PART I. 
GENERAL PROVISIONS



 



§302A-101  Definitions.  As used in this
chapter, the following terms have the following meanings unless the context
indicates otherwise:



"Air conditioning" means any
mechanical device that cools or heats air.



"Board" means the board of education.



"Cafeteria workers" includes all
employees of any public school cafeteria other than the cafeteria manager.



"Charter school administrative
office" or "office" means the office established in section
302B-8 responsible for the internal organization, operation, and management of
the charter school system.



"Charter school review panel" or
"panel" means the panel established in section 302B-3.



"Charter schools" means public
schools holding charters to operate as charter schools under chapter 302B,
including start-up and conversion charter schools, that have the flexibility to
implement alternative frameworks with regard to curriculum, facilities
management, instructional approach, length of the school day, week, or year,
and personnel management.



"Complex area superintendent" means
the chief administrative officer of a complex area and the school complexes
therein.



"Department" means the department of
education.



"Early education" means a
developmentally appropriate early childhood development and education program
for children from birth to eight years of age.



"EDN 100" means the budget program
identification number for the school-based budgeting program within the
department.



"Educational officers" includes
principals, vice-principals, and professional employees of the state and
district offices of the department, except those employees in the classified
service.



"Exceptional children" includes:



(1)  Persons under twenty years of age who deviate
from the so-called normal person in physical, mental, social, or emotional
characteristics or abilities to such an extent that specialized training,
techniques, and equipment are required to enable these persons to attain the
maximum of their abilities or capacities; provided that "exceptional
children" shall not include "gifted and talented children";



(2)  Persons under twenty years of age who by reason
of physical defects cannot attend the regular public school classes with normal
children; and



(3)  Persons under twenty years of age who are
certified by a licensed physician eligible for membership in the state medical
society as being emotionally maladjusted or intellectually incapable of
profiting from ordinary instructional methods.



"Gifted and talented children" means
students residing in the State who are of compulsory school age and are
enrolled in, and attending, a public school, and whose superior performance or
potential indicates exceptional ability or talent.  This ability or talent may
occur singly in or in combination with any of the following areas: 
intellectual, creative or specific academic abilities, leadership capabilities,
psychomotor abilities, or abilities in the performing or visual arts.



"Incumbent teachers" refers to
teachers presently in service or on authorized leaves from the department.



"Job-sharing" means the voluntary
sharing of a full-time, permanent employee's position with another employee,
with each employee working one-half of the total number of hours of work
required per week and performing one-half of the work required of the
respective full-time position, and with each employee receiving one-half of the
salary to which each employee is respectively entitled and at least one-half of
each employee benefit afforded to full-time employees.



"Private trade, vocational, or technical
school" means any plan or method used by any person or persons, firm, or
any other organization or corporation for giving instruction in any form or
manner in any trade, occupation, or vocation for a consideration, reward, or
promise of whatever nature, including correspondence schools located within the
State, except as follows:



(1)  Schools maintained, or classes conducted, by
employers for their own employees where no fee or tuition is charged;



(2)  Courses of instruction given by any fraternal
society, benevolent order, or professional organization to its members, which
courses are not operated for profit;



(3)  Flying schools qualified under the Federal
Aviation Administration;



(4)  Classes conducted for less than five students at
one and the same time;



(5)  Classes or courses of instruction that are
conducted for twenty or fewer class sessions during any twelve-month period;



(6)  Avocational, hobby, recreation, or health classes
or courses;



(7)  Courses of instruction on religious subjects
given under the auspices of a religious organization; and



(8)  Schools registered by the department of commerce
and consumer affairs or by boards and commissions placed in the department of
commerce and consumer affairs for administrative purposes.



"Public office" excludes notaries
public, reserve police officers, officers of emergency organizations for
civilian defense or disaster relief, or county charter commissions.



"Public schools" means all academic
and noncollege type schools established and maintained by the department and
charter schools chartered by the board of education, in accordance with law.



"Regional administrative unit" means
a grouping of complexes established by the department for administrative
support and organizational purposes.



"School-based budget flexibility"
means an operating budget preparation and allocation process that provides
maximum flexibility to individual schools, complexes, and learning support
centers in the preparation and execution of their operating budgets.



"School complex" means a grouping of
schools established by the department for instructional, administrative, and
organizational purposes.



"School meals" means breakfast and
lunch prepared and served by a school cafeteria.



"School
textbooks, instructional materials, library books, equipment, or supplies"
includes any book, printed matter, or other material used in a particular
course of study.



"Special facilities" includes
buildings, equipment, and materials; transportation; boarding homes; and personnel
qualified to work with exceptional children.



"Special services" means
physiotherapy, or any form of muscle training, speech training, occupational
therapy, vocational training, psychological evaluation, or any of them.



"Superintendent" means the superintendent
of education.



"Teacher" means a person whose duties
in the public educational system are primarily teaching or instruction of
students or related activities centered primarily on students and who is in
close and continuous contact with students, and shall include but not be
limited to classroom teachers, school librarians, counselors, registrars, and
special education teachers.



"Vandalism" includes, but is not
limited to, mischievous or malicious destruction of property, such as breakage
of windows, lockers, and doors.



"Weighted student formula" means a
formula for allocating operating moneys to individual public schools that
includes a system of weighted characteristics affecting the relative cost of
educating each student attending a public school. [L 1996, c 89, pt of §2 and
am c 48, §1; am L 1997, c 144, §3; am L 1999, c 62, §3; am L 2002, c 16, §16;
am L 2003, c 187, §1; am L 2004, c 51, §§5, 6, and 22, c 220, §2, and c 221,
§8; am L 2005, c 87, §3; am L 2006, c 298, §8; am L 2007, c 115, §4; am L 2009,
c 26, §2]