(a) Except as provided in subdivisions (d) and (e), the faculty members elected to serve as president and vice president of the Academic Senate of the California Community Colleges (ASCCC) shall be granted release or reassigned time from their local responsibilities by the districts by which they are employed during their terms of office.

(b) The amount of release or reassigned time required will be determined by the ASCCC and reported to the district employing the person elected ASCCC president by May 1st and to the district employing the person elected ASCC vice president by June 1st of the year in which these individuals will assume office, unless the election has not been conducted by those dates, in which case the information will be reported immediately upon completion of the election.

(c) The districts employing the president and the vice president of the ASCCC will be reimbursed by February 1 from the state appropriation for the ASCCC for the release or reassigned time at the part-time replacement cost identified by the district prior to September of each year. If the release or reassigned time need identified is 100 percent and the position to be filled is in a hard to replace discipline area, the district shall so certify to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges by August 1. If the Chancellor confirms the district certification, the district shall be reimbursed at the full-time temporary replacement cost. In addition, districts shall be reimbursed by the ASCCC for reasonable and documented administrative costs associated with hiring faculty to replace the faculty serving as president and vice president of the ASCCC.

(d) A local district will not be required to grant release or reassigned time for the president or vice president of the ASCCC if it certifies by August 1 to the Chancellor, and he or she confirms, that the faculty member is in a position for which a qualified part-time or full-time temporary replacement cannot be found to meet the needs of the students.

(e) No district shall be required to grant release or reassigned time for an individual serving as president or vice president of the ASCCC for a period exceeding four years.

(f) This section shall only be operative during any fiscal year in which sufficient funds are provided therefore to the ASCCC in the annual Budget Act for that fiscal year or other legislation.