Rumor has it that the legislature changed the PFRD—the Penalty Free Resignation Date.  That’s the date by which a teacher with a contract can resign without the district’s consent, and without any penalty.  For many years the PFRD has been 45 days prior to the first day of instruction.  If the teacher turns in a resignation after that date, the teacher needs to get the consent of the district (after all, it’s a contract) or risk some negative consequences. 

Did the legislature change it?  No—but they might as well have.  HB 2519 amends three sections of the Education Code that address this issue. The reason we have three sections is because we have one for probationary contracts (21.105) one for term contracts (21.210) and one for continuing contracts (21.160). They all say the same thing—the date is 45 days before the first day of instruction, and those are regular old calendar days.  All three sections of the Code still say this.

But here’s the change, as per HB 2519:

If a teacher fails to file a written resignation as required by Subsection (a) but files a written resignation in the manner provided by that subsection not later than the 30^th day before the first day of instruction of the following school year, the State Board for Educator Certification may not suspend or revoke the teacher’s certificate under Subsection (c). 

Translation: as long as the teacher turns in the resignation by the 30^th day before school starts, nothing really bad is going to happen. The district can file a complaint about it, but the worst that will happen to the teacher is the imposition of some sort of “sanction” other than suspension or revocation of the certificate. 

This new law does not apply to those who resign in the summer of 2021. The effective date of the bill is September 1, 2021, so this will affect next summer’s resignations, not this summer.

What sanctions will be available?  Perhaps the teacher will be required to put a bumper sticker on the teacher’s car:

I RESIGNED FROM MY CONTRACT WITHOUT THE SCHOOL’S CONSENT LESS THAN 45 DAYS BEFORE THE SCHOOL YEAR STARTED.  I’M A BAD PERSON.

Actually, that’s pretty long for a bumper sticker.  A T-shirt maybe?

DAWG BONE:  SUMMER OF 2022—A LITTLE MORE FLEXIBILITY FOR TEACHERS.

Got a question or comment for the Dawg?  Let me hear from you at jwalsh@wabsa.com.