Human Resources Academy II for Community College Districts

be treated as “permanent” upon completion of one full school year of employment. As noted above, section 8366 deems permit teachers to be academic staff. Because academic teachers may be on probation for a minimum of one year to a maximum of four years, districts should treat CDC permit teachers as “permanent” after a year of employment. It is also less than clear what rights attach to permanent status as a CDC permit teacher. Reading section 8366 in conjunction with other applicable law, we conclude that the employment rights of CDC permit teachers derive from three sources:

 The specific layoff and reemployment rights conferred on permanent CDC permit teachers in section 8366 (discussed below);

 The minimum due process rights of for-cause employees; and

 Any other rights that are bargained for.

D. T HE L AYOFF AND R EEMPLOYMENT R IGHTS OF CDC P ERMIT T EACHERS

1. L AYOFF OF P ROBATIONARY AND P ERMANENT CDC P ERMIT T EACHERS As noted above, section 8366 provides for the layoff of CDC permit teachers on the basis of, “lack of work or lack of funds.” However, it is otherwise silent as to the procedures a district must utilize to layoff CDC permit teachers. Nevertheless, by referring to the predecessor section to 8366 (former section 16766) and decisional law, the appropriate process can be identified. Specifically, we conclude that, in order to layoff CDC permit teachers, a district need not follow the procedures for contract and regular faculty laid out in Education Code sections 87740 and 87743. Rather, a district may treat CDC permit teachers as similar to classified employees and implement the statutory procedures for classified layoffs set out in Education Code section 88017. This means that CDC permit teachers are minimally entitled to a 45-days notice of layoff and not entitled to a hearing. Additional layoff rights can be secured through collective bargaining, but not by statute. This analysis is based, in part on the holding in California Teachers Association v. Pasadena Unified School District. 81 In this case, the court considered a CDC teachers’ claim that they were entitled to a hearing before being laid off. The court rejected the teachers’ claim, finding that the layoff provision for the children’s center teachers more closely resembled those for classified employees—which do not require a hearing. The Court specifically held that the layoff notice and hearing procedures applicable to certificated employees under section 13443 [current section 87740] or section 13447 [current section 87743] did not apply to children’s center teachers. In support of its holding, the Court noted that the Legislature used the same specific language in section 16766 [current section 8366], “layoff for lack of work or lack funds,” as used in section 13746 [current section 88127], which grants no right to a hearing. 82 The Court also based its decision on the fact that children’s centers are not financed or funded out of the regular district budget but by state and federal funds appropriated specifically for those purposes. 83

Human Resources Academy II for Community College Districts ©2019 (c) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 45