2023 Tennessee Code
Title 49 - EDUCATION (§§ 49-1-NEW — 49-50-1703)
Chapter 5 - PERSONNEL (§§ 49-5-101 — 49-5-5704)
Part 4 - EMPLOYMENT AND ASSIGNMENT OF PERSONNEL (§§ 49-5-401 — 49-5-419)
Section 49-5-411 - Teachers - Resignations - Breach of contract

• (a) The conditions under which it is permissible to break a contract with a local board of education are as follows:
  • (1) The incapacity on the part of the teacher to perform the contract as evidenced by the certified statement of a physician approved by the local board of education;
  • (2) The drafting of a teacher into military service by a selective service board; and
  • (3) The release, by written mutual consent, by the local board of education of the teacher from the contract that the teacher has entered into with the local board of education.

• (b) A teacher shall give the director of schools written notice of resignation at least thirty (30) days in advance of the effective date of the resignation. A teacher who breaks a contract with a local board of education without a justifiable reason as listed in this section shall be subject to the following penalty:
  • (1) The local board of education, upon a motion recorded in its minutes, may file a complaint with the state board of education and request a suspension of the teacher's license;
  • (2) The request shall be supported by facts documenting the charge that the teacher broke the contract contrary to this section;
  • (3) The teacher shall receive a copy of the charges and facts at the same time they are filed with the state board of education;
  • (4) If the state board of education finds that a teacher has broken the teacher's contract, then the state board may suspend the teacher's license for no less than thirty (30) days and no more than three hundred sixty-five (365) days;
  • (5) The suspension of a license according to this section shall occur only after the state board of education has provided the teacher an opportunity for defense, in person or by counsel, against the charges during a full and complete hearing within thirty (30) days following the filing of the complaint; and
  • (6) A license that has been suspended because of breach of contract shall have recorded on it the date the suspension was in effect and the cause for the suspension.

Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 493, s 21, eff. 5/25/2021.

Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 248, Secs.s 43, s 44, s 45, s 46 eff. 5/2/2019.

Acts 1973, ch. 178, § 1; T.C.A., § 49-1317; Acts 1987, ch. 308, § 24.