Four teachers at Houston Schools will pay penalties for late resignations from the district.
The school board accepted resignations last week from Josh Roehrs, Van Kirkwood, Kaitlyn Kell and Rhonda Grumadas. Roehrs will pay a $500 penalty for breaking his contract after the last day of school while the others were charged $1,000 for making the move after June 1.
Daniel Montgomery, a paraprofessional, also resigned but was not charged for breaking his contract.
Roehrs was the agricultural education instructor and FFA advisor at Houston Schools. Kirkwood was an ISS instructor, welding instructor and bus driver. Kell was an elementary teacher and middle school volleyball coach. Grumadas taught middle school science.
All five resignations were accepted with 7-0 votes during the closed session of last Tuesday’s monthly school board meeting.
Four teachers who are leaving the Houston R-1 School District were accessed financial penalties for leaving.
Why? And how does the district determine how much?
The answers are found in Policy GCPB – “Resignation of Professional Staff Members.”
The contracts of all school employees include the policy to curb late resignations. It reads:
“When a professional staff member is released from his or her contract, he or she will be charged damages to cover the cost of filling the vacancy created. Advertising costs, administrative costs and the time and effort involved in screening applicants, setting up and conducting interviews and making reference calls are all reasonable factors considered in establishing the cost filling a position. Since filling positions becomes increasingly more difficult later in the year, the board has established the following graduated scale for accepting resignations:
1. Between the last day of school and May 31: $500.
2. Between June 1-30, $1,000.
3. After July 1, $1,500.”
Read the full policy here: https://eboard.eboardsolutions.com/ePolicy/policy.aspx?PC=GCPB&Sch=497&S=497&RevNo=1.11&C=G&Z=P
PDF: Minutes from last week’s Houston school board meeting