Ohio Revised Code Section (RC) 3319.15 sets out the procedure a teacher seeking to cancel his or her contract with the board must follow. The statute states that teachers, as well as superintendents and other administrators, may terminate their contracts by providing five days written notice to the employing board. However, the law prohibits teachers from terminating contracts after July 10 of any school year without the consent of the board.
So, what happens if your middle school special education teacher submits a letter of resignation one week before school is scheduled to begin? Heres a hint: you cannot force the employee to continue working in the district. The Thirteenth Amendment prohibits involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. Therefore, no matter how much of a bind an untimely teacher resignation may put your district in, the former employee cannot be forced to continue to perform his or her duties under a personal services contract. Instead, the statute allows the State Board of Education, upon a complaint by the employing board, to suspend the teachers license for up to a year. Note that the State Board rarely levies this severe penalty, choosing more often than not to issue the offending teacher a letter of reprimand.
A second issue that often arises is when a teacher who has complied with the resignation procedures of RC 3319.15 changes his or her mind. In order for an otherwise valid resignation to be rescinded, the effective date of the resignation cannot have passed, and the board cannot have taken formal action to accept the resignation. Formal action usually takes the form of a resolution or some other affirmative act or writing that shows the boards intent to accept the resignation. Keep in mind that once the board has taken formal action, the resignation is final and cannot be rescinded unilaterally by the teacher, even if the effective date of the resignation has yet to arrive. However, if the board and teacher agree to continue the employment relationship, the teacher could rescind the resignation in writing, and the board could take action to formally accept it.
Another issue that may occur surrounding the July 10 deadline is when a board has taken action to employ a teacher, but the teacher fails to return the executed employment contract by that deadline and does not resign. Under RC 3319.08, so long as the board formally adopts the resolution and the employee accepts it, the failure of the parties to enter into a written contract would not void the agreement. However, if the teacher were to rescind his or her acceptance of employment with the district after July 10, he or she would be in violation of RC 3319.15.
Posted by OSBA Legal Ledger on 7/1/2009