To amend section 3319.081 and to enact section 3319.0810 of the Revised Code to permit non-Civil Service school district boards to terminate positions of district transportation employees for reasons of economy and efficiency and to contract with independent agents to provide transportation services as long as certain conditions are satisfied.

Section 1.  That section 3319.081 be amended and section 3319.0810 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 3319.081.  Except as otherwise provided in division (G) of this section, in all school districts wherein the provisions of Chapter 124. of the Revised Code do not apply, the following employment contract system shall control for employees whose contracts of employment are not otherwise provided by law:

(A) Newly hired regular nonteaching school employees, including regular hourly rate and per diem employees, shall enter into written contracts for their employment which shall be for a period of not more than one year. If such employees are rehired, their subsequent contract shall be for a period of two years.

(B) After the termination of the two-year contract provided in division (A) of this section, if the contract of a nonteaching employee is renewed, the employee shall be continued in employment, and the salary provided in the contract may be increased but not reduced unless such reduction is a part of a uniform plan affecting the nonteaching employees of the entire district.

(C) The contracts as provided for in this section may be terminated by a majority vote of the board of education. Except as provided in section sections 3319.0810 and 3319.172 of the Revised Code, the contracts may be terminated only for violation of written rules and regulations as set forth by the board of education or for incompetency, inefficiency, dishonesty, drunkenness, immoral conduct, insubordination, discourteous treatment of the public, neglect of duty, or any other acts of misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance. In addition to the right of the board of education to terminate the contract of an employee, the board may suspend an employee for a definite period of time or demote the employee for the reasons set forth in this division. The action of the board of education terminating the contract of an employee or suspending or demoting the employee shall be served upon the employee by certified mail. Within ten days following the receipt of such notice by the employee, the employee may file an appeal, in writing, with the court of common pleas of the county in which such school board is situated. After hearing the appeal the common pleas court may affirm, disaffirm, or modify the action of the school board.

A violation of division (A)(7) of section 2907.03 of the Revised Code is grounds for termination of employment of a nonteaching employee under this division.

(D) All employees who have been employed by a school district where the provisions of Chapter 124. of the Revised Code do not apply, for a period of at least three years on November 24, 1967, shall hold continuing contracts of employment pursuant to this section.

(E) Any nonteaching school employee may terminate the nonteaching school employee's contract of employment thirty days subsequent to the filing of a written notice of such termination with the treasurer of the board.

(F) A person hired exclusively for the purpose of replacing a nonteaching school employee while such employee is on leave of absence granted under section 3319.13 of the Revised Code is not a regular nonteaching school employee under this section.

(G) All nonteaching employees employed pursuant to this section and Chapter 124. of the Revised Code shall be paid for all time lost when the schools in which they are employed are closed owing to an epidemic or other public calamity. Nothing in this division shall be construed as requiring payment in excess of an employee's regular wage rate or salary for any time worked while the school in which the employee is employed is officially closed for the reasons set forth in this division.

Sec. 3319.0810. (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.

Section 2.  That existing section 3319.081 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.