Three Philomath teachers received updated contract status Thursday following the Oregon Legislature’s passage of a law recognizing prior teaching experience when educators change school districts.
The Philomath School Board approved contract status for Madison Allen, a first-grade teacher at Clemens Primary School; Marissa Beachy, a second-grade teacher at Philomath Elementary; and Suzanna Bennett, a kindergarten teacher at Clemens Primary School. The 5-0 vote acknowledged that the teachers had already earned contract status in other Oregon districts before joining Philomath.
“We wanted to make sure to honor that for those three individuals and acknowledge that we recognize the new law, we recognize their worth and want to acknowledge that and move forward,” Superintendent Susan Halliday said during Thursday’s School Board meeting.
The change stems from House Bill 2900, which passed during the state’s last legislative session. The bill allows teachers who have already completed a standard three-year probationary period in one district to reach contract status after two years in a new district, provided they are retained for the following year.
Under previous law, teachers had to complete a three-year probationary period in each district before achieving contract status, even if they had already fulfilled that requirement elsewhere.
Allen previously taught in Albany, Beachy in Lebanon and Bennett in Harrisburg.
“They have very good experience and are very good with our kids, so there’s no questions at all,” Halliday said.
The law does not affect all probationary teachers in the district. Halliday explained that teachers who worked in multiple districts but never completed the full three-year probationary period in any single location must still complete three years in Philomath.
“The other individuals that are third-year probationary this year that have not earned contract status in another district — we’ve got a couple of folks that maybe worked two years in an Oregon district and one year in another one and they’ve come to us,” Halliday said. “They’ve never earned contract status anywhere else, so they still have to go through the three years.”
The board will approve those teachers in March to meet state deadlines.
The new law will create a staggered approval schedule moving forward. In addition to third-year teachers, the board will also need to approve second-year teachers who previously earned contract status in other districts.
“So in March, we’ll have some three years but we’ll also have some two years,” Halliday said. “It’s going to stagger our lists in how people move.”
Contract status also changes teachers’ observation cycles. Instead of annual formal observations required during probationary periods, teachers with contract status move to an every-other-year formal observation schedule, Halliday said.
HB 2900 was championed by House Education Chair Courtney Neron and developed collaboratively with education stakeholders including the Oregon Education Association, Confederation of Oregon School Administrators and Oregon School Boards Association.
“Teachers who have already proven themselves through years of service shouldn’t have to start from scratch when they change districts,” Neron said in a press release issued this past April. “This bill recognizes their experience and supports a more stable, empowered educator workforce across Oregon.”