D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray, at the eleventh hour, introduced on Monday a revamped version of the mayor’s bill to rid the school system of underperforming employees, adding two departments and thousands more staff members to those who would be affected.

His 10-page proposal, obtained by The Examiner and set to be considered today, would target the offices of the state superintendent and facilities modernization as well as the system’s central office, the only department identified in the mayor’s legislation. It also bypasses union demands that supervisors be held accountable for poor performance and that training be offered before firings are considered.

Employees in unions or those hired before 1980 would be exempt, as they would under Mayor Adrian Fenty’s proposal.

All other workers in the designated offices would be “reappointed” as probationary employees for the next year, susceptible to being terminated “without notice or evaluation.” Following probation, employees with at least one evaluation within the previous six months could be fired after a 15-day separation notice. Gray’s office did not return calls seeking comment.

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Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, through the mayor’s bill, pushed for changing the status of central office staff so that they could be terminated with 15 days notice. The system would offer severance packages to those who refuse the new status.

Dwight Kirk, a spokesman for the Washington Labor Council, said union leaders found Gray’s amendments “unacceptable.”

“It expands the group of workers subject to being employed at Rhee’s discretion, which we’re not in favor of,” he said.

The unions support a proposal that only applies to central-office managers and seeks training for poor-performing workers rather than firing them outright. Councilman Harry Thomas Jr. is expected to submit union-backed legislation today.

Rhee said last week she thinks the unions’ bill would make it harder to eliminate the system’s dead weight. Her spokeswoman would not comment on Gray’s bill Monday.

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com