LOYAL DAILY DAWG READERS! IT’S BREAK TIME. THE DAILY DAWG WILL TAKE A BREAK FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS, RESUMING PUBLICATION ON MONDAY, JULY 18. WE WILL HAVE A ZOOM CALL THIS MONTH ON JULY 21. HOPE TO SEE YOU THEN.
Coach Watson was suspended with pay so that the district could conduct an investigation into a complaint against her. This suspension went on for seven months, during which time the district found it necessary to hire someone else to take on Coach Watson’s duties at the high school. The district reinstated Coach Watson for the next school year, but moved her to an elementary school. She filed a grievance over this.
It’s well known that teachers and coaches can be reassigned. The contract always contains a provision to that effect. But Coach Watson alleged that this reassignment also carried a drop in compensation. The Commissioner’s decision does not give us much detail about this, but it appears that the coaching stipend at the elementary was less than the coach stipend at the high school. So does Coach Watson have a good case?
The Commissioner held that she did not. Paragraph 5.4 of the contract “expressly excludes all supplemental assignments and payments. In addition, Petitioner’s supplemental duty assignments provide that they are not part of her regular contract, do not carry any property rights, and may be ended and prorated if her supplemental duties change.”
Yesterday we pointed out how important the label of a contract is. If it’s supposed to be a TERM contract, the teacher should not sign one that says PROBATIONARY. Today’s case points out that a teacher/coach contract might include the salary and benefits of the teaching position, while supplemental duty stipends might be excluded from the contract.
Same lesson: read the contract. Make sure you understand it. Then sign it.
This one is Watson v. Liberty-Eylau ISD, decided by the Commissioner on March 8, 2022. It’s Docket No. 003-R10-09-2021.
DAWG BONE: BREAK TIME, READERS! LET’S GET SOME REST AND HANG OUT AT THE POOL.
Got a question or comment for the Dawg? Let me hear from you at jwalsh@wabsa.com.