The Board of Trustees has the legal responsibility of hiring all employees. The Board assigns to the Superintendent the process of recruiting personnel and hiring all classified personnel, see policy 5800. The Superintendent may involve various administrative and teaching staff as may be needed in recruiting potential personnel. All personnel selected for employment must be recommended by the Superintendent or designee and approved by the Board. All personnel selected for employment must also go through the applicable screening process outlined in Idaho Code 33- 1210.

To aid in obtaining quality staff members, the following non-exclusive list of factors will be considered, along with any other factors relevant to the position: qualifications, training, experience, personality, character, and ability to relate well with students. Every effort will be made to maintain wide diversity in staff experience and educational preparation. However, the welfare of the children of the District will be a paramount consideration in the selection of teachers and administrators.

All applicants applying for a certificated position who are pursuing an alternate route to certification shall be considered on a case-by-case basis. They must hold or demonstrate ability to hold any state certification required for the position and demonstrate they meet the alternate route requirements.

Except where otherwise specified, this policy applies to the hiring of all certificated and classified staff members in the District except for the Superintendent. This policy shall be made available to any District employee or person seeking employment with the District.

Guidelines

1. There will be no discrimination in the hiring See Policy 5120.
2. If the vacant position is that of the Superintendent, the hiring process and the review of all applicants is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees.
3. Applicants for teaching and administrative positions shall provide evidence of meeting State requirements for certification as described below and sign a statement authorizing current and past school district employers, including those outside the state of Idaho, to release to the District all information relating to job performance or job related conduct, and making available to the District copies of all documents in the applicant’s previous personnel files, investigative, or other files. Such statement will also release the applicant’s current and past employers from any liability for providing such information and documentation. Applicants who do not sign the statement/release shall not be considered for employment. The District will consider information received from current and past school district employers only for the purpose of evaluating applicants’ qualifications for employment in the position for which they have applied. No District employees shall disclose this information to anyone, other than the applicant, who is not directly involved in the process of evaluating the applicants’ qualifications for employment. Applicants may be employed on a non-contracted provisional basis as allowed by law. Applicants shall not be prevented from gaining employment if current or past out-of-state employers are prevented from or refuse to cooperate with the District’s request. See Forms 5100F1 and 5100F2.

4. Applicants must meet the applicable State standards for the position they are applying for. Applicants for high school and middle school teaching positions should have a major or its equivalent in the field they will be teaching. Applicants for elementary school teaching positions should have a major or its equivalent in elementary education or in their area of assignment.

5. When considering coaching assignments in secondary schools the athletic director will be responsible for assuring that all qualified and interested applicants within the building and district have been given consideration. Giving such individuals consideration does not mean that such an individual will necessarily be retained for a coaching position. Another individual who is not a certificated employee of the building in question may receive the position.

6. As required in Idaho Code 65-505, the District will observe preference for veterans and disabled veterans when considering hiring employees to fill vacancies, selecting new employees, or implementing a reduction in force.

7. As required in Idaho Code 33-130 and 33-512(15), the District will conduct a criminal history check for applicable positions. See Policy 5110.
8. Each newly hired employee must complete an Immigration and Naturalization Service form, as required by federal law.

The employment of any certified staff member is not official until the contract is approved by the Board and signed by both the Board Chair and the applicant.

To assist administrators in complying with the above policy for the hiring of staff, the following guidelines shall be utilized when hiring staff:

Notice of Vacancies

All vacancies will be posted after the Superintendent has received written resignation from an employee of the District (or pending Board approval), a termination or non-renewal has occurred, a release from contract has been granted, a new position is created within the District, or a vacancy has otherwise occurred. When that official resignation has been received or a position is otherwise available, the Superintendent will post notices on the District website. If a termination or release from contract requires Board approval to be final, the Superintendent may post the vacancy pending this approval.

1. Job Vacancy Notices: Any notice from Gooding School District will contain the following information:
   1. Position available and job description.
   2. Requirements for completed application, as applicable for position. For a certificated position, these shall include but are not limited to: 1) a completed District application form; 2) official transcripts of all university or college credits; 3) a placement center file; 4) a personal resume; and 5) verification or eligibility of Idaho certification. For all positions, a signed statement/release for current and past school district employers is required.
   3. Timeline for receiving application.
   4. Process notification of how applications will be handled.

The Superintendent’s Office will post notice of any vacancy within the District for a minimum of seven (7) calendar days.

1. Soon after the conclusion of the seven (7) school day period, the appropriate administrator will meet with the appropriate building or program administrator, and review all requests to apply for the open position. The building/program administrator will have the responsibility to interview all final applicants who meet the qualifications needed for the position, and may or may not make recommendation for such applicants after review. In the event the open position is deemed by the Board to be an administrative or director position, including building principal, the application must advance to the Superintendent’s office for appropriate review, including consultation with the Board.

2. If an applicant is recommended by the administrator/director, the recommendation will be submitted in writing to the Superintendent immediately following such determination. If such transfer would create a vacancy in another location, notice of that vacancy will be posted as specified above, with the exception that if the same grade level/subject area vacancy for the school has already been posted, the above building notice requirement may be waived and the existing applicant pool utilized.

3. An application or letter of interest will be maintained in the District file for a period of one year from the date of inquiry. It is the responsibility of any applicant who desires to be considered for positions within the District to reactivate his or her file annually.

4. The Superintendent may deviate from the processes in the outline above if they determine that such deviation is in the best interest of the District. If the applicant would be employed as a teacher, administrator, school resource officer, or bus driver under a Return to Work program, the District will ensure full compliance with PERSI rules prior to offering the position as described in Policy 5750.

Screening

For certificated and classified vacancies prior to the conclusion of the application period, the administrator/director will work with the district human resource director to determine the number of qualified individuals to be included in the screening pool. In the event the open position is deemed by the Board to be an administrative or director position, including principal, the size of the screening pool shall be determined by the Superintendent.

Interviews

1. The administrator/director in collaboration with the district human resource director will establish the procedures at the building or program level for interviewing the successful applicants

2. For those applicants who have no prior public school work experience or whose out-of-state former employers will not release documentation requested pursuant to IC § 33-1210, the district human resource director and administrator may engage in whatever background checks it deems appropriate, but at a minimum shall verify all prior work experience and educational achievement listed by the applicant as the district human resource director or administrator deems appropriate, preferably by contacting the prior employers and/or educational institutions listed by the applicant, and shall communicate with every person listed as a reference by the applicant.

3. Upon determining the qualified applicant, the building administrator will submit to the Superintendent the written recommendation for the applicant to be offered the position.

Acceptance Procedure

Once the interview committee, director or administrator has selected the final candidate, the name will be provided to the Superintendent who will review the applicant’s credentials with the district human resource director. If the Superintendent does not concur with the administrator, interview committee or director’s recommendation they shall ask the interview committee for their next choice until a selection the Superintendent concurs with is found.

If the Superintendent concurs with the recommendation, the Superintendent will take the following steps.

1. Authorize a statement of intention to employ, pending Board approval, to be made to the candidate.

2. If, at the time the statement of intention to employ is made, the District has not yet received documentation requested pursuant to IC 33-1210(3), the District may provisionally employ such applicant for a certificated position on a non-contracted basis for up to 30 days after receipt of the documentation. Within that thirty day time period, the Board may issue a written statement to the applicant identifying why a standard contract will not be issued and specifying which information justifies such decision. The Board may not identify any reason for non-issuance of a standard contract not based on the documentation received. If, within 30 days from the receipt of the information requested pursuant to IC 33-1210(3) no contract is issued or the written statement of non- employment is not provided to the applicant, the employee will be deemed to be employed pursuant to the appropriate type of contract. During this provisional employment, the applicant shall be provided the same compensation and benefits as if the employee had been employed on a standard certificated contract. If no documentation is received from out of state employers, the District may employ the applicant for the certificated position on the appropriate type of standard contract without utilizing the provisional, non-contracted employment.

3. Upon receiving a verbal or written statement of intention to accept employment, pending Board approval, by the candidate, the Superintendent will prepare the necessary papers for recommendation to the Board of Trustees at the next regular or special Board meeting.

4. Submit to the Board of Trustees such recommendation.

Approval of Candidate for Certificated Position

When approving the hiring of a certificated employee, the Board of Trustees of will:

1. Have placed before it the name of the final candidate for the position; and

3. If needed, discuss hiring and, in situations wherein the individual qualifications of the applicant are discussed, go into executive session pursuant to law; and
4. Vote relating to approval or disapproval of the candidate. If members of the Board personally have knowledge not available to the building administrator and the screening committee the Board will not take action until all concerns have been reviewed by the building/program administrator.

Upon approval by the Board of Trustees, a contract, in a form approved by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, will be sent or given to the applicant pursuant to the requirements set out in IC 33-513. The applicant must sign the contract and return it within ten days from the date the contract is delivered to them. If the person willfully refuses to acknowledge receipt of the contract or if the contract is not signed and returned to the Board in the designated period of time, the Board or designee may declare the position vacant. If the candidate is not approved, or if the person willfully refuses to acknowledge receipt of the contract or if the contract is not signed and returned to the Board, the Superintendent will remand the situation to the district human resource director and/or administrator to provide the next applicant’s name for consideration.

Any person on provisional employment pursuant to IC 33-1210(7) shall be subject to the same time limits and provisions for return of a signed contract when and if such contract shall be provided to them for signature.

Certification

To qualify for employment, each teacher, pupil service staff, or administrator must have, and maintain during the entire school year, a valid Idaho instructional/pupil service staff/administrator certificate on file in the District Office at the beginning of the school year. If at any time the teacher/pupil service staff/administrator’s certification lapses, is revoked, or suspended, the certificated employee may be subjected to action declaring a contract violation and action will be taken to terminate the employment of the individual with the District.

Policy History:

Adopted on: 4/9/13

Revised on: 8/20/19; 12/14/21; 5/9/23, 3-12-24, 4-8-24, 6-10-25

Reviewed on: