school district employees; prohibited employment

HB2387 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
school district employees; prohibited employment

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HB 2387

Introduced by

Representatives
Gress: Carter N, Fink, Gillette;� Senators Angius, Werner

AN
ACT

amending title 15, chapter 5, article 1,
Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 15-502.01; amending sections
15-503 and 38-503, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to school
district employees.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Title 15, chapter 5, article 1,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 15-502.01, to read:

START_STATUTE
15-502.01.

Secondary employment; school district officials; prohibition;
legal actions; definitions

A. Notwithstanding sections 15-502
and 15-503, the governing board of a school district with a student count
of more than five hundred may not employ any individual as a school district
official while the individual engages in secondary employment.

B. The following persons may bring an
action in a court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin any violation of this
section by a school district governing board:

1. A student's parent or a student
who is at least eighteen years of age, if the student is enrolled at a school
in the school district.

2. A person who resides in the
geographic boundaries of the school district.

3. Any other person who has an
interest that is or may be adversely affected.

C. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Official":

(
a
) Means an
individual who meets any of the following:

(
i
) Is
responsible for procurement activities of the school district.

(
ii
) Is
responsible for the direction, control and operation of the school district or
school district offices.

(
iii
) Has
control or decision-making authority over the school district's budget.

(
b
) Includes a
superintendent and chief financial officer.

2. "Secondary employment":

(
a
) Means any
work, service or business activity for which an individual receives monetary or
other compensation as an employee, contractor, business owner or business
partner.

(
b
) Does not
include either:

(
i
) The
discharge of an individual's duties as an official for the school district.

(
ii
) The
discharge of an individual's duties as an official for more than one school
only if the school district employs the individual jointly with the other
school district pursuant to section 15-503.

(
iii
) Passive
investment activity.

3. "Superintendent"
includes a superintendent, deputy superintendent, assistant superintendent and
associate superintendent.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 15-503, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
15-503.

Superintendents, principals, head teachers and school
psychologists; terms of employment; evaluation; contract delivery and
acceptance; nonretention notice

A.
The

A school district
governing board may:

1. Employ a superintendent or principal, or both.�
If the governing board employs a superintendent, the governing board shall
determine the qualifications for the superintendent by action taken at a public
meeting.� The governing board shall require a superintendent to have a valid
fingerprint clearance card that is issued pursuant to title 41, chapter 12,
article 3.1.

2. Appoint a head teacher.

3. Jointly with another governing board employ a
superintendent or a principal, or both
, only if the student
count of at least one of the school districts is not more than five hundred on
the date that the governing boards execute or extend the superintendent's
employment contract
. If the governing board jointly employs a
superintendent, the governing boards shall jointly determine the qualifications
for the superintendent by action taken at a public meeting.� The governing
boards shall require a superintendent to have a valid fingerprint clearance
card that is issued pursuant to title 41, chapter 12, article 3.1.

B. The term of employment of superintendents may be
for any period not exceeding three years, except that if the superintendent's
contract with the school district is for multiple years pursuant to this
subsection
,
the school district shall not offer to extend
or renegotiate the contract
until no
earlier than fifteen
months before the
expiration of the
contract
expires
.� The term of employment of principals may be for any
period not exceeding three years, except that if the principal's contract with
the school district is for multiple years
,
the school
district shall not offer to extend or negotiate the contract until May of the
year preceding the final year of the contract.� The school district governing
board or the governing body of the charter school shall communicate the
superintendent's or principal's duties with respect to the classroom site fund
established by section 15-977.

C. The governing board shall establish systems for
the evaluation of the performance of principals and other school administrators
and certificated school psychologists in the school district. In
the development

developing
and
adoption of

adopting
these performance
evaluation systems, the governing board shall avail itself of the advice of its
administrators and certificated school psychologists. Each
evaluation shall include recommendations as to areas of improvement in the
performance of the certificated school psychologist if the performance of the
certificated school psychologist warrants improvement. After
transmittal of an assessment, a governing board designee shall confer with the
certificated school psychologist to make specific recommendations as to areas
of improvement in the certificated school psychologist's
performance. The governing board designee shall provide assistance
and opportunities for the certificated school psychologist to improve
performance and shall follow up with the certificated school psychologist after
a reasonable period of time for the purpose of ascertaining that the
certificated school psychologist is demonstrating adequate
performance. The evaluation process for certificated school
psychologists shall include appeal procedures for certificated school
psychologists who disagree with the evaluation of their performance, if the
evaluation is for use as criteria for establishing compensation or dismissal.

D. On or before May 15 each year, the governing
board shall offer a contract for the next school year to each certified
administrator and certificated school psychologist who is in the last year of
the person's contract unless, on or before April 15, the governing board, a
member of the board acting on behalf of the governing board or the
superintendent of the school district gives notice to the administrator or
certificated school psychologist of the governing board's intention not to
offer a new contract.� If the governing board has called for an override
election for the third Tuesday in May as provided in section 15-481, the
governing board shall offer a contract for the next school year to each
certified administrator or certificated school psychologist who is in the last
year of the person's contract on or before June 15 unless,
no

not
later than five days after the override election
excluding Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays, the governing board, a member of
the governing board acting on behalf of the governing board or the
superintendent of the school district gives notice to the administrator or the
certificated school psychologist of the governing board's intention not to
offer a new contract. The administrator's or the certificated school
psychologist's acceptance of the contract shall be indicated within thirty days
after the date of the written contract or the offer is revoked. The
administrator or certificated school psychologist accepts the contract by
signing the contract and returning it to the governing board or by making a
written instrument that accepts the terms of the contract and delivering the
written instrument to the governing board.

E. Notice of the governing board's intention not to
reemploy the administrator or certificated school psychologist shall be made by
delivering the notice personally to the administrator or the certificated
school psychologist or by sending the notice by certified mail, postmarked on
or before the applicable deadline prescribed in subsection D of this section,
and directed to the administrator or the certificated school psychologist at
the person's place of residence as recorded in the school district records.

F. The governing board shall make available the
evaluation and performance classification of each principal in the school
district to school districts and charter schools that are inquiring about the
performance of the principal for hiring purposes.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 38-503, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
38-503.

Conflict of interest; exemptions; employment prohibitions

A. Any public officer or employee of a public agency
who has, or whose relative has, a substantial interest in any contract, sale,
purchase or service to
such

the

public agency shall make known that
substantial
interest
in the official records of
such

the

public agency and shall refrain from voting
upon

on
or otherwise participating in any manner as an officer or
employee in
such

the
contract, sale
or purchase.

B. Any public officer or employee who has, or whose
relative has, a substantial interest in any decision of a public agency shall
make known
such

that substantial

interest in the official records of
such

the

public agency and shall refrain from participating in any manner as an officer
or employee in
such

the
decision.

C. Notwithstanding
the provisions of

subsections A and B of this section,
no

a

public officer or employee of a public agency shall
not

supply to
such

the
public agency any
equipment, material, supplies or services, unless pursuant to an award or
contract let after public competitive bidding, except that:

1. A school district governing board may purchase,
as provided in sections 15-213 and 15-323, supplies, materials and
equipment from a school board member.

2. Political subdivisions other than school
districts may purchase through their governing bodies, without using public
competitive bidding procedures, supplies, materials and equipment
not exceeding three hundred dollars

of not more
than $300
in cost in any single transaction, not to exceed a total of
one thousand dollars

$1,000
annually, from
a member of the governing body if the policy for such purchases is approved
annually.

D. Notwithstanding subsections A and B of this
section
:
and

1.
As provided in sections 15-421
and 15-1441, the governing board of a school district or a community
college district may not employ a person who is a member of the governing board
or who is the spouse of a member of the governing board.

2. As provided in section 15-502.01,
the governing board of a school district with a student count of more than five
hundred may not employ a person as a school district official while the person
engages in secondary employment as defined in section 15-502.01.

END_STATUTE

Sec. 4.
Existing contracts;
applicability

Section
15-502.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act, and sections
15-503 and 38-503, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this
act, apply to employment contracts that are executed, amended or renewed after
the effective date of this act.