79-868. Teacher's or administrator's certificate; standards violation; investigations; procedure.
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/ne/chapter-79/79-868A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The board may employ hearing officers to hold hearings and make recommendations to the board concerning alleged violations of standards of professional ethics and practices by persons holding a teacher's or administrator's certificate.
The commissioner may employ persons to investigate and prosecute cases of alleged violations of standards of professional ethics and practices before the board and its hearing officers. The commissioner shall cause to be investigated expeditiously any complaint which is filed with him or her or which is otherwise called to his or her attention and which if legally sufficient constitutes grounds for the revocation or suspension of a certificate or any other appropriate penalty set forth in section 79-866 or in the rules and regulations adopted and promulgated pursuant to such section.
If following an investigation the commissioner determines that legally sufficient grounds exist for revocation or suspension of a certificate or for any other appropriate penalty set forth in such section or rules and regulations, the commissioner may, in his or her discretion, file a petition with the board for adjudication of the matter or may reach an agreement for the appropriate sanction as allowed by the rules and regulations.
There exists no right of appeal to the State Board of Education from an order of the Nebraska Professional Practices Commission dismissing a complaint against a member of the teaching profession for a violation of professional practices criteria. Berquist v. Campbell, 210 Neb. 658, 316 N.W.2d 596 (1982).
The competency standards of the Professional Practices Commission are not designed for use by a school board, and in the absence of evidence that the school board has adopted those standards as their own, the school board may not terminate a tenured teacher's contract because of a violation of those standards unless the termination is the result of investigation conducted under former section 79-1282. Schulz v. Board of Education, 210 Neb. 513, 315 N.W.2d 633 (1982).