Superintendents Are Bracing for AB 5’s Impact in Schools
School superintendents are the latest to wonder how the new law could affect their business model. Some local districts employ workers ranging from coaches to arts instructors to nurses on a contract basis.
Industries across the state are scrambling to understand how they will be affected by AB 5, the new state law limiting the use of independent contractors. Add to that list public school districts, which employ tens of thousands of athletic coaches, arts instructors and even some special education service providers on a contract basis.
Groups of workers ranging from truck drivers to freelance journalists to gig economy workers like Uber drivers have publicly decried the law and challenged it in court. Tech companies including Uber and Doordash are hoping to qualify a November ballot measure that would exempt them from the law’s requirements.
Now school superintendents are the latest to wonder how the new law could affect their business model. AB 5 could also impact rural and urban districts differently.
“We do want to make it really clear that there are impacts that affect not just our relationship with contractors but on our teaching experiences and our students,” said Manny Rubio, spokesman for Sweetwater Union High School District, the second largest district in San Diego County. “It would be great if we could figure out exemptions that help our students and the community.”
The most likely impact in Sweetwater would be on individual dance instructors and coaches, who are not full-time employees of the district, Rubio believes. The district pays hundreds of CONTINUE READING: Superintendents Are Bracing for AB 5’s Impact in Schools - Voice of San Diego
