Home ::
Did you know… that you could lose your entitlement to District Awards for Teacher Excellence (DATE) grant money if you resign from your district or voluntarily transfer to a different campus?
If you work in a school district that receives DATE grant funds, you probably know that you could be entitled to receive an award if you meet certain performance criteria. Many teachers assume that this means that they are assured of the award, as long as they are working on a campus at the time those performance measures are achieved and they are identified as being eligible to receive an award. However, this assumption is incorrect.
If you’re considering a voluntary resignation or transfer from a campus that is participating in the DATE program, you may want to review the terms of the plan to determine whether you’ll be leaving your award behind you if you leave.
TEA’s rules state that a school district must establish teacher eligibility requirements to receive a DATE grant award and may choose to exclude a teacher from receiving an award. Many school districts specifically state that in order to be eligible to receive the award, a teacher must be employed on the campus at the time the funds are distributed.
If you are eligible to receive DATE grant money and then subsequently resign from the district or transfer to a different campus before the funds are distributed, you may lose your entitlement to grant funds and not receive the award if your district awards plan includes such a requirement.
Teachers who are involuntarily transferred to a different campus or retired teachers who are no longer on the selected campus are still eligible to receive funds pursuant to state law.
Posted: 03/09/10
