Section 3311.84. Municipal school districts; evaluation of principals

Notwithstanding any provision of the Revised Code to the contrary, a municipal school district shall be subject to this section instead of division (D) of section 3319.02 of the Revised Code with respect to principals and assistant principals, but all other provisions of that section shall apply to the district with respect to principals and assistant principals. Section 3319.02 of the Revised Code in its entirety shall apply to the district with respect to employees other than principals and assistant principals who are covered by that section, except as otherwise provided in section 3311.72 of the Revised Code.

(A) As used in this section, "principal" includes an assistant principal.

(B) The board of education of each municipal school district shall adopt procedures for the evaluation of principals and shall evaluate all principals in accordance with those procedures. The procedures shall be based on principles comparable to the teacher evaluation procedures adopted under section 3311.80 of the Revised Code, but shall be tailored to the duties and responsibilities of principals and the environment in which principals work. Each evaluation shall measure the principal's effectiveness in performing the duties included in the principal's job description and shall be considered by the board in deciding whether to renew the principal's contract of employment.

(C) The evaluation procedures adopted under this section shall require each principal to be evaluated annually through a written evaluation process. The evaluation shall be conducted by the chief executive officer of the district, or the chief executive officer's designee.

(D) To provide time to show progress in correcting deficiencies identified in the evaluation, each evaluation shall be completed as follows:

(1) In any school year that the principal's contract of employment is not due to expire, at least one evaluation shall be completed in that year. A written copy of the evaluation shall be provided to the principal by the end of the principal's contract year as defined by the principal's annual salary notice.

(2) In any school year that the principal's contract of employment is due to expire, at least a preliminary evaluation and a final evaluation shall be completed in that year. A written copy of the preliminary evaluation shall be provided to the principal at least sixty days prior to any action by the board on the principal's contract of employment. The final evaluation shall indicate the chief executive officer's intended recommendation to the board regarding a contract of employment for the principal. A written copy of the final evaluation shall be provided to the principal at least five days prior to the chief executive officer making the recommendation to the board.

(E) At least thirty days prior to taking action to renew or not renew the contract of a principal, the board shall notify the principal of the board's intended action and that the principal may request a meeting with the board regarding the board's intended action. Upon request of the principal, the board shall grant the principal a meeting in executive session. In that meeting, the board shall discuss its reasons for considering renewal or nonrenewal of the contract. The principal shall be permitted to have a representative, chosen by the principal, present at the meeting.

The establishment of evaluation procedures in accordance with this section shall not create an expectancy of continued employment. Nothing in this section shall prevent the board from making the final determination regarding the renewal or nonrenewal of a principal's contract.

(F) Termination of a principal's contract shall be in accordance with section 3319.16 of the Revised Code, except as follows:

(1) Failure of the principal's building to meet academic performance standards established by the chief executive officer shall be considered good and just cause for termination under that section.

(2) If the chief executive officer intends to recommend to the board that the principal's contract be terminated, the chief executive officer shall provide the principal a written copy of the principal's evaluation at least five days prior to making the recommendation to the board.

Added by 129th General AssemblyFile No.143, HB 525, §1, eff. 10/1/2012.