Breach of Contract and Resignations

Breach of Contract-Resignation Notice

TCA 49-5-508(a) and (b)

(a) A teacher shall give the director of schools notice of resignation at least thirty (30) days’ in advance of the effective date of the resignation.  A teacher who fails to give such notice, in the absence of justifiable mitigating circumstances, shall forfeit all tenure status under this part; provided that the board may waive the thirty (30) days’ notice requirement and permit the teacher to resign in good standing.

(b) Any teacher who breaks a contract with a board of education without justifiable reason as listed in subsection (c) shall not be given permanent tenure status in any other school system in this state, until such teacher has met all the requirements for attaining permanent status plus serving the five (5) continuous years in lieu of the three (3) continuous years required in § 49-5-503; provided, that the local board of education against which the teacher has broken a contract informs the commissioner of education of the breach of contract and requests the commissioner to so notify all local boards of education in this state. The local board of education may later inform the commissioner that it is no longer holding the breach of contract against the teacher, in which event the local board of education shall request the commissioner to so notify all local boards of education in this state. If and when the local board of education informs the commissioner that it is no longer holding the breach of contract against the teacher, the penalty in this subsection (b) against the teacher shall immediately become ineffective, null and void.

In addition, the Director of Schools must report the breach of contract to the State Board of Education which has the power to take independent action against the teacher including suspending or revoking the teacher’s license.