.

The district argued severance pay is a permissible subject of
bargaining, while the union argued it is mandatory.

The District petitioned the Iowa Public Employment Relations Board
(“PERB”) for a ruling on negotiability.

PERB held that severance pay is a form of
“supplemental pay” and, thus, is a mandatory subject of
bargaining under Iowa Code §20.9.
4/8/2015
24
Iowa Cases

Fort Dodge CSD v. PERB and Ft. Dodge Education Association,
(Iowa Ct. App. 2014).

The school district appealed to the District Court, which
affirmed.

The Iowa Court of Appeals held:

The Iowa Court of Appeals upheld PERB’s ruling

The Court largely based its decision on 2010 legislation which gave
PERB new authority to interpret the law relating to public sector
collective bargaining.
4/8/2015
25
Federal Cases

United States Supreme Court

The Supreme Court refused to hear a Pennsylvania School
District’s appeal of a lower court’s decision in a “I Boobies”
case

Two, female middle school students wore the bracelets for two
months before school administrators barred the bracelets due to
their sexual and lewd message.

The families noted that the bracelets were worn for breast cancer
awareness

Administrators noted that boys at the school chanted “I love
boobies” and “boobies, boobies!”
4/8/2015
26
Federal Cases

“I

In a 9-5 ruling the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction
which permitted students to wear the bracelets

The majority of the court shared: “A school’s leeway to categorically
restrict ambiguously lewd speech . . . Ends when that speech could
also plausibly be interpreted as expressing a view on a political or
social issue.”
4/8/2015
Boobies” Case
27
Federal Cases

Wynar v. Douglas County School District (9th Cir. 2013).

A panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld decision by
Douglas County, Nevada school administrators to expel a
student for threatening instant messages he shared with
friends outside of school

Some of the comments:

“its pretty simple / I have a sweet gun / my neighbor is giving
me 500 rounds / dhs [Douglas High School] is gay / I’ve
watched these kinds of movies so I know how NOT to go wrong
/ I just cant decide who will be on my hit list / and thats
deminted and it scares even my self”

“and I’ll probably only kill the people I hate / who hate me / then
a few random to get the record”
4/8/2015
28
Federal Cases

Wynar v. Douglas County School District (9th Cir. 2013).

While this is from another circuit, it is a good reminder:

1) Even if a student’s communication is off-campus, school
administrators may take action if an actual threat is involved

OR

2) There is a reasonable likelihood that the speech will cause a
substantial disruption of the school environment or materially
interfere with school activities.
4/8/2015
29