Human Resources Procedures
Please see the MECHS Faculty Handbook for a detailed list of all school procedures.
Criminal Background Check:
A criminal record check will be conducted at or prior to employment on every person who is employed by the Board for the first time to fill either a full-time or part-time certified or classified position with the Mountain Education (MEC). For this purpose, the applicant shall be fingerprinted as required by state law for all public school employees.
Subsequent criminal record checks will be conducted on all personnel in accordance with state laws, state board rules, and rules of the Professional Standards Commission. All certified personnel whose employment is continued with MEC shall have a criminal record check made upon any certificate renewal application to the Professional Standards Commission. All classified employees whose employment is continued with MEC shall have subsequent criminal record checks on a periodic basis, not to exceed every five years, using procedures and schedules to be determined by the MEC Superintendent or designee.
The cost of such record checks for all certified employees shall be paid by the applicant. The cost for all classified employees shall be paid by the Board.
Equal Opportunity:
The MEC does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, race, color, religion, national origin, or disability in its employment practices, educational programs or activities.
Complaint Procedures:
These complaint procedures describe the complaint and grievances procedures for certified personnel. Parents/school communication is described in student handbooks and on the website. Parents are expected to address complaints or grievances beginning at the school level with the teacher first and then the administration. Central office personnel should be contacted next should parents feel the issues have not been resolved. If still unsatisfied, the superintendent should be contacted. The complaint procedures describe grounds for complaints, federal programs for which complaints can be filed, filing and investigation of a complaint, as well as rights to appeal. The GADOE address to which complaints should be filed is included in the procedure.
Harassment and Discrimination:
It is the policy of the MEC that racial, sexual, or other forms of harassment or discrimination are strictly forbidden. Any student or employee who believes he or she has been subjected to harassment or discrimination by other students or employees of the MEC based upon his or her race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability or sex should promptly report the same to the Site Administrator or designee.
If the alleged offending individual is the Site Administrator, the complaint should be made to the Principal/Superintendent. If the alleged offending individual is the Principal/Superintendent, the complaint should be made to the Board chairperson.
Drug Free Workplace:
The Board declares that the manufacture, distribution, sale or possession of controlled substances, marijuana and other dangerous drugs in an unlawful manner or being at work under the influence of alcohol, controlled substances, marijuana or other dangerous drugs is a serious threat to the public health, safety and welfare. With this in mind, the Board declares that its work force must be absolutely free of any person who would knowingly manufacture, distribute, sell or possess a controlled substance, marijuana or a dangerous drug in an unlawful manner. This prohibition specifically includes, but is not limited to, the unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensation, possession, or use of a controlled substance or alcohol in the employee's workplace. This prohibition also includes, but is not limited to, an employee being under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances while on duty.
Any employee who is convicted for the first time, under the laws of this state, the United States, or any other state, of any criminal offense involving the manufacture, distribution, sale or possession of a controlled substance, marijuana or a dangerous drug shall be subject to disciplinary action. At a minimum, such an employee shall be suspended for a period of not less than two months and shall be required to complete, at his or her own expense, a drug abuse treatment and education program licensed under Chapter 5 of Title 26 of the Official Code of Georgia and approved by the board. At a maximum, such an employee may be terminated from his employment with the MEC. Any employee who is convicted for a second or subsequent time under the laws of this state, the United States, or any other state, of any criminal offense involving the manufacture, distribution, sale or possession of a controlled substance, marijuana or a dangerous drug shall be terminated from his or her employment and shall be ineligible for employment for a period of five years from the most recent date of conviction.
If, prior to an arrest for an offense involving a controlled substance, marijuana or a dangerous drug, an employee notifies the Superintendent or designee that the employee illegally uses a controlled substance, marijuana or a dangerous drug and is receiving or agrees to receive treatment under a drug abuse treatment and education program licensed under Chapter 5 of Title 26 of the Official Code of Georgia and approved by the Board, the employee shall be entitled to maintain his or her employment for up to one year as long as the employee follows the treatment plan. During this period, the employee shall not be separated from employment solely on the basis of the employee's drug dependence, but the employee's work activities may be restructured if practicable to protect persons or property. No statement made by an employee to the Superintendent or designee in order to comply with this code section shall be admissible in any civil, administrative or criminal proceeding as evidence against the public employee. The rights granted by this handbook shall be available to an employee only once during a five-year period and are intended to be and shall be interpreted as being the same as those minimum rights granted pursuant to the Georgia Drug-Free Work Force Act and any subsequent amendments thereof.
As a condition of employment, each employee must abide by the terms of this handbook and must notify the Board within five days after any arrest on any drug-related criminal charge and further notify the Board within five days of any conviction of a drug-related offense.
The Board shall not consider for employment any applicant who has been convicted for the first time of any drug offense as described above for a three month period from the date of conviction nor shall the Board consider any applicant for employment who has been convicted for the second time of any drug offense as described above for a five year period from the most recent date of conviction.
For purposes of this handbook, "conviction" refers to any final conviction in a court of competent jurisdiction, specifically including acceptance of a plea of guilty, nolo contendere, or any plea entered under the First Offenders Act of Georgia or any comparable state or federal legislation.
This handbook is not intended and shall not be interpreted as prohibiting the MEC from taking appropriate disciplinary action against any employee where there exists evidence that an employee uses, distributes or sells illegal drugs even though the employee has not been convicted of any criminal offense or where there exists evidence that an employee is under the influence of alcohol while on duty, except that the MEC may not use the statement of any employee to the Superintendent or designee requesting treatment as described in this handbook.
The MEC shall provide such staff development as required by state or federal law to inform employees of the dangers of drug abuse, the availability of employee assistance and drug counseling and treatment and the terms of this handbook.
Hiring Process:
Principals first request to post a position when they anticipate an opening at their site. The job posting will be open for a minimum of one calendar week. During the opening time as well as after, the principals have the liberty to review all applicants that have applied to the posting as well as the applicant pool. Applicants may apply at any time to the applicant pool for all positions listed.
They will review interested applicants for the open positions and conduct interviews to select the most appropriate candidate to hire. Principals must always hire highly qualified employees for the subject area unless they receive prior approval from the Superintendent for a high needs area or an emergency situation. Applicants must have at least three completed references before being hired. Principals will then submit a “Recommendation Form” through Applicant Tracking in order to alert the Human Resources Director of the pending new hire. After completing the “Recommendation Form”, the Administrative Assistant will assign the appropriate New Hire Packet to the applicant. The Applicant will be responsible for uploading all documents and completing all items on the new hire checklist provided to them in the packet. The applicant will contact the Administrative Assistant to schedule fingerprinting per the instructions on the Authorization to Fingerprint. Applicants will not be hired until all items on the checklist are submitted.
After the submission of the “Recommendation Form” form and the fingerprint results have been returned, the Administrative Assistant will process the applicant’s information.
When the employment package and criminal background checks are complete, the Human Resources Director will recommend the applicant for hiring to the Superintendent. The Superintendent will tentatively approve or deny the hiring of the applicant, subject to final board approval, after reviewing the employment package with the Human Resources Director.
The Human Resources Director will contact the Administrative Assistant to ensure all new hires are placed on the next board meeting agenda for final approval.
*All part time job postings will be open for a minimum of one calendar week. All full time job postings will be open for a minimum of two calendar weeks.
Nepotism:
MECHS follows the state regulations on Nepotism. Please see the state references below for more information.
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Reference Disclaimer: These references are not intended to be part of the policy itself, nor do they indicate the basis or authority for the board to enact this policy. Instead, they are provided as additional resources for those interested in the subject matter of the policy. |
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