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law, rule, regulation, precept, statute, ordinance, canon mean a principle governing action or procedure. law implies imposition by a sovereign authority and the obligation of obedi-ence on the part of all subject to that authority; rule applies to more restricted or specific situations; regulation implies prescription by authority in order to control an organization or system; precept commonly suggests something advisory and not obligatory communicated typically through teaching; statute implies a law enacted by a legislative body; ordinance applies to an order governing some detail of procedure or conduct enforced by a limited authority such as a municipality; canon suggests in nonreligious use a principle or rule of behavior or procedure commonly accepted as a valid guide. educate to develop mentally, morally, or aesthetically; to persuade or condition to feel, believe, or act in a desired way or to accept something as desirable; to provide schooling; law, rule, regulation, precept, statute, ordinance, canon mean a principle governing action or procedure. law implies imposition by a sovereign authority and the obligation of obedience on the part of all subject to that authority; rule applies to more restricted or specific situations; regulation implies prescription by authority in order to control an organization or system; precept commonly suggests something advisory and not obligatory communicated typically through teaching; statute implies a law enacted by a legislative body; ordinance canon mean a principle governing action or procedure. law implies imposition by a sovereign authority and the obligation of obedience on the part of all subject to that authority; rule applies to more restricted or specific situations; regulation implies prescription by authority in order to control an organization or system; precept commonly suggests something advisory and not obligatory communicated typically through teaching; statute implies a law enacted by a legislative body; ordinance

IntroductionThis chapter addresses issues related to a school dis-trict’s classified staff. The California Education Code contains numerous sections relating directly to the clas-sified service. In addition, classified staff have separate bargaining units in school districts throughout the state.

Classified staff is clearly essential to the suc-cessful conduct of school business. In 2013–2014, there were 231,887 classified employees in Cali-fornia, divided about equally between full and part-time (Ed-data, 2015). The largest number of classified employees were office-clerical (44%), followed by para-professional (32%), and other, which includes custodial, food service, mainte-nance, and so on.

While the teacher is the key individual in the education of youth, his or her success greatly depends on a well-trained and efficient support staff. Other than parents, the first adult whom a child sees in the morning may well be a bus driver or school crossing guard. That bus driver or crossing guard is key to getting a youngster’s day started properly. Classified employees act as an extension of the classroom teacher. They are expected to model appropriate behavior and establish standards of discipline. During each school day a child interacts with several important classified staff members. For example, in many classrooms, particularly at the elementary grades, the teacher is assisted by an instructional aide. Often, children are unaware that the aide is not a certificated teacher and respond to this individual much as they do to the teacher.

chapter 7

Classified Personnel

During recess and lunch, students are served food by cafeteria workers and supervised on the playground by campus aides. In many districts a child who needs to go to the health office is seen by a member of the classified staff. While a child may not see the secretary or office clerk each and every day, he or she develops a close relation with these adults as notes from home are delivered and other clerical tasks are completed. In addition, the cleanliness of the classroom is dependent on the custodial staff, playgrounds are maintained by the groundskeeping department, and facilities maintenance depends on the maintenance and operations crew—all classified staff.

Certainly a committed, highly trained classified staff is indispensable. A school district that cuts back on custodians, food service, and landscape person-nel soon feels the effect of those reductions on the educational program. Nevertheless, in an era of limited financial resources for school personnel, the brunt of major budget cuts often falls on the classi-fied service.

As districts review budget reductions, they are often in a quandary as to the minimum level of support required. This becomes the critical debate at any school board meeting when budget reduc-tions are being considered. Board members may say something like “The windows can be broken and the classroom door unlocked, yet the educational program continues.” However, anyone who has tried to conduct an educational program with inadequate support personnel knows the difficulty of maintain-ing a suitable learning environment without their assistance.

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“Children need all school workers. A person is not just a janitor, not just a custodian. Janitors can see children when teachers don’t see them, and the bus drivers are the first to see children in the morning. We are partners.”

—Rev. Jesse Jackson

Townley_School_Personnel09E_Ch07_Printer.indd 65 24/06/16 5:28 pm

Classified Personnel from School Personnel Administration/Human Resources: A California Perspective 9th Edition | by June Schmieder and Arthur Townley | 9781524901516

Property of Kendall Hunt Publishing

66 chapter 7

employment The rules governing employment of classified person-nel have been formulated to ensure that appropriate personnel are hired to work with and near children. For instance, persons who have been convicted of any sex offense or controlled substance offense may not be em-ployed by a school district. To enforce this requirement, California Education Code Section #45125 requires districts to send fingerprint cards for each new classi-fied employee to the U.S. Department of Justice, whose responsibility it is to ascertain whether the employee has been arrested for or convicted of any crime. The finger-print requirement was discussed in Chapter 2.

No discussion of classified personnel would be complete without reference to affirmative action. A major portion of the Education Code is devoted to defining a policy of equal opportunity in employment for all persons. These sections were approved to ensure that no discrimination exists in employment with respect to race, sex, color, religion, age, disabil-ity, ancestry, or national origin (Ed. Code #44100, #44101). California school districts are required to actively seek personnel in those ethnic groups that are under repre sented in the district’s workforce.

Job analysisA job analysis for classified employees has the same objective as for certificated personnel: determining the actual requirements for each specific job. Its importance has grown in recent years as courts have increasingly looked to this procedure in reaching judgements about various aspects of personnel selection.

Job analysis involves collecting, organizing, and evaluating information related to responsibilities and tasks. The U.S. Department of Labor (2005) suggests four dimensions for inclusion in a job analysis:

Purpose Relationship of the job to the goals of the organization

Essential Activities, sequence, physical activi- functions ties, relationship to work of others, time allocations, necessity of comple- tion and promptness

Job setting Location, organization, safety, physical movements, temperature and humidity, working alone or with others, with or without close supervision

Worker Physical requirements, general skills, characteristics specific training, previous experience

An analysis of physical demands and environmen-tal conditions is particularly important to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Courts have ruled in favor of the plaintiff when a district could not prove that a physical requirement was directly related to completing a given task. For ex-ample, one employer lost a case when a job descrip-tion specified that an employee must be able to use both arms when performing a particular task. One employee could not meet this requirement because his disability caused limited mobility in one arm. The court found that the essential function of the job was the ability to lift and carry a particular article, which he could do, not the ability to use both arms (Green-berg & Bello, 1992).

The actual analysis of classified positions may be performed by the district personnel director or by a consultant who specializes in job analysis. Once the analysis has been carried out, a system must be estab-lished for regular review of the findings.

Job DescriptionsAfter a job analysis has been completed, the next step in the process is to develop job descriptions. A job de-scription is a written, detailed outline of the duties and responsibilities of a specific job. The National School Boards Association has characterized a job description as a blueprint or guide for work to be accomplished. The description should serve both the employee’s need for information about the job and the administrator’s need for supervising the incumbent’s performance (NSBA, 1976). The job description should describe the job, not the tasks performed by the individual who happens to hold the position currently (Webb et al., 1994).

Well-developed job descriptions are useful in many ways. Clear definition of tasks helps avoid misunderstandings about job expectations, with fewer grievances as a result. Job descriptions are also useful in recruitment, selection, and induction of new personnel.

A good job description shows how the job relates to the school organization. For this reason, the position title of the direct supervisor must be clearly stated.

Prior to developing new job descriptions or alter-ing current documents, a personnel director should seek legal counsel to determine if such a step is sub-ject to collective bargaining (Candoli et al., 1992). If the district has a classified merit system, it may be




classified personnel 67

necessary to have job descriptions approved by the Personnel Commission. Merit system districts are discussed later in this chapter.

Job classificationAfter all jobs have been analyzed, and all job descriptions revised or newly written and approved by the school board, the next task is to develop a “classification plan.” Jobs with similar work requirements may be grouped into a common class. Positions within a class may differ in experience and skill requirements, or in degree of re-sponsibility. For example, the clerical class could include positions of Clerk I, Clerk II, and Clerk III.

The classification plan undergirds the entire clas-sified personnel program. This plan builds a founda-tion for employee recruitment, selection, assignment, and evaluation, as well as salary determination. It also becomes vitally important in case of layoff or reduction-in-force, in which circumstances it helps determine seniority and “bumping rights.”

A title must be designated for each position in the classified service. Setting a minimum number of assigned hours per day and days per week is also re-quired. The duties of each position must be defined; these can usually be found in the job announcement itself or in a job description that is readily available (Ed. Code #45101). Typically, classified positions are defined within the groups of transportation personnel, custodians, maintenance workers, landscape workers, food service employees, and instructional aides.

The total amount of money earmarked for classified support personnel is much less than that set aside for certificated employees. Le-gal requirements and the teachers’ negotiated agreement allow little flexibility in determin-ing the number of certificated positions to be filled. By contrast, formulas for settling on the number of staff to hire in each classification are not easily derived. Consequently, the number of classified employees in each support service is often determined by the judgment of the super-intendent and the board of education, although negotiations with the classified union also play a major role. Unfortunately, during periods of economic uncertainty, classified services are of-ten deemed expendable.

Employees may be classified in many ways. For example, a new employee is considered pro-bationary and usually remains in this classification for a six-month period. After satisfactory comple-

tion of the probationary period, the employee is classified as permanent. This classification means that the worker has passed the required proba-tionary period and completed all requirements for that classification (Ed. Code #45101).

Categorical funds have enabled schools to employ additional classified staff. Federal funds for disadvan-taged students and state School Improvement monies have made it possible to place instructional aides in many classrooms. Media and library assistants and bilingual aides, too, are often paid from specialized categorical funds. Commonly, the classified person-nel office has prospective classified employees sign an agreement acknowledging that their continued employment depends upon continuing availability of categorical funds.

classified personnel trainingPrograms to train and develop classified personnel, once they have been hired by a school district, have lagged behind programs in business and industry. In recent years districts have recognized that investment in such training pays off in higher staff satisfaction and reduced turnover.

All new classified employees, regardless of their background, should be introduced to their new work environment. Continuing classified employees need periodic training as new policies, procedures, and technology are introduced. For example, in many dis-tricts custodians have recently reviewed the composi-tion of potentially dangerous chemicals used in the course of their cleaning tasks. This chapter contains excerpts from the California Education Code that identify the basis for employee compensation, work tasks, and leaves of absence.

compensationThe governing board of a school district is re-sponsible to fix salaries and order the payment of all classified personnel under its jurisdiction (Ed. Code #45160). To set these salaries, boards usu-ally compare district hourly rates with rates in the private sector and in other school districts. Typi-cally, districts pay a lesser rate than the private sector because of the greater retirement and fringe benefits received by school employees. Of course, a board does not set compensation unilaterally, but must negotiate with the bargaining organization




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(or organizations) of the classified staff. The Cali-fornia Education Code gives boards direction as to frequency and dates of payments to employees, as well as procedures in the event of salary er-ror, night shift work, and employees who work less than 12 months during the year (Ed. Code #42645).

The salary of a classified employee is based upon the district classification plan. In many cases classified personnel are paid an hourly wage. The principles involved in payment on an hourly basis are the same as those involved in establishing a salary schedule. These principles are as follows:

Positions should be reviewed periodically in confor-mity to a predefined procedure.

Fringe benefits should be considered in detail. The salary schedule should be made public, available

to all who request it. All classified positions should be included in the

schedule. The salary schedule should be internally consistent. Benchmark salaries should be established for each

series of positions. Prevailing wages in the community should be

considered.

DeductionsDeductions from the gross pay of an employee include all applicable taxes, social security, payments for dis-ability insurance, workers’ compensation payments, and any payments made by the individual for group medical insurance. Deductions may be also taken for the employee union, often CSEA (California School Employees Association). This and other organizations are discussed further in Chapter 10.

BenefitsMany individuals are attracted to work in the classified service, not for the salary, but for the employee ben-efits. All probationary and permanent parttime classi-fied employees are entitled to sick leave and all other benefits conferred by law on classified employees (Ed. Code #45136). Fringe benefits may include medi-cal coverage for the employee and his or her family, dental coverage, vision, and a retirement plan such as the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS). Al-though employees who have never worked four hours

or more per day do not contribute to PERS, legisla-tion requires that employers set up a retirement plan for all parttime staff, regardless of the hours worked per day.

Work time and assignmentsThe workday and the workweek of the classified em-ployee are clearly delineated in the Education Code. The hours designated per week for the employee are 40 hours. The basic workday is set at 8 hours per day. However, shorter workdays and workweeks may be es-tablished for any or all classified staff. Hours worked in excess of 40 in a calendar week must be compensated as overtime in the form of pay at time-and-one-half or time off at time-and-one-half (Ed. Code #45128). Compen-satory time off shall be granted within twelve calendar months following the month in which the overtime was worked, but not at a time that would impair the services rendered by the district.

Many districts are trying to reduce overtime hours assigned to employees because of the additional cost or time off. In some districts, by way of maintaining strict control, only the director of personnel or the superintendent may authorize overtime.

Leaves of absenceThe cost of classified personnel should always include the number of leaves that are legally due each employee. The California Accounting Manual indicates the ac-count codes under which these expenses must be listed. “Leave” includes sick leave, pregnancy, bereavement, personal necessity, and vacation. Table 5 clarifies rea-sons for leaves.

Layoff, Dismissal, and re-employmentDistricts may lay off classified employees due to lack of work or of funds. Layoff follows the seniority rule. Ordinarily, notice must be given at least 45 days in advance and follow state law as well as any procedures included in the collective bargaining agreement with the unit in which the employee works. Notice by April 29 is required in the event that an employee is paid from a special fund that will not be continued. How-ever, lack of funds or an unforeseeable situation may justify an immediate layoff (Education Code sections #45308 and #45117).





Classified employees who have been laid off are entitled to re-employment under the “39-month rule.” They must be given preference over new applicants. A similar provision entitles employees to reinstatement if they accept reduced hours or demotion in lieu of lay-off. Re-employment or reinstatement follows seniority order (Education Code section 45298).

Permanent classified employees may be disci-plined or dismissed for cause. Unless the action to be disciplined was concealed by the employee, the board may not discipline or dismiss for an occurrence while the employee was on probation. A similar provision applies to events that occurred more than two years ago (Education Code section #45113).

Merit SystemA school district may establish a classified Merit System under Education Code sections #45240 to #45320. These sections specify how the Personnel Commission is established and the rules and regulations that may be adopted in its formation. The Personnel Commission presents recommendations to the governing board regarding salary schedules, classifications, and working conditions.

Regulations governing the Merit System in a district set forth procedures to be followed by the governing board with respect to applications, ex-aminations, eligibility, appointments, promotions,

table 5 Leaves of AbsenceType of Leave DescripTion

Sick leave To each classified employee who is employed fulltime, California law grants twelve days each year for sick leave; a governing board may approve additional days. These absences cover illness or injury (Ed. Code #45191). The individual employee accu-mulates sick leave days from year to year. In addition to regular sick leave, the Edu-cation Code allows extended sick leave of 100 days per year. These additional days may not be credited in payment at less than 50% of the employee’s regular salary.

Industrial accident The governing board of the district must allow 60 days’ leave per fiscal year for a and illness single accident that occurs as a result of working in the district (Ed. Code #45192). This leave is allowed apart from regular sick leave or vacation.

Vacation Vacation days are determined by the district, but the minimum is set at five-sixths of a day for each month in which the employee is in paid status for more than one-half the working days (Ed. Code #45197). A school district governing board may allow vacation days beyond this minimum.

Pregnancy Boards of education may provide a leave of absence for any female employee in the classified service who takes time away from work because of childbirth. The board may also adopt rules and regulations as to the manner of proving pregnancy, the time during the pregnancy when leave may be taken, and the number of days al-lowed after the birth of the child (Ed. Code #45193).

Bereavement The Education Code establishes the length of time for bereavement leave. Three days are alloted for in-state bereavement leave, or five days in case of travel out-of-state. The code defines “immediate family” as the mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, or grandchild of the employee and the spouse. The spouse, son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, brother, and sister are also immediate family, as is any relative living in the immediate household of the employee. Governing boards may extend the length of leave or the definition of “immediate family” (Ed. Code #45194).

Other leaves Other leaves, such as paid holidays, retraining leaves, and personal necessity, are also specified in the Education Code. Minimum amounts of time for such leaves are spelled out in law; however, a district may exceed the minimums.




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demotions, and transfers in the classified service. Other rules pertain to dismissals, resignations, lay-offs, reemployment, vacations, and leaves of absence. Compensation within classification, job analyses and specifications, performance evaluations, public adver-tisement of examinations, rejection of unfit applicants without competition, and any other matters neces-sary to carry out the provisions and purposes of the Merit System are also addressed (Ed. Code #45261).

contracting Out/privatizationClassified employees are essential for the conduct of the instructional program. The question each district administrator must answer is: What is the optimum size of the classified staff? One alternative many districts are considering is contracting outside the district for work otherwise performed by classified staff. Contracting for transportation service was one of the earliest uses of this concept. Operations and maintenance, food services, data processing, and payroll are other areas that districts may contract to an outside vendor.

Proponents of contracting for school services argue that the district receives better services at less cost. Conversely, critics of privatization assert that costs are lower when a service is performed by school employees because a margin for profit is not charged. This alternative should be carefully considered by

weighing the pros and cons of service from an in-dependent contractor as opposed to service by the district classified staff.

SummaryThis chapter has reviewed issues related to the clas-sified staff: classification, compensation, sick leave, industrial accident, and other laws governing the classified service. The importance of maintaining an efficient and well-trained classified staff cannot be over-emphasized. Unfortunately, in times of financial cutbacks, many classified staff lose their positions because school districts must always focus on the classroom.

As noted in the chapter, fringe benefits have assumed a major role in attracting classified per-sonnel who might earn a better salary in private industry. In some districts fringe benefit costs are equal to the cost of the classified service.

The chapter also reviewed Merit System guide-lines. A district personnel officer who finds that employees are interested in this system will find it necessary to review Sections #45240 to #45320 in the Education Code. This portion of the code describes transfers, dismissals, vacations, leaves, and competition for employment under the Merit System.

Key Terms

1. 39-month rule 6. job analysis 2. classification plan 7. job description 3. compensatory time off 8. Merit System 4. contracted services 9. overtime provision 5. custodial formulas

Questions and Activities

1. Classified personnel supplement certificated services. Name the three most important services provided by classified personnel and discuss their importance to the education system.

2. “Classification” is a major term in classified personnel administration. What is the meaning of this term? Why is it important?

3. Classified salary schedules are somewhat similar to certificated salary schedules. Discuss the similarities and differences between the two salary schedules.





4. Classified employees have the right to establish a district Merit System. What are the major characteris-tics of such a system?

5. Some California districts “contract” for services ordinarily performed by the classified staff. Name the services most commonly contracted out to private enterprise. Briefly discuss the advantages and disadvantages of contracting out.

6. In your own district or one to which you have access, compare the salary schedules of several classifications such as secretary, clerical, food services, and transportation. What are the differences in pay rates per hour? Why do these differences exist?




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