Harrisonville Cass R-IX School District

The Board will annually approve the Employee Manual and expects all staff members to become familiar with and comply with all rules in the Employee Manual.

Adoption Date(s): July 28, 2020

The District is committed to the employment of high quality staff members.  The District will employ full-time, part-time, and substitute staff members to suit the needs of the District. The Superintendent will make recommendations to the Board regarding the staffing needs of the District and will make recommendations regarding the hiring of individuals to fill positions.  A majority of the whole Board must approve the employment of all employees. The employment procedures used by the administration and the Board will comply with all applicable state and federal laws.  The Board directs the Superintendent to create procedures for the advertising of positions when necessary.  The District may employ individuals who are currently retired and receiving retirement benefits from a public retirement system in accordance with the laws and regulations governing the hiring of retirees.

A majority of the whole Board is required to approve all compensated extra-duty positions and assignments for staff members and assign appropriate amounts of compensation for extra duty positions and assignments.

The District requires that employees undergo background checks in accordance with the law and any additional established requirements created by District administration.  The Board authorizes the reimbursement of expenses incurred by an employee for state and federal criminal history information if the administration establishes such practices of reimbursement.

The District will conduct a background check on all individuals volunteering in positions where they may be periodically left alone with students or who may have access to student records.  Volunteers who chaperone students on overnight trips or who are sponsors, advisors, or coaches of district sponsored activities must satisfactorily complete a criminal background check.

The District is not required to conduct a background check on volunteers who have received a background check conducted by another Missouri school public school within the past year if the district receives a copy of the background check directly from the previous district or obtains electronic access to the previous background check.

The Superintendent may require other volunteers to undergo a background check or the district may conduct a search of the MSHP’s criminal history database and the FCSR or CD central registry of child abuse and neglect.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

In accordance with the law, the Board directs the Superintendent or designee to provide to new employees, within ten days following the start of employment, and to current employees upon request, up-to-date, accurate, and complete information regarding eligibility for public service loan forgiveness.

Adoption Date(s): July 28, 2020; Updated August 11, 2021

The District will comply with all applicable aspects of the Fair Labor Standards Act in the employment of exempt and nonexempt staff members.

Compensation of Staff Members

The Board must approve the compensation of all staff members of the District upon hire and periodically upon the recommendation of the Superintendent.  Only the Board has the authority to set and change the compensation of employees.

Annually, the Board will adopt compensation structures upon the recommendation of the Superintendent and in accordance with the budget adopted by the Board.  In accordance with state law, teachers will be paid pursuant to a salary schedule applicable to all teachers of the District and all full-time teachers will be compensated at a level not less than the minimum teacher’s salary set by the state.  State law requires that the teacher’s salary schedule will be adopted annually prior to May 15th.  The Board may choose to adopt salary schedules and/or wage schedules for non-teacher employee groups, such as administrators and members of support staff, and for extra duty assignments, or the Board may choose to set individual levels of compensation for non-teachers and for extra duties.  The budget will be adopted no later than June 30th each year, which will include compensation levels for all employees for the upcoming school year.

Any salary/wage schedule adopted by the Board may be modified in accordance with the law and in accordance with any applicable employment contracts and/or collective bargaining agreements.  The Board may elect to freeze the operation of some or all salary/wage schedules.

Employees who are under contracts of employment will not receive compensation in excess of the amount set forth in the contract of employment for the contract year unless the employee assumes additional or extra duties beyond the duties contemplated by the contract of employment.

Pay Periods

The Board will adopt a schedule for disbursement of compensation to employees of the District for regular duties and extra duties.

Payroll Deductions

The Board authorizes the Superintendent or designee to develop processes for payroll deductions related to employee requests and as otherwise permitted by law.  Notice regarding payroll deductions processes will be included in the Employee Manual.

Adoption Date(s): July 28, 2020

The District will provide accommodations in each school building to lactating employees, teachers, and students to express breast milk, breast-feed a child, or address other needs relating to breast-feeding. The District will provide a minimum of three opportunities during a school day, at intervals agreed upon by the District and the individual, to accommodate an employee, teacher, or student’s need to express breast milk or breast-feed a child. 

The accommodations will be in the form of a room, other than a restroom, for the exclusive use of women to express breast milk or breast-feed a child. The accommodation will be located in close proximity to a sink with running water and a refrigerator for breast milk storage and have, at a minimum, the following features:

• Ventilation and a door that may be locked for privacy;
• A work surface and a chair; and
• Conveniently placed electrical outlets. 

Such accommodations will be available to each lactating employee, teacher, or student for at least one year following the birth of the employee, teacher, or student’s child. Such accommodations may be available longer than one year, as determined by the Board. 

Adoption Date(s): June 28, 2022

The District will provide leave to employees as required under the Family and Medical Leave Act in accordance with federal law, and provide all other types of leave protected or required by state and/or federal law.

Annually, the Board will review and adopt an Employee Manual which sets forth the District’s leave procedures applying to all staff members.

Adoption Date(s): July 28, 2020

Benefits, including various insurance benefits, are offered by the District to qualifying professional and support staff members as part of compensation packages.  The District will provide benefits to retirees as required by law.  These benefits are reviewed annually and, when required, bid out according to the law and District policies and procedures. The Board delegates to the Superintendent the responsibility to review and provide recommendations regarding benefits packages.  The Board must approve all benefits offered to employees.

Adoption Date(s): July 28, 2020

The District is committed to provide safe working conditions for all staff members.  The District administration will develop health and safety protocol and train employees regarding protocol relevant to job duties and assignments.  The District will maintain insurance to provide for workers’ compensation in accordance with the law.

Adoption Date(s): July 28, 2020

The Board is committed to the safety of the students and staff of the District, and as such, adopts this policy and delegates to the administration the implementation of additional rules and procedures for the maintenance of a drug-free school and workplace.  The Employee Manual and the Administrative Manual will include all required notices regarding the District’s drug-free workplace requirements and applicable procedures.

The Board specifically authorizes the use of drug and alcohol testing for employees if District administration has reasonable suspicion that a staff member has violated this policy or the rules set or implemented by the administration regarding drugs and alcohol, including the use of post-injury testing for alcohol or non-prescribed controlled substances in accordance with the procedures outlined in the Administrative Manual and the law.

Adoption Date(s): July 28, 2020

The District administration will create, and the Board will support professional development activities with the adoption of the annual budget.  The District administration will present the professional development plan and all allocations to implement such plan to the Board for approval annually.

Adoption Date(s): July 28, 2020

In alignment with the commitment to recruit and retain highly qualified staff members, the District administration will develop and implement an evaluation system for staff members of the District.  The evaluation of professional staff members will comply with applicable laws and DESE regulations.  Supervisors will be trained on the evaluation tools which they are responsible for using and staff members will receive information about the standards by which they will be evaluated for a given year.  The Board will be responsible for the evaluation of the Superintendent.

Adoption Date(s): July 28, 2020

The District will comply with the Teacher Tenure Act in the hiring, renewal, and separation of certified staff members.  District administration is responsible for the record-keeping regarding staff members eligible and ineligible for tenure and making recommendations to the Board regarding employment decisions regarding the same.

Adoption Date(s): July 28, 2020

Probationary teachers, tenured teachers, and administrators will be non-renewed and terminated in accordance with the law.

The Superintendent has the authority to terminate staff members who are not under contracts of employment.  The Superintendent will notify the Board at the next regular meeting of any such termination.  The Board has the authority to reverse a termination decision made by the Superintendent.

Professional employees with contracts of employment will be terminated in accordance with the terms set forth in the contract of employment and in accordance with procedures set forth in the Administrative Manual and Employee Manual.

The Board has the authority to initiate termination proceedings against the Superintendent in accordance with the contract of employment and applicable law.

The District reserves the right to take additional action against staff members who have been terminated, including initiating proceedings for the discipline or revocation of professional licenses or certificates, pursuing criminal charges and/or civil or other administrative remedies available under the law.

Adoption Date(s): July 28, 2020

The District may place tenured teachers on an involuntary leave of absence without pay when the Board determines that such action is necessary because of a decrease in pupil enrollment, District reorganization, or the financial condition of the District.  The Teacher Tenure Act sets forth the procedure for such reductions in force/involuntary leaves of absence.

Adoption Date(s): July 28, 2020

The Superintendent or designee has the authority to place staff members on administrative leave in accordance with the law.

When a hearing before the Board regarding administrative leave is required under the law, the Superintendent will comply with procedures developed for such a hearing.

Adoption Date(s): July 28, 2020

The District and its employee will adhere to all state and federal laws and regulations relating to conflicts of interest.  The District’s Administrative Manual and Employee Manual will delineate the specific rules regarding conflicts of interest and methods for compliance.

Adoption Date(s): July 28, 2020

The Board designates the Superintendent or designee as the individual responsible for responding to requests from potential employers for information regarding a current or former District employee.  The following information will be provided about current or former employees to any individual upon request: 

• Name

• Position/s

• Salary

• Length of service

Further, the Superintendent or designee may, if applicable and in accordance with the law, respond in writing to a written request concerning a current or former employee from an entity or person which the Superintendent or designee reasonably believes to be a prospective employer of such employee and truly state for what cause, if any, an employee was discharged or voluntarily quit employment with the District.  If a written response of this sort is provided by the District, the Superintendent or designee will send a copy of the response to the prospective employer to the current employee or former employee at the employee's last known address.  

Additional factual information regarding an employee’s duties and work performance may be provided by the Superintendent or designee only if an employee has submitted a written consent. 

As required by law, the District will disclose, to any public school that contacts the District about a former employee, information regarding any violation of the published regulations of the Board by the former employee if such violation related to sexual misconduct with a student and was determined to be an actual violation by the Board after a contested case due process hearing conducted pursuant to District policy. Sexual misconduct includes sexual misconduct involving a child as defined by § 566.083, RSMo, sexual contact with a student as defined by § 566.086, RSMo, sexual harassment as defined in C-131-P; or child abuse involving sexual acts, as determined by the Department of Social Services. 

Further, if the District has previously employed any person whose job involved contact with children, and the District received allegations of sexual misconduct, concerning the employee and, as a result of such allegations or as a result of such allegations being substantiated by the child abuse and neglect review board, the employee was dismissed or allowed to resign in lieu of termination, the District shall disclose the allegations of sexual misconduct when furnishing a reference for the former employee or responding to a potential employer’s request.  Additionally, if the District has previously employed any person about whom Children’s Division has conducted an investigation involving allegations of sexual misconduct with a student and has reached a finding of substantiated and another public school contacts the District for a reference for the employee, the District shall disclose the results of Children’s Division’s investigation to the school.

Any school District employee who is permitted to respond to requests for information, acting in good faith, who reports authorized information, as provided in this policy or, who, in good faith, reports alleged sexual misconduct on the part of a District employee, will not be disciplined or discriminated against because of such report.   

District employees who are not specifically authorized under this policy to provide employment references are prohibited from providing references except those provided in their personal capacities.  Personal references may not give the appearance of the endorsement of the District.  District employees, contractors, and agents are prohibited from providing personal references or otherwise providing assistance in obtaining a new job to any other school, any employee, contractor, or agent who has been accused of sexual misconduct regarding a minor or a student.  If employees have questions or concerns regarding this prohibition, they should contact the Superintendent for additional guidance. 

The District will notify all employees of this policy by including a copy of this policy in the Employee Manual.  The District will notify all potential employers who contact the District regarding the possible employment of an employee.

Adoption Date(s): July 28, 2020; Updated July 1, 2023

The Board requires that District administration develop and implement a training program for mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect whom the District employs.  All school employees are required to report possible abuse or neglect of children.  As mandated reporters, District staff will immediately report any child abuse or neglect they suspect or observe by calling the Abuse Hotline at 1-800-392-3738 or reporting online when applicable and available at the following website: https://apps.dss.mo.gov/OnlineCanReporting/default.aspx.

Adoption Date(s): July 28, 2020