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Arkansas Code Annotated

Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-208 (2020)

Grievance procedure — Definitions

✓ Arkansas Code release r76: Acts through about 2020 (2021-2025 sessions missing)
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    1. It is the public policy of the State of Arkansas that:
      1. Each school district shall have a written grievance procedure that provides for an orderly method of resolving concerns raised by an employee at the lowest possible administrative level and in a clear and timely manner for both parties; and
        1. All school employees shall have the right to file grievances and have those grievances heard.
        2. A group of employees who have the same grievance may file a group grievance.
      1. “Grievance” means any concern related to personnel policy, salary, federal laws and regulations, state laws and rules, or terms or conditions of employment raised by an employee.
      2. “Employee” means a person employed by a school district under a written contract.
    1. The grievance policy shall include at least the following provisions:
      1. A procedure for resolving the matter informally with the employee's immediate supervisor;
      2. A procedure to appeal in writing an unsatisfactorily resolved grievance from the immediate supervisor to the superintendent of schools or his or her designee;
        1. A procedure to appeal in writing an unsatisfactorily resolved grievance from the superintendent or his or her designee to the school district board of directors at the next regularly scheduled school district board of directors meeting unless both parties have agreed to a different date.
        2. The hearing shall be open or closed at the discretion of the employee.
        3. If the hearing is open, the parent or guardian of any student under eighteen (18) years of age who gives testimony may elect to have the student's testimony given in a closed session; and
      4. The right of a party to be represented by a person of his or her own choosing, but not by a member of a party's immediate family at any level of the procedure.
      1. The determination by the principal, superintendent, or their designees that the concern expressed by the employee is not a grievance may be appealed to the school district board of directors for a final decision.
      2. At the hearing:
          1. The employee shall have an adequate opportunity to present the grievance.
          2. The employee shall be provided no less than ninety (90) minutes to present the grievance, unless a shorter period is agreed to by the employee; and
        2. Both parties shall have the opportunity to present and question witnesses.
  3. The grievance policy shall be adopted in accordance with this subchapter and other applicable policies of the school district.
  4. There shall be no reprisals of any kind against any individual who exercises his or her rights under this section.
  5. Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring a school district to enter into an agreement recognizing an organization for the purpose of negotiating personnel policies, salaries, and educational matters of mutual concern.

History. Acts 1991, No. 558, §§ 1-3; 1993, No. 1149, §§ 1, 2; 1999, No. 1498, § 1; 2001, No. 1169, § 1; 2003, No. 1357, § 1; 2007, No. 312, § 1; 2019, No. 315, § 225.

Amendments. The 2019 amendment substituted “federal laws and regulations, state laws and rules” for “federal or state laws and regulations” in (a)(2)(A).

Research References

U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev.

Survey of Legislation, 2003 Arkansas General Assembly, Education Law, Teachers and Other School Employees, 26 U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev. 377.

Case Notes

Applicability.

School district counselor could not challenge a five-day disciplinary suspension under the provisions of the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act of 1983, §§ 6-17-1501 through 6-17-1510, because the Act applied only to suspensions imposed in the context of a recommendation that a teacher either be terminated or that the teacher's employment contract not be renewed, and the counselor's suspension was not of that nature; the counselor had exercised his sole remedy by utilizing the school district grievance procedure established pursuant to this section and was not entitled to further relief. McGough v. Pine Bluff Sch. Dist., 79 Ark. App. 235, 85 S.W.3d 920 (2002).

Public school employee was not without a remedy if he disagreed with a suspension that did not warrant termination or nonrenewal; subsection (b) allows all school employees to challenge or appeal any disciplinary actions or other grievances through the administration and eventually appeal to the school board. Releford v. Pine Bluff Sch. Dist. No. 3, 355 Ark. 503, 140 S.W.3d 483 (2004).

Cited: Honeycutt v. City of Fort Smith, 327 Ark. 530, 939 S.W.2d 306 (1997).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases, 1997–2004 · leading case: Releford v. Pine Bluff Sch. Dist. No. 3, 140 S.W.3d 483 (Ark. 2004).
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Releford v. Pine Bluff Sch. Dist. No. 3, 140 S.W.3d 483 (Ark. 2004). · cites it 4× “3, posits that an aggrieved employee may file a grievance under the personnel policies promulgated under Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-208 (Supp. 2003). In fact, § 6-17-208(b) allows all school employees to challenge or appeal any disciplinary actions or other grievances through the…”
Honeycutt v. City of Fort Smith, 939 S.W.2d 306 (Ark. 1997). · cites it 2× “, Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-208 (Repl. 1993) (grievance procedure for school district employees).”
McGough v. Pine Bluff Sch. Dist., 85 S.W.3d 920 (Ark. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 4× “In response to appellant’s motion for summary judgment, appellee also argued that appellant’s claim was covered by appellee’s grievance procedure, which follows Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-208 (Repl. 1999). That statute provides that school districts must have written grievance…”
Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-208(a)(2)(A): 1 case
Releford v. Pine Bluff Sch. Dist. No. 3, 140 S.W.3d 483 (Ark. 2004). “3, posits that an aggrieved employee may file a grievance under the personnel policies promulgated under Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-208 (Supp. 2003). In fact, § 6-17-208(b) allows all school employees to challenge or appeal any disciplinary actions or other grievances through the…”
Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-208(b): 1 case
Releford v. Pine Bluff Sch. Dist. No. 3, 140 S.W.3d 483 (Ark. 2004). “3, posits that an aggrieved employee may file a grievance under the personnel policies promulgated under Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-208 (Supp. 2003). In fact, § 6-17-208(b) allows all school employees to challenge or appeal any disciplinary actions or other grievances through the…”
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