79-848. Reduction in force; employee; contract terminated; effect; recall; rights.
Any employee whose contract is terminated because of reduction in force shall be considered dismissed with honor and shall upon request be provided a letter to that effect. Such employee shall have preferred rights to reemployment for a period of twenty-four months commencing at the end of the contract year of such employee, and the employee shall be recalled on the basis of length of service to the school to any position for which he or she is qualified by endorsement or college preparation to teach. Whenever a school district has, pursuant to section 79-598, contracted for the instruction of all of the students residing in such district or has, pursuant to section 79-499, contracted for the instruction of its students in grades nine through twelve, the preferred rights to reemployment shall commence at the end of the student contract period as agreed to by the contracting school district. The employee shall, upon reappointment, retain any benefits which had accrued to such employee prior to termination, but such leave of absence shall not be considered as a year of employment by the district. An employee under contract to another educational institution may waive recall, but such waiver shall not deprive the employee of his or her right to subsequent recall.
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Annotations
The purpose of the tenured teacher act, former sections 79-1248 to 79-1254.08, is to guarantee a tenured teacher continued employment except in two circumstances: (1) discharge for cause, and (2) reduction in teaching force. Roth v. School Dist. of Scottsbluff, 213 Neb. 545, 330 N.W.2d 488 (1983).
The term "reduction in force" is not so vague as to be unconstitutional and is held to mean the termination of a teacher "due to a surplus of staff". Roth v. School Dist. of Scottsbluff, 213 Neb. 545, 330 N.W.2d 488 (1983).