(A) The board of education of any school district wherein the provisions of Chapter 124. of the Revised Code do not apply may terminate any of its transportation staff positions for reasons of economy and efficiency if the board instead of employing its own staff to transport some or all of the students enrolled in the district schools enters into a contract with an independent agent for the provision of transportation services for such students. Such a contract may be entered into only if all of the following conditions are satisfied:

(1) Any collective bargaining agreement between the employee organization representing the employees whose positions are terminated under this section and the board has expired or will expire within sixty days and has not been renewed in conformance with provisions of that agreement and with Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code, or the agreement contains provisions permitting the termination of positions for reasons of economy and efficiency while the agreement is in force and the board is in conformance with those provisions.

(2) The board permits any employee whose position is terminated under this section to fill any vacancy within the district's organization for which the employee is qualified. The board shall select from among similarly qualified employees to fill such vacancies pursuant to procedures established under any collective bargaining agreement between the employee organization representing the terminated employees and the board that is in force at the time of the termination, or in absence of such provisions on the basis of seniority of employment by the board with the employee with the greatest seniority having highest priority.

(3) Unless a collective bargaining agreement between the employee organization representing the terminated employees and the board that is in force at the time of the termination provides otherwise, the board permits any employee whose position is terminated under this section to fill the employee's former position in the event that the board reinstates that position within one year after the date the position is terminated under this section.

(4) The board permits any employee whose position is terminated under this section to appeal in accordance with section 119.12 of the Revised Code the board's decision to terminate the employee's position, not to hire that employee for another position pursuant to division (A)(2) of this section, or not to rehire that employee for the position if it is reinstated within one year after the position is terminated pursuant to division (A)(3) of this section.

(5) The contract entered into by the board and an independent agent for the provision of transportation services contains a stipulation requiring the agent to consider hiring any employees of the school district whose positions are terminated under this section for similar positions within the agent's organization.

(6) The contract entered into by the board and an independent agent for the provision of transportation services contains a stipulation requiring the agent to recognize for purposes of employee representation in collective bargaining any employee organization that represented the employees whose positions are terminated under this section in collective bargaining with the board at the time of the termination provided:

(a) A majority of all employees in the bargaining unit agree to such representation;

(b) Such representation is not prohibited by federal law, including any ruling of the national labor relations board;

(c) The employee organization is not prohibited from representing nonpublic employees by other provisions of law or its own governing instruments.

However, any employee whose position is terminated under this section shall not be compelled to be included in such bargaining unit if there is another bargaining unit within the agent's organization that is applicable to the employee.

(B) If after terminating any positions of employment under this section the board fails to comply with any condition prescribed in division (A) of this section or fails to enforce on the agent its contractual obligations prescribed in divisions (A)(5) and (6) of this section, the terminations shall be void and the board shall reinstate the positions and fill them with the employees who filled those positions just prior to the terminations. Such employees shall be compensated at a rate equal to their rate of compensation in those positions just prior to the terminations plus any increases paid since the terminations to other nonteaching employees. The employees shall also be entitled to back pay at such rate for the period from the date of the terminations to the date of the reinstatements minus any pay received by the employees during any time the board was in compliance with such conditions or during any time the board enforced those obligations.

Any employee aggrieved by the failure of the board to comply with any condition prescribed in division (A) of this section or to enforce on the agent its contractual obligations prescribed in divisions (A)(5) and (6) of this section shall have the right to sue the board for reinstatement of the employee's former position as provided for in this division in the court of common pleas for the county in which the school district is located or, if the school district is located in more than one county, in the court of common pleas for the county in which the majority of the territory of the school district is located.

Added by 129th General AssemblyFile No.28, HB 153, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2011.

Repealed by 128th General AssemblyFile No.9, HB 1, §105.01, eff. 10/16/2009. .

Prior History: (Effective Date: 09-20-2005)