273.22 Contracts of new area education agency.

1. The terms of employment of the administrator and staff of affected area education agencies for the school year beginning with the effective date of the formation of the new area education agency shall not be affected by the formation of the new area education agency, except in accordance with the provisions of sections 279.15 through 279.18, and 279.24, and the authority and responsibility to offer new contracts or to continue, modify, or terminate existing contracts pursuant to sections 279.12, 279.13, 279.15 through 279.21, 279.23, and 279.24 for the school year beginning with the effective date of the reorganization shall be transferred from the boards of the existing area education agencies to the board of the new area education agency following approval of the reorganization plan by the state board as provided in section 273.21, subsection 4.

2. a. The collective bargaining agreement of the area education agency with the largest basic enrollment, as defined in section 257.6, for the year prior to the year the reorganization is effective, shall serve as the base agreement in the new area education agency and the employees of the other area education agencies involved in the formation of the new area education agency shall automatically be accreted to the bargaining unit of that collective bargaining agreement for purposes of negotiating the contracts for the following years without further action by the public employment relations board. If only one collective bargaining agreement is in effect among the area education agencies that are party to the reorganization, that agreement shall serve as the base agreement, and the employees of the other agencies involved in the formation of the new area education agency shall automatically be accreted to the bargaining unit of that collective bargaining agreement for purposes of negotiating the contracts for the following years without further action by the public employment relations board.

b. The board of the newly formed area education agency, using the base agreement as its existing contract, shall bargain with the combined employees of the affected agencies for the school year that begins on the effective date of the reorganization. The bargaining shall be completed by the dates specified in section 20.17 prior to the school year in which the reorganization becomes effective or within one hundred eighty days after the organization of the new board, whichever is later. If a bargaining agreement was already concluded by the board and employees of the affected agency with the contract serving as the base agreement for the school year beginning with the effective date of the reorganization, that agreement shall be void. However, if the base agreement contains multiyear provisions affecting school years subsequent to the effective year of the reorganization, the base agreement shall remain in effect as specified in the agreement.

c. The provisions of the base agreement shall apply to the offering of new contracts or continuation, modification, or termination of existing contracts as provided in subsection 1.

3. The terms of a contract between the board of directors of a school district and the board of directors of an affected area education agency shall be carried out by the school board and the board of directors of the newly formed area education agency except as provided in this section.

4. The board of directors of a school district that is under a contract with an affected area education agency may petition the boards of directors of the affected area education agencies for release from the contract. If the petition receives a majority of the votes cast by the members of the boards of the affected area education agencies, the petition is approved and the contract shall be terminated on the effective date of the area education agency reorganization.

5. Not later than fifteen days after the state board notifies an area education agency of its approval of the area education agency’s reorganization plan or dissolution proposal, the area education agency shall notify, by certified mail, the school districts located within the area education agency boundaries, the school districts and area education agencies that are contiguous to its boundaries, and any other school district under contract with the area education agency, of the state board’s approval of the plan or proposal, and shall provide the department of education with a copy of any notice sent in accordance with this subsection. A petition to join an area education agency or for release from a contract with an area education agency, in accordance with subsections 4, 6, and 7, shall be filed not later than forty-five days after the state board approves a reorganization plan or dissolution proposal in accordance with this chapter.

6. Within forty-five days of the state board’s approval, the board of directors of a school district that is contiguous to a newly reorganized area education agency may petition the board of directors of their current area education agency and the newly reorganized area education agency to join the newly reorganized area education agency. If the initial, or new board if established in time under section 273.23, subsection 3, and the board of the contiguous area education agency approve the petition, the reorganization, including any school district whose petition to join the newly reorganized area education agency has been approved, shall take effect in accordance with the dates established under section 273.21, subsection 4. Both the initial, or new, and the contiguous area education agency boards must act within forty-five days of the deadline, as set forth in this subsection, for the filing of the school district’s petition. Within ten days of an area education agency board’s action, a school district may appeal to the state board the decision of an area education agency board to deny the school district’s petition.

7. Within forty-five days of the state board’s approval, the board of directors of a school district that is within a newly reorganized area education agency and whose school district is contiguous to another area education agency not included in the newly reorganized area education agency may petition the board of directors of the newly reorganized area education agency and the contiguous area education agency to join that area education agency. If the initial, or new board if established in time under section 273.23, subsection 3, and the board of the contiguous area education agency approve the petition, the reorganization, excluding any school district whose petition to join an area education agency contiguous to the newly reorganized area education agency has been approved, shall take effect in accordance with the dates established under section 273.21, subsection 4. Both the initial, or new, and the contiguous area education agency boards must act within forty-five days of the deadline, as set forth in this subsection, for the filing of the school district’s petition. Within ten days of an area education agency board’s action, a school district may appeal to the state board the decision of an area education agency board to deny the school district’s petition.

2001 Acts, ch 114, §4; 2001 Acts, ch 176, §36, 37; 2002 Acts, ch 1029, §3, 4, 8; 2003 Acts, ch 180, §24 – 26; 2004 Acts, ch 1101, §96, 102; 2006 Acts, ch 1152, §33; 2010 Acts, ch 1061, §96

Referred to in §273.23