RATINGS
§ 351.21. Rating form.
The following rating form has been promulgated under this chapter:
STANDARDS FOR USE OF DEBE-333
EMPLOYE DEFINITIONS* The term professional employe shall include those who are certificated as teachers, supervisors, principals, assistant principals, vice-principals, directors of vocational education, dental hygienist, visiting teachers, home and school visitors, school counselors, child nutrition program specialists, school nurses, school librarians and school secretaries, the selection of whom is on the basis of merit as determined by eligibility lists. The term temporary professional employe shall mean any individual who has been employed to perform for a limited time the duties of a newly created position or of a regular professional employe whose service has been terminated by death, resignation, suspension or removal. The term employe used only hereafter shall refer to both temporary professional and professional employes. RATING OF TEMPORARY PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYE** A temporary professional employe must be notified as to the quality of service at least twice a year. No such employe shall be dismissed unless rated as unsatisfactory and notified in writing of such unsatisfactory rating within 10 days after the unsatisfactory rating. A temporary professional employe whose work has been certified by the district superintendent or an intermediate unit executive director to the secretary of the school district, during the last four (4) months of the second year of such service, as being satisfactory shall thereafter be a professional employe within the meaning of this article. The attainment of this status shall be recorded in the records of the board and written notification thereof shall be sent also to the employe. The employe shall then be tendered forthwith a regular contract of employment as provided for professional employes.DESIGNATED RATER*** Rating shall be done by or under the supervision of the superintendent of schools or, if so directed by him/her, the same may be done by an assistant superintendent, a supervisor, or a principal, who has supervision over the work of the professional employe or temporary professional employe who is being rated. No unsatisfactory rating shall be valid unless approved by the district superintendent. MAINTENANCE OF RATING RECORDS**** It shall be the duty of the board of school directors to cause to be established a permanent record system containing ratings for each professional employe within the district and copies of all his/her ratings for the year shall be transmitted to the employe upon his/her request; or if any rating during the year is unsatisfactory copy of same shall be transmitted to the professional employe concerned. No . . . employe shall be dismissed unless such rating records have been kept on file by the board of school directors.
* See Section 1101 (1) and (3) of the Public School Code of 1949, as amended. ** See Section 1108 of the Public School Code of 1949, as amended. *** See Section 1123 of the Public School Code of 1949, as amended. **** See Section 1125(a) of the Public School Code of 1949, as amended. Note: . . . The word professional has been deleted to be consistent with the employe definitions.GENERAL RATING 1. Designated rater shall use this rating card for each and every official employe rating. 2. The designated rater will place his/her signature in the block provided for either the satisfactory or unsatisfactory rating at the top of the card. 3. Professional employes shall be rated a minimum of once each year. 4. Due consideration shall be given in the rating process to the following factors: professional assignment, intellectual level of students and learning/behavioral problems which might affect professional performance and factors over which the professional has control. 5. Using the descriptors listed in each category on the card, the rater will attach a numerical value to the employe’s performance in each of the four categories—Personality, Preparation, Technique and Pupil Reaction—to a maximum numerical value of 20 points per category. The aggregate numerical value will not exceed 80 points when adding the four categories. 6. The final numerical rating for each category will appear in the designated block at the bottom of each category column. The total numerical score of the four categories shall be placed in the rating box. 7. Descriptors in each category shall not be weighted. The objective is to substantiate the numerical score with anecdotal records using the descriptors simply as guides. 8. A rating in any category of less than 20 points shall be substantiated by anecdotal records and discussed with the employe. 9. A copy of the rating shall be provided to any employe upon request. DETAILED APPRAISAL FOR UNSATISFACTORY RATING 1. When an unsatisfactory rating in any major category I, II, III or IV is given an employe, the rater must place a check in the block opposite that category designation. 2. It is possible that a gross deficiency in a single category might be sufficiently serious to warrant a total rating of unsatisfactory. 3. Wherever an unsatisfactory rating is given, each such recorded rating must be stated and the specific circumstances supported by anecdotal records. The records must include specific details of evidence likely to be important in the event the services of an employe are to be discontinued. 4. Two consecutive unsatisfactory ratings of a professional employe are necessary to support a dismissal on the grounds of incompetency. SUSPENSION AND NUMERICAL WEIGHTING
When the number of employes within the district must be reduced, the intermediate unit executive director or district superintendent shall follow the procedures in Section 1125 of the Public School Code of 1949. In accordance with standards and weighting incorporated in this card, seniority is to be added to the rating only when a substantial difference exists in the ratings of those considered for suspension. Seniority will be given the weight of one point for each year of service in the school district of current employment to a total not to exceed 20 points.
Source The provisions of this § 351.21 adopted August 25, 1978, effective August 26, 1978, 8 Pa.B. 2339.
Notes of Decisions Numerical Scores
The contents of the rating form of a teacher must include numerical scores to support an unsatisfactory rating to support a school district’s proposed personnel action of discharge. Hamburg v. Department of Education, 458 A.2d 288 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1983); affirmed 484 A.2d 867 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1984).
The failure to use numerical scores as contemplated by the regulations which created the DEBE-333 form has no effect upon a rating of a teacher as unsatisfactory, since this section requires only that unsatisfactory ratings be approved and signed by the district superintendent or intermediate unit director and be supported by anecdotal records, and not that the unsatisfactory ratings contain numerical scores. Hamburg v. North Penn School District, 484 A.2d 867 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1984).
Perfect Rating Scores
An arbitrator may not require a school district to award perfect rating scores to each of its professional employes since the school district could not award such scores voluntarily because doing so would violate the evaluation provisions of the act of March 10, 1949 (P. L. 30) (24 P. S. § 11-1123) and this section in that awarding a perfect score is not an evaluation individual or otherwise. Perkiomen Valley Education Association v. Perkiomen Valley School District, 460 A.2d 896 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1983).
Use of Rating
It is proper for the district superintendent to both sign the rating form and perform the rating. School District of Philadelphia v. Kushner, 530 A.2d 541 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1987); appeal dismissed 552 A.2d 667 (Pa. 1989).
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