(a) A hearing to determine whether a right, authority, license, or privilege should be revoked, suspended, limited, or conditioned shall be initiated by filing an accusation or District Statement of Reduction in Force. The accusation or District Statement of Reduction in Force shall be a written statement of charges that shall set forth in ordinary and concise language the acts or omissions with which the respondent is charged, to the end that the respondent will be able to prepare their defense. It shall specify the statutes and rules that the respondent is alleged to have violated, but shall not consist merely of charges phrased in the language of those statutes and rules. The accusation or District Statement of Reduction in Force shall be verified unless made by a public officer acting in their official capacity or by an employee of the agency before which the proceeding is to be held. The verification may be on information and belief.
(b) In a hearing involving a reduction in force that is conducted pursuant to Section 44949, 45117, or 88017 of the Education Code, the hearing shall be initiated by filing a “District Statement of Reduction in Force.” For purposes of this chapter, a “District Statement of Reduction in Force” shall have the same meaning as an “accusation.” Respondent’s responsive pleading shall be entitled “Notice of Participation in Reduction in Force Hearing.”
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 665, Sec. 4. (AB 438) Effective January 1, 2022.)