Kelley Baker kbaker@hslegalfirm.com
Karen Haase
Steve Williams
Bobby Truhe
khaase@hslegalfirm.com
swilliams@hslegalfirm.com
btruhe@hslegalfirm.com
Time to Evaluate Probationary Employees The month of December is a busy one for school administrators. In addition to supervising basketball and wrestling contests, printing programs for the holiday concert, and rounding up members of the PTO to provide cookies for the teachers’ holiday tea, administrators must be sure they have evaluated all probationary teachers during the first semester. All probationary employees must be evaluated during the first semester of the 2011-12 school year. You also must schedule a post conference for each probationary teacher’s evaluation prior to the beginning of second semester so that there is no confusion about whether the evaluation truly occurred during first semester. See NEB. REV. STAT. § 79-828(2). The evaluation statute applies to probationary teachers and probationary administrators, such as principals and athletic directors. The failure to evaluate probationary certificated employees in the manner required by statute can result in a loss of the school district's ability to nonrenew a poorly-performing employee. In the hustle of finalizing probationary evaluations, administrators are tempted to short-circuit the evaluation process. Remember that probationary employees must be evaluated based upon an “actual classroom observation.” Evaluate all probationary teachers--not just those who appear to have deficiencies. Sometimes significant problems with probationary employees appear for the first time late in the second semester. If you have employees who perform a combination of teaching and nonteaching jobs, such as a librarian who teaches one study skills course, you must evaluate during classroom time. The Commissioner of Education takes the position that if a probationary employee teaches even one class, his or her evaluation must be based on that instruction rather than on an overall review of his or her performance in all duties.
Particularly during the Christmas season, you may be tempted to sugar-coat or soften criticisms or concerns you may have about a teacher’s performance. Using kid gloves and veiling true weaknesses with flowery and imprecise language is EXACTLY why we school attorneys have so much work to do each spring. Being too nice or unclear does a disservice to both the teacher and to you and can hurt your school district in the long run If you have any questions about the evaluation of probationary employees or would like us to review proposed evaluations, please don’t hesitate to contact Kelley, Karen, Steve or Bobby. I:\3\7613\E-mail Updates\115 - Probationary Evaluation Time.docx
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