SENATE, No. 342

SECTION 1. The third  paragraph of section 42 of chapter 71 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out lines 6 through 9 inclusive and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- The procedures for arbitration and the time for the arbitrators to issue a decision shall be the same as that in section forty-two.

Section 2. Section 42 of said chapter 71, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the fourth, fifth, and sixth paragraphs and inserting in place thereof the following three paragraphs:-

A teacher with professional teacher status may seek review of a dismissal decision within thirty days after receiving notice of his dismissal by filing a petition for arbitration with the commissioner. The commissioner shall forward to the parties a list of nine arbitrators provided by the American Arbitration Association. Each person on the list shall be accredited by the national Academy of Arbitrators. The parties shall have the right to strike three of the nine arbitrators if they are unable to agree upon three arbitrators from among the nine.

The Massachusetts rules of civil procedure shall apply to all arbitration hearings. Notwithstanding any other general or special law, rule or regulation to the contrary, student records of any student who accuses a teacher of inappropriate behavior shall be discoverable if the arbitrator finds that this information contained within said student records is relevant. At the hearing, the teachers and the school district may be represented by an attorney or other representative, present evidence and call and cross examine witnesses. The teacher may have the hearing at a public facility in his district and open to the public if he so desires. The school district shall provide a certified court reporter and shall have the burden of proof in determining whether the district has proven grounds for dismissal consistent with this section. The arbitrators shall consider the best interests of the pupils in the district and the need for evaluation of performance standards. A majority vote of the arbitrators shall be sufficient for a decision.

The arbitration decision shall be issued within one month from the completion of the arbitral hearing, unless all parties involved agree otherwise, and shall contain a detailed statement of the reasons for the decision. A copy of the transcript of the hearing and exhibits presented therein shall be made available to the parties without cost. Upon a finding that the dismissal was improper under the standards set forth in this section, the arbitrators may award back pay, benefits, reinstatement and any other non-financial relief or any combination thereof. Under no circumstances shall the arbitrators award punitive, consequential, or nominal damages, or compensatory damages other than back pay, benefits or reinstatement. In the event the teacher is reinstated, the period between the dismissal and the reinstatement shall be considered to be time served for the purposes of employment. The arbitral decision shall be subject to judicial review as provided in chapter one hundred and fifty C.

Section 3. Section 11 of chapter 150C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after clause (4) the following clause:-

(4A) these are legitimate issues of fact and questions of law or if interest of justice would be served;