Any person employed in an exempt executive secretarial position shall continue to be afforded all of the rights, benefits, and burdens of any other classified employee serving in the regular service of the district, except he or she shall not attain permanent status in an executive secretarial position. Positions of executive secretary shall be filled from an unranked list of eligible employees who have been found to be qualified for the positions as specified by the district superintendent and determined by the personnel commission. Any person whose services in an executive secretarial position are discontinued for a cause other than a cause for disciplinary action specified in this code or in a rule of the commission shall have the right to return to a position in a classification he or she previously occupied or, if that classification no longer exists, in a similar classification, as determined by the commission.
Nothing contained in this section shall authorize the selection of eligible candidates in circumvention of the affirmative action programs of any school district.
Ca. Educ. Code § 45272