New Law Mandates Changes for Categorically-Funded Certificated Employee Contracts and Adult School Teachers

06.27.2024

Effective July 1, 2024, Assembly Bill (“AB”) 897 will amend Education Code section 44909 regarding categorically funded certificated employees.  Section 44909 historically permitted school districts to contract with employees hired to perform services conducted under contract with public or private agencies or categorically funded projects and to apply different rules regarding attainment of permanency. These “categorically funded” employees are employed in a status that does not automatically lead to permanency, and may be terminated when the source of the categorical funding expires without following the dismissal or layoff process for certificated employees.  The case which clarified the employment status of such employees, Stockton Teachers Assn. CTA/NEA v. Stockton Unified School District (2012) 204 Cal.App.4th 446, has long required school districts to include information in employment contracts that meets a four-part test as follows:

1. The certificated employee must be hired to perform services conducted under contract with public or private agencies or categorically funded projects which are not required by federal or state statutes.
2. The contract must identify the particular contract or project for which the services were performed.
3. The contract must show the end date for when particular contract or project expires.
4. The contract must show that the certificated employee was hired for the entire term of the contract or project.

In addition to meeting the requirements of the Stockton test, contracts for categorically funded employees must now contain language specifying “the expected end date of employment, the source of funding, and the nature of the categorically funded program or project.”  Failure to meet these new requirements will result in the certificated employee being considered a regular probationary certificated employee progressing toward permanency after service of two complete consecutive school years per Education Code section 44929.21.

AB 897 also mandates that adult school teachers may no longer be hired as categorical employees subject to the special conditions regarding permanency contained in Education Code section 44909.  However, per Education Code section 44929.25, adult school teachers may be hired as temporary if they work 60 percent or less of the hours per week of a full-time adult school teaching position.

Based on the amendments to Section 44909, we recommend school districts immediately revise all categorically funded certificated contract templates and adhere to the guidelines set above.  Please do not hesitate to contact the authors of this alert or your AALRR counsel for clarification and guidance. 

This AALRR publication is intended for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in reaching a conclusion in a particular area of law. Applicability of the legal principles discussed may differ substantially in individual situations. Receipt of this or any other AALRR publication does not create an attorney-client relationship. The Firm is not responsible for inadvertent errors that may occur in the publishing process.

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