279.17 - APPEAL BY TEACHER TO ADJUDICATOR.
279.17 APPEAL BY TEACHER TO ADJUDICATOR.
1. If the teacher is no longer a probationary teacher, the
teacher may, within ten days, appeal the determination of the board
to an adjudicator by filing a notice of appeal with the secretary of
the board. The notice of appeal shall contain a concise statement of
the action which is the subject of the appeal, the particular board
action appealed from, the grounds on which relief is sought and the
relief sought.
2. Within five days following receipt by the secretary of the
notice of appeal, the board or the board's legal representative, if
any, and the teacher or the teacher's representative, if any, may
select an adjudicator who resides within the boundaries of the merged
area in which the school district is located. If an adjudicator
cannot be mutually agreed upon within the five-day period, the
secretary shall notify the chairperson of the public employment
relations board by transmitting the notice of appeal, and the
chairperson of the public employment relations board shall within
five days provide a list of five adjudicators to the parties. Within
three days from receipt of the list of adjudicators, the parties
shall select an adjudicator by alternately removing a name from the
list until only one name remains. The person whose name remains
shall be the adjudicator. The parties shall determine by lot which
party shall remove the first name from the list submitted by the
chairperson of the public employment relations board. The secretary
of the board shall inform the chairperson of the public employee
relations board of the name of the adjudicator selected.
3. If the teacher does not timely request an appeal to an
adjudicator the decision, opinion, or conclusion of the board shall
become final and binding.
4. a. Within thirty days after filing the notice of appeal,
or within further time allowed by the adjudicator, the board shall
transmit to the adjudicator the original or a certified copy of the
entire record of the private hearing which may be the subject of the
petition. By stipulation of the parties to review the proceedings,
the record of the case may be shortened. The adjudicator may require
or permit subsequent corrections or additions to the shortened
record.
b. The record certified and filed by the board shall be the
record upon which the appeal shall be heard and no additional
evidence shall be heard by the adjudicator. In such appeal to the
adjudicator, especially when considering the credibility of
witnesses, the adjudicator shall give weight to the fact findings of
the board; but shall not be bound by them.
5. Before the date set for hearing a petition for review of board
action, which shall be within ten days after receipt of the record
unless otherwise agreed or unless the adjudicator orders additional
evidence be taken before the board, application may be made to the
adjudicator for leave to present evidence in addition to that found
in the record of the case. If it is shown to the adjudicator that
the additional evidence is material and that there were good reasons
for failure to present it in the private hearing before the board,
the adjudicator may order that the additional evidence be taken
before the board upon conditions determined by the adjudicator. The
board may modify its findings and decision in the case by reason of
the additional evidence and shall file that evidence and any
modifications, new findings, or decisions, with the adjudicator and
mail copies of the new findings or decisions to the teacher.
6. The adjudicator may affirm board action or remand to the board
for further proceedings. The adjudicator shall reverse, modify, or
grant any appropriate relief from the board action if substantial
rights of the teacher have been prejudiced because the board action
is:
a. In violation of a board rule or policy or contract; or
b. Unsupported by a preponderance of the competent evidence
in the record made before the board when that record is viewed as a
whole; or
c. Unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious or characterized by
an abuse of discretion or a clearly unwarranted exercise of
discretion.
7. The adjudicator shall, within fifteen days after the hearing,
make a decision and shall give a copy of the decision to the teacher
and the secretary of the board. The decision of the adjudicator
shall become the final and binding decision of the board unless
either party within ten days notifies the secretary of the board that
the decision is rejected. The board may reject the decision by
majority vote, by roll call, in open meeting and entered into the
minutes of the meeting. The board shall immediately notify the
teacher of its decision by certified mail. The teacher may reject
the adjudicator's decision by notifying the board's secretary in
writing within ten days of the filing of such decision.
8. All costs of the adjudicator shall be shared equally by the
teacher and the board. Section History: Early Form
[C77, 79, 81, § 279.17] Section History: Recent Form
2007 Acts, ch 22, §65
Referred to in § 260C.39, 261.48, 262.9, 272.15, 273.22, 275.33,
279.13, 279.16, 279.19, 279.19A, 279.19B, 279.27, 284.3, 284.8