As used in Section 6-101 et seq. of this title:

1. 1. "Administrator" means a duly certified person who devotes a majority of time to service as a superintendent, elementary superintendent, principal, supervisor, vice principal or in any other administrative or supervisory capacity in the school district;
2. 2. "Dismissal" means the discontinuance of the teaching service of an administrator or teacher during the term of a written contract, as provided by law;
3. 3. "Nonreemployment" means the nonrenewal of an administrator's or teacher's contract upon expiration of the contract;

4. 4. "Career teacher" means a teacher who:

   1. a. for teachers employed by a school district during the 2011-12 school year, has completed three (3) or more consecutive complete school years as a teacher in one school district under a written continuing or temporary teaching contract, or

   2. b. for teachers employed for the first time by a school district under a written continuing or temporary teaching contract on or after July 1, 2012:

      1. (1) has completed three (3) consecutive complete school years as a teacher in one school district under a written continuing or temporary teaching contract and has achieved a rating of "superior" as measured pursuant to the Oklahoma Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Evaluation System (TLE) as set forth in Section 6 of this act for at least two (2) of the three (3) school years, with no rating below "effective",
      2. (2) has completed four (4) consecutive complete school years as a teacher in one school district under a written continuing or temporary teaching contract, has averaged a rating of at least "effective" as measured pursuant to the TLE for the four-year period, and has received a rating of at least "effective" for the last two (2) years of the four-year period, or
      3. (3) has completed four (4) or more consecutive complete school years in one school district under a written continuing or temporary teaching contract and has not met the requirements of subparagraph a or b of this paragraph, only if the principal of the school at which the teacher is employed submits a petition to the superintendent of the school district requesting that the teacher be granted career status, the superintendent agrees with the petition, and the school district board of education approves the petition. The principal shall specify in the petition the underlying facts supporting the granting of career status to the teacher;
5. 5. "Probationary teacher hearing" means the hearing before a school district board of education after a recommendation for dismissal or nonreemployment of a probationary teacher has been made but before any final action is taken on said recommendation, held for the purpose of affording such teacher all rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Constitution of Oklahoma under such circumstances and for enabling the board to determine whether to approve or disapprove the recommendation;
6. 6. "Career teacher pretermination hearing" means the informal proceeding before the school district board of education held for the purpose of providing a meaningful opportunity to invoke the discretion of the decision maker after a recommendation for dismissal or nonreemployment of a career teacher has been made but before any final action is taken on the recommendation in order to ensure that the career teacher is afforded the essential pretermination due process requirements of notice and an opportunity to respond;

7. 7. "Probationary teacher" means a teacher who:

   1. a. for teachers employed by a school district during the 2011-12 school year, has completed fewer than three (3) consecutive complete school years as a teacher in one school district under a written teaching contract, or
   2. b. for teachers employed for the first time by a school district under a written teaching contract on or after July 1, 2012, has not met the requirements for career teacher as provided in paragraph 4 of this section;
8. 8. "Suspension" or "suspended" means the temporary discontinuance of an administrator's or teacher's services, as provided by law; and
9. 9. "Teacher" means a duly certified or licensed person who is employed to serve as a counselor, librarian or school nurse or in any instructional capacity; an administrator shall be considered a teacher only with regard to service in an instructional, nonadministrative capacity.

Laws 1989, 1st Extr. Sess., HB 1017, c. 2, § 68, emerg. eff. July 1, 1990; Amended by Laws 1991, HB 1507, c. 16, § 3, emerg. eff. July 1, 1991; Amended by Laws 2003, HB 1767, c. 434, § 8, emerg. eff. July 1, 2003 (superseded document available); Amended by Laws 2010, SB 2033, c. 291, § 8, eff. July 1, 2012 (superseded document available).