HBA-TYH, BTC H.B. 451 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 451 By: Pitts Public Education 3/12/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, the board of trustees of a school district is authorized to terminate the employment of a teacher employed under a probationary contract at the end of the contract period, if in the board's judgment the best interests of the district will be served by terminating the employment. However, as the Education Code reads now, the board of trustees must give notice of its intention to do so not later than the 45th day before the last day of instruction required under the contract. When challenged in court, this statute has been interpreted to mean that the notice should be given once a final decision to terminate had been made, not when there might be an informal intention to terminate employment. H.B. 451 changes the word "intention" to "decision" to eliminate the ambiguity in the language. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 21.103, Education Code, to provide that the board of trustees of a school district must give notice to the teacher of its decision, rather than its intention, to terminate the employment of that teacher not later than the 45th day before the last day of instruction required under the contract. Makes a conforming change. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.