Dozens of teachers who signed contracts with DeKalb County schools last spring failed to show up when it came time to start their jobs, abandoning students and prompting a new punitive policy intended to discourage similar behavior next fall.
Superintendent Michael Thurmond inserted a “liquidated damages clause” in contracts that are being issued to teachers now. The new contracts require prospective employees to agree to a $750 fine should they back out after they sign the agreement.
The teachers who reneged on contracts they signed last May left the district scrambling to find replacements.
Tekshia Ward-Smith, the school system’s chief of human resources, said about 500 of the 6,800 educators who signed contracts later sought to be released. The district let some out of their agreement, but others abandoned students without permission.
About 50 teachers “simply did not show up on the first day of school,” Ward-Smith said.
She said other districts, including Fulton County, have similar sanctions built into their contracts. Spokeswoman Susan Hale said the Fulton school system’s fine is $500.
via DeKalb school district seeks fines for teachers who abandon jobs | www.myajc.com.
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