Employee Discipline in an Education Environment Module 2: Grounds for Employee Discipline

Wed., June 26, 2013, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  
SAI Office, Clive


When it comes to the issue of employee discipline, many school leaders feel as if they are caught between a rock and a hard place.

On one side, administrators and supervisors know they need to hold staff accountable for their actions and behaviors. On the other, they know that 75% of all legal claims brought against K-12 institutions are raised by employees - many of whom allege some form of due process or Constitutional rights violation before, during or after disciplinary action.

Whether they ultimately result in disciplinary action or not, the research is clear: Instances of substandard performance - and cases of employee misconduct - can negatively impact student achievement either directly or indirectly. In fact, performance and conduct issues are often found to be undermining school improvement or reform initiatives in buildings designated as persistently "underperforming" or "non-performing" by their respective state departments of education. This is true even in some otherwise "performing" schools struggling to demonstrate consistent year-over-year student achievement gains.

The question isn't whether or not corrective or disciplinary action can or should be taken to address substandard performance or employee misconduct, but how to do so proactively in an effective and defensible manner.

Employee Discipline in an Education Environment© (EDEV) establishes a comprehensive framework of best practices for effectively and defensibly managing cases of employee misconduct or substandard performance. This workshop provides participants with dozens of collaborative opportunities to practice research-supported management strategies using education attorney-hosted tutorials and video-based reenactments of actual disciplinary situations from across the country.

Want to find out how to effectively and defensibly address those common staff conduct issues that most frequently undermine school or district efforts to increase create student achievement? Then join us for the second module of the EDEV program, Grounds for Employee Discipline. Note: You must complete Module 1 before participating in Module 2.

This workshop is available to a limited number of participants, and the deadline to register is June 18. Registration includes continental breakfast, lunch and participant manual.

License Renewal Credit: Participants completing all three Employee Discipline in an Education Environment Modules will receive 1 license renewal credit.

Registration: Register online.

Cancellation information: Notification must be received by June 18. Call (515) 267-1115 to let us know if you're unable to attend.

Agenda

8 - 8:30 a.m.
Participant check-in

8:30 a.m. - Noon

  • Introduction to seminar and grounds for employee discipline
  • Considerations for structuring the Code of Employee Conduct 
  • Lack of professional competence as grounds for employee discipline 
  • Differentiating district policy violations from other forms of employee misconduct 
  • Dishonesty, records falsification or failure to accurately provide requested information
  • Insubordination and related forms of non-compliance
  • Attendance, leave or contract day policy violations 

Noon - 1 p.m.

  • Inappropriate, abusive or offensive conduct 
  • Working lunch
  • Considerations in cases of alleged criminal misconduct by employees 

1 - 3:30 p.m.

  • Examples of employee misconduct with potential criminal consequences
  • Examples of employee misconduct with potential civil consequences
  • Addressing potential gaps in the Code of Employee Conduct
  • The role of federal and state statutes in the Code of Employee Conduct
  • The role of negotiated agreements in the Code of Employee Conduct