A. Whenever a board of education receives a recommendation from the superintendent for the dismissal or nonreemployment of a teacher, the board or individual designated by the board shall mail a copy of the recommendation to the teacher by certified mail, restricted delivery, return receipt requested, by personal delivery to the teacher with a signed acknowledgement of receipt, or by delivery by a process server. By the same means, the board shall notify the teacher of the right to a hearing before the board and the date, time and place set by the board for the hearing, which shall be held within the school district not sooner than twenty (20) days or later than sixty (60) days after receipt of notice by the teacher, the date on the personal receipt by hand-delivery to the teacher, or the date of delivery by a process server. The notice shall specify the statutory grounds upon which the recommendation is based upon for a career teacher or shall specify the cause upon which the recommendation is based upon for a probationary teacher. The notice shall also specify the underlying facts supporting the recommendation. At the hearing, the teacher shall be entitled to all rights guaranteed under the circumstances by the United States Constitution and the Constitution of Oklahoma.

B. The teacher hearing shall be conducted by the district board according to procedures established by the State Board of Education.

C. Only after due consideration of the evidence and testimony presented at the hearing shall the district board decide whether to dismiss or nonreemploy the teacher. The vote of the board shall be made in an open meeting. The board shall also notify the teacher of the decision, including the basis for the decision, by certified mail, restricted delivery, return receipt requested, or substitute process as provided by law. The decision of the board regarding a teacher shall be final and nonappealable. At the hearing the burden of proof shall be upon the superintendent or designee, and the standard of proof shall be by the preponderance of the evidence. The teacher shall receive any compensation or benefits to which the teacher is otherwise entitled until the decision of the board becomes final. If the hearing for a teacher is for nonreemployment, such compensation and benefits may be continued only until the end of the current contract of the teacher.

Added by Laws 1989, 1st Ex. Sess., c. 2, § 81, operative July 1, 1990. Amended by Laws 2003, c. 434, § 9; Laws 2006, c. 112, § 2, eff. July 1, 2006; Laws 2010, c. 291, § 12, eff. July 1, 2012; Laws 2011, c. 40, § 4.

NOTE: Laws 2011, c. 40, § 3 repealed by Laws 2012, c. 11, § 21, emerg. eff. April 4, 2012.