Ortiz

BACKGROUND

During the period of appellant’s employment, respondent’s School Board Policy 4216 (Policy 4216) provided that new classified employees would

1 not attain permanent status until after serving for one year. The policy stated, “Employees newly hired for regular positions in the classified service shall be considered probationary employees until they have satisfactorily completed one year of probationary service. Upon satisfactorily completing this period, they shall become permanent classified employees of the district.”1 There is no evidence that appellant was expressly informed of the policy when she was hired or during the course of her employment. Board policies, like Policy 4216, were available by mail and also available for review in the District office. Additionally, information about Policy 4216 was in a “Classified Employee Handbook,” dated 2009–2010. The handbook quoted the above language from Policy 4216 and summarized the remainder of the policy. Appellant admitted that she found the handbook in her work area and that she discussed the possibility of updating it. Respondent’s former superintendent testified appellant was the District’s human resources…