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won't give reason for refusal to renew teaching contract

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gsstiles@comcas

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? TN
My wife is a Special Ed. teacher in Sevier County, TN and has just received notice that her contract for next year will not be renewed. The only reason they will give her is "...that it is in the best interest of the school". Her reviews without exception have been postive throughout the year and she has never been repremanded for ANY thing and has only been applauded for doing a good job and her principal stated emphatically he wanted her back. He even notified here when the job postings for next year were faxed (last Wednesday) so he could help her get the applcation in quickly along with his letter of recommendation. The school board told her the rehire decision for next term was up to her principal. All of a sudden Friday he calls her in and explains her that "in the best interest of the school" her contract would not be renewed for next term and that she shoud not bother looking anywhere else in the entire county and he couldn't tell her anymore than that! She checked her contract and it states that she is entitled to a written explanation. She asked him this AM for one and he told her all he could put in writing is the business about it "...not being in the best interest..." Something feels quite fishy here and we're not sure what to do. No spots or blemishes on a 20 years teaching career..not here or anywhere else (17 years on one school in FL prior to coming to TN). We can't find out the specific reasons and we can't understand why she can't apply anywhere else in the entire county. Am I off track when I say something here isn't right??? HELP!!! :confused: :confused: :confused:
 


cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Since we don't know, either, why they don't want her back, there's no way for us to know if anything is wrong or not.

If you had to guess, right now, what do YOU think is the reason? That might give us something to go on.

BTW, nothing in the law requires them to give her a reason. Without knowing the exact terms of the contract (PLEASE do not post that paragraph here; we'd have to read the entire contract to know if there's anything elsewhere in the document that modifies it) it's impossible to say if "not in the best interests of the school" is sufficient to fulful the contract requirement, but as far as the law is concerned, they don't have to give her any reason at all.
 

BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
It sounds as if there is something else going on here and that you aren't telling the entire story.

So, what is the rest of the story?
 

gsstiles@comcas

Junior Member
contract renewal refusal

The only other item that we suspect could be playng a part is a grievance she filed some months ago related to a difference she and another teacher has related to teaching methods my wife as a Speical Resource teacher was using. They went before their princiapl to discuss their differences and tge other teacher really started to blow everything out of proportion and against the advise of the principal even got an attorny involved claiming my wife's grievance letter constituted slander. BTW the my wife gave the letter to her principal only as protocol prescribed and did not to anything to extend the matter beyond that but as mentioned the other teacher took it further claiming her repuation was now in jeopardy. My wife received a 'cease and desist' letter from the other teacher's attorney. Keep in mind all that my wife did was to give her principal a letter outlining the nature of the differences and difficulties between her and the other teacher in the hopes that a meeting with the teacher and principal would lead to a resolution. We have been told by a number of sources that this other teacher has a long standing county wide reputation for being troublesome and hearsay has it that the only reason she was transferred to my wife's school was to keep her out of the way until she retires next year. This is the ONLY incident that we suspect could be part of the issue but it certainly didn't seem serious enough to cause something like this although in a small county and small country school I suppose it could be. My wife simply followed presribed prceedure related to the quality of service that a student was receiving by filing a grievance letter with her superior who then acted upon it properly. It did not go any further than that...at least not publicly. There is nothing else of which we are aware that could come into play. That is why we are some perplexed... :confused:
 

rhh

Member
could be about $$ too? by replacing her with a less experienced instructor, they will probaly save money. while it is important to teach the kids, there is a lot of pressure to balance the budgets.

my two cents
 

gsstiles@comcas

Junior Member
contract renewal refusal

yes...could be about budget but why wouldn't they simply say, "due to budget constraints..." instead of the vagueness of "...in the best interests...? and then to add, "...don't bother looking anywhere else in the county...". She feels like she is being blackballed but doesn't understand why...
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
I understand your frustration but nothing in your posts suggests that the school is acting illegally. You are free to contact a local attorney to see if anything in her contract guarantees her more than they are giving her, but as far as I can tell they have complied with the law.
 

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