Sponsored by:
Assemblyman BENJIE E. WIMBERLY
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes measures to provide employment stability for high school coaches employed in school districts.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the employment rights of certain public school employees and supplementing chapter 27 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. (1) A head coach of an athletic activity at a public high school who is also a tenured employee of the school district shall receive an employment contract with the board of education for a term of three years.
(2) An assistant coach of an athletic activity at a public high school who is also a tenured employee of the school district shall receive an employment contract with the board of education for a term of two years.
b. At the conclusion of the term of the initial contract or of any subsequent contract, the coach shall be deemed reappointed for another contracted term unless the board of education notifies the coach in writing that he will not be reappointed at the end of the current term, in which event his employment as a coach shall cease at the expiration of that term, provided that such notification is given 90 days prior to the expiration of the first or any subsequent contract.
2. a. A coach of an athletic activity at a public high school shall be dismissed or reduced in compensation during the term of the coach’s contract only for just cause, and may not be dismissed for arbitrary or capricious reasons.
b. A coach of an athletic activity at a public high school who is dismissed or reduced in compensation shall receive notice of the basis for the dismissal or reduction in compensation and have an opportunity to be heard. In the case of a coach of an athletic activity at a public high school who is also a tenured employee of the school district, if the dismissal is based on a poor annual evaluation, the coach shall be provided one year in which to correct and overcome any identified deficiencies with appropriate district support.
c. Nothing is this section shall be construed to grant tenure to a coach of an athletic activity, interfere with the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement, or affect any other right or remedy that may be available to a school district or coach of an athletic activity pursuant to law.
3. This act shall take
effect immediately and shall first be applicable to the first full school year
following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
The purpose of this bill is to provide a measure of employment stability for athletic coaches at public high schools. The bill provides that a head coach of an athletic activity at a public high school who is also a tenured employee of the school district must receive an employment contract for a three-year term, and an assistant coach must receive a two-year contract. At the conclusion of the term of the contract, the coach will be deemed reappointed for the appropriate term, unless the board notifies the coach in writing, at least 90 days before the expiration of the term of the contract, that he will not be reappointed at the end of the term.
The bill also provides that an athletic coach at a public high school may be dismissed or reduced in compensation during the term of a contract only for just cause and may not be dismissed for arbitrary or capricious reasons. A coach who is dismissed or reduced in compensation must receive a notice for the basis of the action and have an opportunity to be heard. In the case of a coach who is also a tenured employee of the district, the bill provides that if the coach’s dismissal is based on a poor annual evaluation, the coach must be provided one year in which to correct and overcome any identified deficiencies with appropriate district support.