(a) The reorganization of any district or districts shall not affect the classification of academic employees already employed by any district affected. Those employees shall have the same status with respect to their classification by the district, including time served as probationary employees of the district, after the reorganization as they had prior to it. If the reorganization results in the college or other place in which any of these employees is employed being maintained by another district, the employee, if a permanent employee of the district that formerly maintained the college or other place of employment, shall be employed as a permanent employee of the district which thereafter maintains the college or other place of employment, unless the employee elects prior to February 1 of the year in which the action will become effective for all purposes to continue in the employ of the first district.

If the employee is a probationary employee of the district that formerly maintained the college or other place of employment, he or she shall be employed by the district which thereafter maintains the college or other place of employment, unless the probationary employee is terminated by the district pursuant to Section 87610.1 or 87740, and, if not so terminated, his or her status with respect to classification by that district shall be the same as it would have been had the college or other place of employment been continued to be maintained by the district which formerly maintained it. As used in this section, “the college or other place in which any of these employees is employed” and all references thereto, includes, but is not limited to, the services or program that, as a result of any reorganization of a district, will be provided by another district, regardless of whether any particular building or buildings in which that service or program was conducted is physically located in the new district and regardless of whether any new district resulting from the reorganization elects to provide for the education of its students by contracting with another district until the time as the district constructs its own facilities.

(b) The reorganization of any district, or districts, shall not affect the rights of persons employed in classified positions to retain the salary, leaves, and other benefits which they would have received if the reorganization had not occurred and in the manner provided in this section:

(1) All employees of every district that is included in any other district shall become employees of the new district.

(2) When a portion of the territory of any district becomes part of another district, employees regularly assigned to perform their duties in the territory affected shall become employees of the acquiring district. Employees whose assignments pertained to the affected territory, but whose employment situs was not in the territory, may elect to remain with the original district or become employees of the acquiring district.

(3) When the territory of any district is divided between, or among, two or more districts and the original district ceases to exist, employees of the original district regularly assigned to perform their duties in any specific territory of the district shall become employees of the district acquiring the territory. Employees not assigned to specific territory within the original district shall become employees of any acquiring district at the election of the employees.

(4) Employees regularly assigned by the original district to any college in the district shall be employees of the district in which the college is located. Except as provided in this section, nothing in this section shall deprive the governing board of the acquiring district from making reasonable reassignments of duties.

(Amended by Stats. 1995, Ch. 758, Sec. 87. Effective January 1, 1996.)