Contract Abandonment

An educator with a Chapter 21 contract can resign at the end of the school year without penalty (sanctions) no later than the 45th day before the first day of instruction of the following year. (TEC 21.105, 21.160, 21.210).

Resigning outside this timeframe without good cause can lead to a determination that you have abandoned your contract.

A district must issue a Chapter 21 contract to an educator in any position that requires certification by the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC), if local policy mandates it, if certification is locally required, or if the employee is employed in a nurse position.

This process applies to district employees who hold a Chapter 21 probationary, term or continuing contract governed by the Texas Education Code.  This includes employees such as  principals, assistant principals, teachers, school counselors, diagnosticians, librarians, athletic directors/coordinators, associate superintendents, assistant superintendents, athletic trainers, speech pathologists, psychologists, nurses, JROTC instructors, and employees with local/district or emergency permits.

Texas Administrative Code 249.17 D1 identifies four (4) good cause reasons for abandoning your contract.

• Serious illness or health condition of the educator or close family member of the educator
• Relocation to a new city as a result of change in employer of the educator's spouse or partner who resides with the educator
• Significant change in the educator's family needs that requires the educator to relocate or to devote more time than allowed by current employment
• The educator's reasonable belief that the educator had written permission from the school district administration to resign

When good cause is established, a district may release an educator from his or her contract mid-year.

CFISD has identified 3 other good cause reasons:

• Promotion within K-12 public education
• Service or Disability Retirement through TRS
• Replacement educator - A replacement educator is defined as an educator who meets all certification requirements for the position including the same content area as the departing employee. The replacement educator start on or before the effective/departure date of the resigning employee.

• If an educator is released from his or her contract mid-year after establishing good cause, the educator may be eligible for rehire in the next school year.
• Employees who resign without good cause may be eligible for rehire in 3-5 years.