Amends TCA Title 49.

This bill revises various provisions of the Professional Educators Collaborative Conferencing Act, as follows:<br /> <br /> (1) Under present law, upon the submission by 15 percent or more of the professional employees in an LEA of a written request to conduct collaborative conferencing with a board of education between October 1 and November 1 of any year, the board of education must appoint an equal number of its professional employees and board members to serve on a special question committee for the purpose of conducting a confidential poll of all eligible professional employees. This bill adds that the board must appoint professional employees from a list of professional employee names provided by the professional employees' organization that submits a majority of signatures on the written request to conduct collaborative conferencing.<br /> <br /> (2) Under present law, a board of education does not have a duty or obligation to engage in collaborative conferencing with its professional employees unless a majority of those eligible to vote in the poll respond in the affirmative to the question of whether the professional employees of the LEA should undertake collaborative conferencing. This bill changes the required number of votes from a majority of those eligible to vote to a majority of those voting.<br /> <br /> (3) Present law provides that the term of the members of the panel constituted as the result of a poll in which the majority of those eligible to vote respond yes to the question described above is three years. This bill specifies that the three-year period is measured from the date on which a memorandum of understanding is approved. This bill also changes the reference to the vote amount to reflect the change made by this bill as described in item (2) above.<br /> <br /> (4) Present law provides that those persons or organizations initiating the poll are assessed the reasonable costs necessitated in conducting the poll by the chair of the special question committee. This bill revises this provision to instead provide that all persons or organizations that appoint representatives to serve on the conferencing team are jointly responsible for the reasonable costs necessitated in conducting the confidential poll and the chair of the special question committee will assess the costs.<br /> <br /> (5) Under present law, it is unlawful for a board of education or its management personnel to engage in certain conduct, such as refusing or failing to participate in collaborative conferencing under the Act. This bill revises these provisions to instead refer to conduct that is unlawful if undertaken by a board of education, the board's management personnel, the board's management team, or the director of schools. This bill also revises the specific conduct referenced above to refer to failing to participate "in good faith."<br /> <br /> (6) This bill requires a board of education to vote to approve or disapprove a memorandum of understanding no later than 60 days after the date on which the memorandum of understanding is submitted to the board for approval. If the board votes to disapprove the memorandum of understanding, then the parties must continue to confer to try and reach an agreement.<br /> <br /> (7) Present law provides that the Act must not be construed to require collaborative conferencing. This bill removes this provision.<br />