CHAPTER 13-10
SCHOOL DISTRICT EMPLOYEES
13-10-1 13-10-1. Repealed by SL 1975, ch 128, § 377
13-10-2 General power of school boards to employ personnel.
13-10-2.1 13-10-2.1. Repealed by SL 1995, ch 87, § 28
13-10-3 Group life and health insurance for employees and retirees.
13-10-4 Retirement pension agreement with employees--Premiums.
13-10-5 13-10-5. Repealed by SL 1975, ch 128, § 377
13-10-6 13-10-6. Repealed by SL 2016, ch 83, §§ 1, 2, eff. Jan. 1, 2017.
13-10-7 13-10-7. Repealed by SL 2008, ch 75, § 1.
13-10-8 Discontinuance of retirement system by board.
13-10-9 Liability insurance for protection of employees.
13-10-10 13-10-10, 13-10-11. Repealed by SL 1995, ch 87, § 29
13-10-12 Criminal background investigation--Prospective employees, technical college instructors, and student teachers--Temporary employment pending results.
13-10-12.1 Single investigation required of employee of multiple school districts--Condition--Procedure for transfer of report.
13-10-13 Criminal conviction as factor in hiring decision.
13-10-14 Persons continuously employed from July 1, 2000, exempt from criminal background check.
13-10-15 Suspension or resignation of employee for criminal conviction--Reporting.
13-10-16 Conviction defined.
13-10-17 School counselors.
13-10-18 Repealed.
13-10-2. General power of school boards to employ personnel.
The school board shall have the power to employ personnel deemed necessary by the board and to define the duties and fix the compensation of each.
Source: SDC 1939, § 15.2523 (3); SL 1939, ch 44; SL 1949, ch 54, § 1; SL 1955, ch 41, ch 16, § 1; SDC Supp 1960, § 15.3801; SL 1975, ch 128, § 71.
13-10-3. Group life and health insurance for employees and retirees.
Any school board may enter into group life and group health insurance contracts, including contracts for dental and vision insurance provided by private carriers, or may self insure, for the protection and benefit of its employees, the immediate families of such employees, and former employees who have retired, and may pay any part or all of the necessary premiums therefor.
Source: SL 1953, ch 62; SL 1955, ch 41, ch 16, § 15; SDC Supp 1960, § 15.3815; SL 1967, ch 48; SL 1978, ch 49, § 4; SL 2009, ch 74, § 1.
13-10-4. Retirement pension agreement with employees--Premiums.
Subject to the provisions of §§ 3-12C-304 and 3-12C-305, any school board shall have the power to enter into a retirement pension agreement with its employees for their benefit and to pay any part or all of the necessary premiums therefor.
Source: SL 1947, ch 81, § 1; SL 1955, ch 41, ch 16, § 15; SDC Supp 1960, § 15.3815; SL 2019, ch 22, § 1.
13-10-8. Discontinuance of retirement system by board.
Such retirement pension system may be discontinued at any time by the school board of any district in which it has been established. On such discontinuance all pension payments shall be discontinued.
Source: SL 1947, ch 81, § 4; SL 1955, ch 41, ch 16, § 19; SDC Supp 1960, § 15.3819; SL 1975, ch 128, § 74.
13-10-9. Liability insurance for protection of employees.
Any school board shall have power to carry public liability insurance protecting its employed personnel against liability suits which might be brought against them for acts of negligence while performing their duties as employees of the school district.
Source: SL 1953, ch 55, § 2; SL 1955, ch 41, ch 16, § 15; SDC Supp 1960, § 15.3815.
13-10-12. Criminal background investigation--Prospective employees, technical college instructors, and student teachers--Temporary employment pending results.
Each person over eighteen years of age hired by a school district shall submit to a criminal background investigation, by means of fingerprint checks by the Division of Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The school district shall submit completed fingerprint cards to the Division of Criminal Investigation before the prospective new employee enters into service. If no disqualifying record is identified at the state level, the fingerprints shall be forwarded by the Division of Criminal Investigation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history record check. Any person whose employment is subject to the requirements of this section may enter into service on a temporary basis pending receipt of results of the criminal background investigation. The employing school district may, without liability, withdraw its offer of employment or terminate the temporary employment without notice if the report reveals a disqualifying record. The employing school district may pay any fees charged for the cost of fingerprinting or the criminal background investigation for any person whose employment is subject to the requirements of this section. Any person hired to officiate, judge, adjudicate, or referee a public event sponsored by a school district is not required to submit to a criminal background investigation as required in this section. In addition, any instructor employed by a technical college is required to submit to a criminal background investigation as required in this section at the time of initial employment.
The criminal investigation required by this section with respect to a student teacher completing requirements for teacher certification shall be conducted by the school district. A criminal background investigation, of a student teacher, conducted by a school district may be provided to any other school in which the student engages in student teaching. The school district conducting the criminal background investigation of a student teacher may rely upon the results of that investigation for employment of that person as an employee of the district.
Source: SL 2000, ch 76, § 1; SL 2001, ch 74, § 1; SL 2003, ch 95, § 1; SL 2011, ch 87, § 1; SL 2012, ch 92, § 1; SL 2016, ch 84, § 1; SL 2020, ch 61, § 38.
13-10-12.1. Single investigation required of employee of multiple school districts--Condition--Procedure for transfer of report.
Any school district employee who is employed by more than one school district is only required to obtain one criminal background investigation, if the background investigation was conducted no more than five years before the person is first employed by the additional school district. The results of the background investigation shall be transferred to any additional school district from the initial school district that obtained the criminal background investigation if the additional school district or the school district employee requests in writing to the initial school district that the results be transferred and the school district employee who was the subject of the criminal background investigation signs a written release authorizing the transfer.
Source: SL 2001, ch 75, § 1.
13-10-13. Criminal conviction as factor in hiring decision.
A school district may refuse to employ a person, either directly or by contract, who has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude as defined in subdivision 22-1-2(25).
No person may be employed by a school district, either directly or by contract, if the person has been convicted of a crime of violence as defined in subdivision 22-1-2(9), a sex offense as defined in § 22-24B-1, or trafficking in narcotics.
Nothing in this section prohibits a school district from considering any criminal conviction in making a hiring decision.
Source: SL 2000, ch 76, § 2.
13-10-14. Persons continuously employed from July 1, 2000, exempt from criminal background check.
Any person employed by a South Dakota school district on July 1, 2000, who remains continuously employed by the same South Dakota school district for consecutive school years is not required to submit to a criminal background check as provided in § 13-10-12.
Source: SL 2000, ch 76, § 3.
13-10-15. Suspension or resignation of employee for criminal conviction--Reporting.
If a school board or governing body of any accredited school suspends an employee or an employee resigns or is terminated as a result of a criminal conviction, the superintendent or chief administrator shall, within ten days of the date of the suspension or the date the employment is severed, report the circumstances and the name of the employee to the Department of Education. Any superintendent or chief administrator who fails to report under this section is subject to sanctions found in § 13-8-48.
Source: SL 2000, ch 76, § 4; SL 2003, ch 272, § 63.
13-10-16. Conviction defined.
For purposes of §§ 13-10-12 to 13-10-16, inclusive, the term, conviction, means a plea or verdict of guilty or a conviction following a plea of nolo contendere in this state or any other state. A duly certified copy of the court record is proof of the conviction and sentence.
Source: SL 2000, ch 76, § 5.
13-10-17. School counselors.
If a school district employs a school counselor, on either a full-time or part-time basis, or contracts for the services of a school counselor through an educational cooperative or other entity, that school counselor shall be certified in accordance with the standards established by the South Dakota Board of Education Standards pursuant to § 13-1-12.1.
Source: SL 2011, ch 88, § 1, eff. July 1, 2016; SL 2017, ch 81, § 57.