22-63-202. Employment contracts - contracts to be in writing - duration - damage provision.
Statute text
(1) Except for a part-time or substitute teacher, every employment contract entered into by any teacher or chief administrative officer for the performance of services for a school district shall be in writing.
(2) (a) A teacher or chief administrative officer and the board may mutually agree to terminate the teacher's or chief administrative officer's employment contract at any time.
(b) Each employment contract executed pursuant to this section shall contain a provision stating that a teacher or chief administrative officer shall not terminate his or her employment contract with the board without the agreement of the board unless:
(I) If the teacher or chief administrative officer intends to terminate his or her employment contract for the succeeding academic year, the teacher or chief administrative officer gives written notice to the board of his or her intent no later than thirty days prior to the commencement of the succeeding academic year or, if a school district operates an alternative year program, not less than thirty days before the commencement of services under the employment contract; or
(II) If the teacher or chief administrative officer intends to terminate his or her employment contract for the current academic year after the beginning of the academic year, the teacher or chief administrative officer shall give written notice to the board of his or her intent at least thirty days prior to the date that the teacher or chief administrative officer intends to stop performing the services required by the employment contract.
(b.5) Each employment contract executed pursuant to this section shall contain a provision stating that a teacher or chief administrative officer shall accept the terms of the employment contract for the succeeding academic year within thirty days of receipt of the contract, unless the teacher or chief administrative officer and the district have reached an alternative agreement. If a teacher or chief administrative officer does not accept the terms of the employment contract within thirty days of receipt, the district shall be authorized to open the position to additional candidates.
(c) Each employment contract executed pursuant to this section shall contain a damages provision whereby a teacher or chief administrative officer who violates the provision required by paragraph (b) of this subsection (2) without good cause shall agree to pay damages to the school district, and the board thereof shall be authorized to collect or withhold damages from compensation due or payable to the teacher or chief administrative officer, in an amount equal to the lessor of:
(I) The ordinary and necessary expenses of a board to secure the services of a suitable replacement teacher or chief administrative officer; or
(II) One-twelfth of the annual salary specified in the employment contract.
(d) The department of education may suspend the license, endorsement, or authorization of a teacher or chief administrative officer who fails to provide the notice required by paragraph (b) of this subsection (2) and who abandons, fails, or refuses to perform required services pursuant to an employment contract, without good cause.
(3) A teacher may be suspended temporarily during the contractual period until the date of dismissal as ordered by the board pursuant to section 22-63-302 or may have his employment contract cancelled during the contractual period when there is a justifiable decrease in the number of teaching positions. The manner in which employment contracts will be cancelled when there is a justifiable decrease in the number of teaching positions may be included in any contract between the board of education of the school district and school district employees. If there is no such contract provision, when a justifiable reduction in the number of teaching positions within a particular endorsement area occurs, the employment contracts of first-year probationary teachers who are occupying such positions shall be cancelled first. Further reductions in the number of teaching positions through the cancellation of employment contracts of second-year and third-year probationary teachers and nonprobationary teachers shall be made in accordance with an established policy of the board of education of the school district. The provisions of this subsection (3) concerning the cancellation of employment contracts shall not create any property right or contract right, express or implied, for second-year and third-year probationary teachers.
(4) (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 24-72-204 (3) (a), C.R.S., upon a request from a school district or a school concerning a person applying for a position as a teacher, a school district may disclose to the requesting school district or school the reason or reasons why a teacher left employment with the original school district. Upon the specific request of a school district at which a teacher has applied for employment, a school district may disclose any pertinent performance record or disciplinary record of a teacher that specifically relates to any negligent action of the teacher that was found to have endangered the safety and security of a student or any disciplinary record that relates to behavior by the teacher that was found to have contributed to a student's violation of the school district's conduct and discipline code. The information disclosed pursuant to this paragraph (a) shall only be disclosed to personnel authorized to review the personnel file in the school district or school and to the person applying for a position as a teacher.
(b) No employment contract executed pursuant to this section shall contain a provision that restricts or prohibits a school district from disclosing to another school district or school the reason or reasons why a teacher left employment with the original school district or from disclosing to another school district any of the teacher's disciplinary or performance records pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (4).
History
Source: L. 90: Entire article R&RE, p. 1120, 1, effective July 1. L. 93: (3) amended, p. 894, 25, effective May 6; (2)(a) amended, p. 900, 1, effective July 2. L. 97: (2)(a) amended, p. 398, 1, effective August 15. L. 99: (4) added, p. 1104, 8, effective July 1. L. 2000: (4) amended, p. 1965, 10, effective June 2; (2)(b) amended, p. 1860, 68, effective August 2. L. 2006: (2) R&RE, p. 924, 4, effective July 1. L. 2009: (2)(b.5) added, (SB 09-256), ch. 294, p. 1553, 7, effective May 21.
Annotations
Editor's note: This section was contained in an article that was repealed and reenacted in 1990. Provisions of this section, as it existed in 1990, are similar to those contained in 22-63-107 as said section existed in 1989, the year prior to the repeal and reenactment of this article.
Annotations
ANNOTATION
Annotations
Am. Jur.2d. See 68 Am. Jur.2d, Schools, 156-158, 176, 222-224.
C.J.S. See 78 C.J.S., Schools and School Districts, 189.
Annotator's note. Since 22-63-202 is similar to 22-63-107 as it existed prior to the 1990 repeal and reenactment of this article and to repealed laws antecedent to CSA, C. 146, 249, a case construing those provisions has been included in the annotations to this section.
Constitutionality. This section does not violate the due process clause where former teachers had deductions taken from their paychecks by a board of education pursuant to this section to recover the costs of their replacements, despite board's failure to hold an administrative hearing on the matter. Action for breach of contract was available to resolve disputes concerning the board's deductions under this section. Stackhouse v. Sch. Dist. No. 1, 919 P.2d 902 (Colo. App. 1996).
This section was enacted to prevent capricious interference by either party in the contract to teach, a contract in which the public has an interest. Sch. Dist. No. 1 v. Parker, 82 Colo. 385, 260 P. 521 (1927).
The term "ordinary and necessary expenses" is limited to actual cash outlays and does not include overhead for purposes of calculating maximum damages. Klinger v. Adams County Sch. Dist. No. 50, 130 P.3d 1027 (Colo. 2006).
The public has an interest in contracts to teach. A contract to teach in the public schools differs from the ordinary contract in that the public has an interest in it, and in not having it capriciously interfered with by either party. Sch. Dist. No. 1 v. Parker, 82 Colo. 385, 260 P. 521 (1927).
Trial court erred in entering summary judgment, as the issue of the amount of ordinary and necessary expenses incurred by the board in replacing plaintiffs was disputed. Board was required to prove that the amount it withheld did not exceed the ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in securing a suitable replacement for a particular teacher. Stackhouse v. Sch. Dist. No. 1, 919 P.2d 902 (Colo. App. 1996).