SECTION 210:25-3-4. Personnel

(a)   Teachers who have not yet received their degrees shall be considered as having a degree if all requirements have been completed except participation in graduation exercises.

(b)   A teacher who has taught more than one-half of a day for 120 days or more shall be considered as having had one year of experience. A teacher who has taught the equivalent of 120 days within not more than two contractual years shall be considered as having had one year of experience. Experience shall be counted if the individual was legally employed and paid from funds under the supervision of a school board of education or any school accredited by the State Board of Education. Practice teaching or a practicum in a teacher-training institution shall not be considered as experience. Veterans Agricultural training instructors or any teacher employed full-time by an accredited college or university shall be considered as having one (1) year of teaching experience for each year of service after July 1, 1945, if such teaching experience is approved by the State Board of Education, provided such teacher held a bachelor's degree at the time these services were performed and was eligible to have been issued a teaching certificate. A teacher who has received Workers' Compensation benefits while employed by a public school district or charter school shall be eligible to have the time spent on Workers' Compensation included in the calculation of their cumulative teaching experience, provided all of the following conditions apply:

(1)   The individual held a valid Oklahoma teaching certificate during the time period they received Workers' Compensation benefits;

(2)   The individual received temporary total disability benefits;

(3)   The individual was employed by a public school immediately prior to and during the period of absence due to work-related injury or illness;

(4)   The individual's public school employer certifies in writing the dates during which temporary total disability benefits were paid to the individual; and

(5)   Service credit for time during which a certified teacher received temporary total disability benefits through the Workers' Compensation system shall be capped at a cumulative maximum of five (5) years.

(c)   Any district identified as contracting with a teacher, or administrator without a valid certificate shall be penalized in state aid. The state aid penalty amount shall be the salary amount paid by the district for the number of days the teacher or administrator taught without a valid certificate in excess of allowable substitute days.

(d)   All teachers must have an official transcript on file with the Professional Standards Section showing the degree completed.

(e)   The timeframe for submitting Initial Personnel Reports shall be open from September 1 through October 1 of each year. No later than October 1, all public school districts must file an accurate Initial Personnel Report with the State Department of Education. The report shall list all personnel in the district and shall list for each person the position code, compensation, degree, certification information, years of qualified experience, number of days employed and other information as deemed necessary. Beginning with the 2004-2005 school year the school district will report to the State Department of Education the salary and benefit information disaggregated as required by law. For each employee not returning from the previous year, a reason for no return code shall be recorded. The Initial Personnel Report must be certified no later than October 15.

(f)   From November 1 through December 15 of each year, a school district superintendent shall have access to the district's Initial Personnel Report. During this period, the superintendent will be permitted to make necessary corrections and updates to the report. Any changes made by a superintendent to the school district's Initial Personnel Report must be submitted no later than December 15. Reports are to be recertified after updates are complete.

(g)   The timeframe for submitting Mid-Year Personnel Reports shall be open from January 1 through February 1 of each year. No later than February 1, all public school districts must file an accurate revised Mid-Year Personnel Report with the State Department of Education. The report shall contain any corrections, departures, and additions that have occurred since the October 1 Initial Personnel Report was filed so that more accurate information is available for state aid calculations, legislative projections and other statistical requirements. State Aid funds shall be withheld from any school district that does not submit the Mid-Year Personnel Report by February 1. Only after the accurate report has been received by the State Department of Education shall the withheld State Aid funds be released to the school district.

(h)   From February 15 through May 15 of each year, a school district superintendent shall have access to the district's Mid-Year Personnel Report. During this period, the superintendent will be permitted to make necessary corrections and updates to the report. Any changes made by a superintendent to the school district's Mid-Year Personnel Report must be submitted no later than May 15. Reports are to be recertified after updates are complete.

(i)   All public school districts must file an accurate End-of-Year Supplemental Personnel Report showing the changes for personnel previously listed as well as all information required on any new employees not previously listed. This report shall contain any corrections or changes to be made to the February 1 Mid-Year Personnel Report. All employees that departed the school district prior to completion of the school year shall be given a "Reason-For-Leaving" code and have salary and days employed adjusted. School districts shall also file the Certified Substitute Teachers Report listing the number of days taught in the school year by all certified substitute teachers. The timeframe for submitting End-of-Year Supplemental Personnel Reports and Certified Substitute Teachers Reports shall be open from June 1 to July 15 of each year. These two reports shall be filed with the State Department of Education no later than July 15.

(j)   If the district pays a teacher less than the minimum salary required by law, the difference shall be deducted from the next payment of state aid, or a claim shall be filed by the Director of Finance to recover any such overpayment to the school district.

(1)   The School Personnel Records Section will notify the school superintendent of all potentially underpaid teachers after the Mid-Year Personnel Reports are filed with the State Department of Education in February. The school superintendent shall notify the School Personnel Records Section of the district's intent to pay the teacher the underpaid amount or to dispute the amount. If disputed, the school superintendent is responsible for providing documentation to the School Personnel Records Section to show the teacher was not underpaid based on the state minimum salary schedule. The State Aid Section shall withhold from state aid the amount underpaid by October 1 in the school year following the year in which the underpayment occurred.

(2)   The method for calculating teacher salaries to ensure state minimums are met shall be determined by the School Personnel Records Section.

(k)   If a teacher asserts that the school district he or she is employed by and was employed by the previous year, (or if underpayment occurred prior to July 1, 2002, and the teacher filed an action to recover an underpayment in a court of competent jurisdiction before July 1, 2002), has reduced the salary and/or fringe benefit level without a proportionate reduction in hours or duties, the teacher may file a complaint with the State Department of Education's School Personnel Records Section. The complaint must be accompanied by documentation sufficient to justify the allegations in the complaint. The teacher shall also send a copy of the complaint and supporting documentation to the superintendent of the school district. The documentation shall include, but not be limited to, the teacher's salary and benefit amount for each year in question. The superintendent shall be given an opportunity to submit documentation to refute the teacher's claim within 20 calendar days of receipt of the complaint. The School Personnel Records Section shall review all the documentation presented and present the complaint to the State Board of Education for determination of whether the school district willfully reduced the teacher's salary and benefits in violation of the law. If the school district does not provide a response and supporting documentation to the complaint, the complaint shall be upheld. In the event the review of the documents reveals that the complaint is valid, the State Board of Education shall withhold the amount underpaid from the district's state aid as a penalty. Additionally, the same amount shall be withheld and that amount shall be sent to the teacher.

(l)   Any superintendent, principal, or teacher shall not be considered as having received their minimum salary unless such salary is paid by school district warrants issued by the board of education or the school district.

(m)   Personnel on the staff of the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education shall be approved by the State Board of Education for increment purposes.

(n)   Certified personnel teaching in Manpower Skill Centers and other Manpower Development Training Programs approved by the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education shall be considered as teaching in a school approved by the State Board of Education for increment purposes as provided by Oklahoma School Law.

(o)   Under the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), a teacher who is called to active duty in the uniformed services is entitled to certain continuing benefits of civilian employment, including the accrual of Oklahoma teaching experience for minimum salary schedule purposes during their active duty service. For purposes of this subsection, the term "uniformed services" incorporates the definition at 38 U.S.C. § 4303 and includes the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, and the reserve components of these services, as well as the Air National Guard and Army National Guard. There is a cumulative limit of five (5) years on Oklahoma teaching experience accrued during active duty service while contracted as a public school teacher. Because teachers who are called to active duty while under contract with a school district are entitled to this benefit of employment under federal law, this category of up to five (5) years of service is separate from the up to five (5) years of active duty military service accrued prior to service as a teacher that an applicant for Oklahoma teaching certification may be eligible to have applied toward their initial step on the minimum salary schedule under 70 O.S. § 18-114(D). An individual who has been awarded up to five (5) years of credit for active duty service accrued prior to teaching, under 70 O.S. § 18-114(D), may also be eligible for up to five (5) years of credit awarded under this subsection if they are called to active duty while serving as a teacher.

(p)   Certified personnel who are employed in the SoonerStart Early Intervention Program, a joint operation of the State Department of Education and the State Department of Health that delivers educational services to children from birth through age two (2) under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), shall be eligible to accrue Oklahoma teaching experience for services provided through SoonerStart that are substantially equivalent to educational services that the certified individual would provide if employed by a public school. Credit will be awarded based on the guidelines in subsection (b) of this rule, with at least one-half day of SoonerStart service provision for at least one hundred twenty (120) days per year, or at least three hundred sixty (360) hours per calendar year, resulting in one (1) year of Oklahoma teaching experience for salary schedule and retirement system purposes.

[Source: Amended at 10 Ok Reg 1383, eff 4-26-93; Amended at 14 Ok Reg 3347, eff 5-5-97 (emergency); Amended at 15 Ok Reg 2293, eff 6-11-98; Amended at 16 Ok Reg 2072, eff 5-3-99 (emergency); Amended at 17 Ok Reg 1091, eff 5-11-00; Amended at 21 Ok Reg 350, eff 12-8-03 (emergency); Amended at 21 Ok Reg 1279, eff 5-27-04; Amended at 25 Ok Reg 83, eff 9-4-07 (emergency); Amended at 25 Ok Reg 860, eff 5-12-08; Amended at 32 Ok Reg 917, eff 8-27-15; Amended at 33 Ok Reg 144, eff 9-24-15 (emergency); Amended at 33 Ok Reg 718, eff 8-25-16; Amended at 35 Ok Reg 1148, eff 9-14-18; Amended at 37 Ok Reg 1209, eff 9-11-20]