Teachers, Coaches and the Dual Contract: Another Tool for Teacher Termination

"Coaching is nothing more than eliminating mistakes before you get fired." - Lou Holtz

Teachers are often assigned many duties outside of their normal classroom duties which, in and of themselves, can be very demanding. Some teachers also give up their time to coach a sport or academic event. They usually receive a stipend on top of their yearly salary for that extra duty. But every coach knows that if one were to do the math and add up all the hours spent versus what they were getting paid coaching, it would amount to a paltry few cents per hour. On the average, athletic stipends (especially football) - this IS Texas - can get pretty high, running up into the $5-$20K range, academic coaches and others may run from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

Fort Bend ISD has now opted to assign dual contracts to teachers who also coach.  Many school districts across Texas have also switched to dual contracts.  Why the change?  And what's the difference between a regular contract with a stipend and a "dual contract"?  Coaches (both athletic and academic) should be aware of the dual contract and how it may affect their options.  

Here's the short version: Dual contracts give many more options to the school district and much fewer options to the teacher/coach.  

Why now?  Because in a time of massive education budget cuts in Texas, some coaches will be taking on more duties and stipends will likely be getting lower, and that might incline a teacher to quit coaching because the money just won't be worth it.  But the dual contract will be there to keep the coach in that job and any others that the district may assign.

Cuts mean teams must make do with less:  Programs try to work around fewer coaches.  Houston Chronicle, June 14, 2011.

What is a dual contract and how does it work?

A dual contract basically does two things, and both work in the favor of the school district.  First, if a teacher wants to leave the coaching position and give up their stipend for personal reasons and keep teaching, the dual contract legally binds them to both.  To leave one is to leave the other.  In other words, if the teacher resigns coaching, they resign the classroom assignment as well.  Second, if a coach isn't doing particularly well that season, the district can find any reason to relieve the coach of all of their duties.  This will be explained later.

The following is a teacher/coach court case that explains why a district might need to create them in the first place.  This is taken from a book that every educator should have, The Educator Guide to Texas School Law, p.171. 

Educators would be wise to examine their contracts carefully. Mr. Skinner was employed as a teacher/coach for the 2001-2001 school year, but when he asked to be relieved of coaching duties due to physi­cal ailments, the district agreed. Then for the 2002-2003 school year, the district offered him another teacher/coach contract. The man signed it. When he then refused to perform coaching duties, the district pro­posed to terminate his contract. The commissioner ultimately upheld Skinner's termination. Even though the district had agreed to relieve him of coaching duties for one year, the parties had entered into a new agreement for the next school year. The agreement called for the man to serve as both teacher and coach, and he could not refuse to perform either as teacher or as coach (Skinner v. San Felipe Del Rio C.I.S.D.. 2003).
Dual-Assignment Contracts. The Skinner case provides a good segue into the entire topic of dual-assignment contracts, the most common of which is "teacher/coach." If the district wants to nonrenew the coach­ing duties, but renew the person as a teacher, must it comply with the statutory nonrenewal scheme? Again, the key appears to be the lan­guage of the individual's contract. ...Under the two-contract arrangement, it might be possible to nonrenew the coaching contract without adher­ing to statutory nonrenewal provisions, while retaining the person as a teacher. Under the unified contract, however, nonrenewal of either portion of the contract means that the employee is not coming back "in the same professional capacity," and thus nonrenewal procedures are necessary. Moreover, under the unified contract, nonperformance of any of the duties could lead to nonrenewal of the entire employment relationship, provided the district complies with the statutory scheme for nonrenewal (Hester v. Canadian I.S.D.. 1985).

Now we get to the heart of the matter.  Originally designed as a way to bind coaches who weren't able to coach, it is now being used as a tool to nonrenew a coach for any reason, at any time.
The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) wrote this enlightening article on how to get rid of coaches who have a bad season.  If you are a coach, I recommend reading the entire article here.  The school district will be well prepared, and so should the coach.

Post Season Postings: Dealing with Ineffective Coaches
It’s fall in Texas and there is a chill in the air. For those districts that are experiencing a losing season, it can be an especially cold time of year. A losing season can hurt the district’s reputation and morale...During losing seasons, a common question is “What can we do about the coach?”
Dual-Assignment Contracts
Termination, nonrenewal, reassignment, and compensation under a dual-assignment arrangement
are controlled by Chapter 21 of the Texas Education Code. A losing season will rarely, if ever, support termination or nonrenewal of a teaching contract. However, districts have successfully terminated coaches in a number of cases for misconduct involving players, students, parents, and co-workers. If your district is considering pursuing termination or nonrenewal of a coach, the district must be able to demonstrate misconduct or poor performance off the field. Remember that termination or nonrenewal ends the entire contract. Once the contract ends, both the  teaching and coaching assignments are terminated. The district may be forced to decide whether termination of a coach’s duties is worth losing a valuable teacher. After termination or nonrenewal, the district may offer the employee a new contract exclusively for teaching duties, but the employee is free to reject the offer and leave the district.

In other words, the TASB is saying that it's very difficult to get rid of coaches solely based on the performance of their team.  So, since districts have been successful in terminating coaches for "misconduct involving players, students, parents, and co-workers, that's what the district will be looking for as a reason for termination.  
What?  You mean they're going to try to find faults elsewhere because my team didn't win?  That's possible and probable.  But on paper the reasoning would be "misconduct".  And with the dual contract, that kind of termination becomes much easier to deal with.  
The ATPE discusses how dual contracts may be able to work in the favor of the teacher/coach by possibly allowing a coach to keep their coaching stipend even if they leave that coaching position or get moved to another coaching position.  But it all comes down to the language of the contract. 

 Can my coaching duties be terminated mid-year? How will my pay be affected?
Sometimes an extra responsibility is added into an educator’s employment contract so that the contract governs both, creating a dual contract. This gives the educator more legal rights regarding the additional position and makes it more difficult for both the district and the educator to terminate the separate duty without the other’s agreement.
The most common example of a dual contract is the “teacher/coach” contract. Because the contract’s terms govern both duties, what the contract says is important. For instance, if only the general term “coach” is used in the contract, the educator can likely be reassigned to any coaching position at any time though complicated rules govern what may happen to the coach’s pay. A more specific description, such as “Head Football Coach,” creates a right to that more specific position. In any case, however, the contract protects only the pay for a position. The district may remove the actual duties at any time as long as the educator continues to receive the proper compensation. Finally, although the district must usually prove that it has good cause to terminate the coaching duty in a dual contract, if the district does prove good cause, this frequently means the district may terminate the entire contract, thus ending employment with the district completely.

The dual contract is a tool that Texas districts can use either as a means for termination or as a threat of termination to hold coaches to their jobs or remove them at will.  
This is but one more example of an education system that fails it's best and brightest by sacrificing commitment, skill and talent for control.  This is another example of what happens in a state that under-funds education year after year. 
Most coaches give up their time, their physical and emotional well being day and night to see children reach new heights and discover a potential they never knew they had.  For most it isn't about the money.  If only school districts would start taking care of their coaches they way their coaches take care of their kids. 

"I learned this about coaching: You don't have to explain victory and you can't explain defeat."-Darrell Royal