2024 Nonrenewal Resources

Nonrenewal is the process by which a school board acts to interrupt the automatic renewal of a probationary teacher’s contract. Requirements for the process are outlined in state law. As a benefit of CASB membership, CASB annually provides nonrenewal resources, which include an overview of the nonrenewal process and samples and tools to assist local school boards with these important employment decisions.

This overview provides legal information on the nonrenewal process, with special attention to the school board’s role. These issues are complex, especially due to the Educator Effectiveness Act (Senate Bill 10-191), which amended the Licensed Personnel Performance Education Act, and subsequent court decisions, which have resulted in significant changes to state law. Additionally, Senate Bill 22-069 and Senate Bill 22-070 both made changes to the Licensed Personnel Performance Education Act which are in effect for the 2023-24 school year. Employment and evaluation issues also are impacted by each local board’s policies, contracts, and practices. This overview is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Specific questions should be referred to the school district’s legal counsel. This information is subject to change during the 2023 and/or 2024 legislative sessions and will be updated as needed to reflect any changes.

Reasons for Nonrenewal

Impermissible reasons: 

A probationary teacher’s contract must not be nonrenewed for any reason that:

Performance-based reasons: All performance evaluations must be carried out strictly in accordance with the district’s evaluation policy and procedures and state law. Each academic year, a probationary teacher must receive at least two documented observations and one evaluation resulting in a written evaluation report containing an improvement plan, specific information about the strengths and weaknesses in the licensed staff member’s performance, documentation identifying when a direct observation was made, and identification of data sources. A probationary teacher whose performance is deemed to be ineffective must receive written notice that his or her performance evaluation shows a rating of ineffective, a copy of the documentation relied upon in measuring the staff member’s performance, and identification of deficiencies.