Teacher files grievance over nonrenewal of contract

A teacher was informed that her probationary contract had been terminated at the end of the school year. She filed a grievance regarding the termination of her contract, claiming that the district could not terminate her contract because it had missed its deadline to notify her of its decision to do so. The district denied her grievance before the board of trustees and the teacher appealed to the commissioner of education.

According to the Texas Education Code, a board is required to give a teacher notice of its decision to terminate the teacher's employment "not later than the 10th day before the last day of instruction required under the contract." The issue in this case was the definition of "last day of instruction."

The commissioner began his analysis by noting that the teacher received notice on May 16, 2022, by certified mail that the board had voted to terminate her probationary contract at the end of the contract period. The last day of work for teachers for that school year was May 26, 2022. The parties agreed that if the "last day of instruction" was May 25, 2022, the district had notified the teacher too late.

TEA's 2021-22 Student Accounting Attendance Handbook defines "instructional day" to mean "That portion of the school day in which instruction takes place. The instructional day includes recess and in-class breakfast. The instructional day does not include passing periods."  The Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines "instruction" as "the action, practice, or profession of teaching." Therefore,  when the action, practice, or profession of teaching is occurring, there is instruction. The commissioner has further held that "As a general rule, the last day of instruction is the last day students are present in the classroom." However, it is possible that the last day students are present in the classroom will not be an instructional day.

The teacher admitted that the last day that the students were present on campus was May 26 in this case. However, she argued that what occurred on that day was not instruction. She argued that the activities on that day were "fun and games." These included: homeroom, signing yearbooks, observing volleyball games, and honoring those graduating from middle school.

The commissioner of education noted that just because an activity is fun and is a game does not mean that the activity is not instruction. There were several activities scheduled for the students on May 26. In particular, the commissioner noted that watching volleyball and signing yearbooks could teach students concepts such as sportsmanship, grammar, penmanship and courtesy to others.

Based on his analysis, the commissioner concluded that May 26 was a day of instruction and that the teacher received timely notice of the termination of her probationary contract at the end of the contract period.