School teacher contract question

[mh01460]

I have a relative who is a certified teacher in a metro area of a southern state. She was teaching at a small school and signed a contract to continue teaching for the following year. After a year, she got homesick and decided to move back home. In doing so, she read through the school handbook and it said that if she signed a future contract she could get out of it (resign) but had to do so within 30 days of school starting back so they could have ample time to find a new teacher and process paperwork. She ended up informing her principle of her decision to leave and after a few weeks of talking back and forth the principle told my relative that she was good to go and "good luck in the future."

My relative ended up moving back home and found a job with another school but had not signed a contract yet (she was waiting on official paperwork from her old school to come through so her resignation would be finalized). She had gotten her new classroom all set up and a few days before school started back she got a call from her old school district saying that they were not going to finalize her resignation and in fact, would not accept it, because the reason she gave was not acceptable. They and now taking this a step further and essentially told her they want her back teaching in the old district despite having already hired new teachers to take her place. She has gotten legal advice but does not know what to do. The old district is claiming that what is in the district handbook overrides what is in the small school's handbook and apparently neither my relative nor the small schools principle knew about it. My relative thought she was in the clear but now it looks like she may have some legal hoops to jump through. Any help?

 

[justalayman]

what is in her contract overrules all the handbooks. What did her contract say to being able to resign?

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

She needs to comply with the terms of the contract she signed or face the legal and professional remedies she could suffer, for not doing so.

 

[mh01460]

She did everything by what was in her contract and the handbook at the school she was at. It just seems like the district waited to the last minute to process her paperwork and is taking it to the extreme. Had my relative or the school principle known that the district had overruling power in contracts then perhaps she would have taken a different course of action. Their lawyers are all over it so we don't know what to do except hire a lawyer...

 

[justalayman]

so, did her contract allow her to resign without consequence within 30 days of the beginning of a school year?

Ya see, this is what you said previously:

In doing so, she read through the school handbook and it said that if she signed a future contract she could get out of it (resign) but had to do so within 30 days of school starting back so they could have ample time to find a new teacher and process paperwork

Unless the contract referred to the statements in that handbook being the rules in force, what the handbook said doesn't mean much.

If her contract allowed for resignation as she has, given the time issue, she should probably seek the assistance of a lawyer. If the other school does not have the right to make the demands and refuses to comply with completing whatever is required for friend to work where she is now, they could possibly be liable for damages. Not trying to state that with any certainty given the minimal information posted but she should look into it.

 

[mh01460]

The contract and the handbook had the exact same language when it came to resigning or leaving.

 

[justalayman]

Ok, great. That means as long as she resigned properly and there was not option for the school to refuse the resignation, the actions taken by that school system might be seen as damaging her relationship with the new school and causing her a loss of income.


she needs to get to a lawyer who can confirm her understanding of the contract and take some action quickly hopefully to avoid incurring damages.

Oh, I missed this:

She has gotten legal advice but does not know what to do.

so, what has that lawyer told her? I would presume the lawyer has read the contract and given her some direction or at least some opinion as to where she stands. What was it?