Texas Special Education Teachers and Contract Termination: What to Know Before You Resign

A student and situation are escalating, others are at risk, and you have seconds to act. For Texas special education teachers, that split-second decision can later be framed as “use of force,” “inappropriate contact,” or a violation of policy and could trigger an internal investigation, paid administrative leave, a report to TEA, and educator contract termination.

We sit down with LaJuana "LJ" Acklin, a senior associate attorney at Bertolino Law Firm, to map what happens when a district moves to end a teacher’s contract and why the decisions made early on matter so much. We talk through termination vs nonrenewal, how notice works, and the strict deadlines to request a contract termination hearing before an independent hearing examiner. We also unpack the hard truth behind “resignation in lieu of termination”, where it can feel like it protects your narrative, but it may also wipe out your best chance to contest allegations and preserve key defenses.

Then we get practical for the classroom realities. We cover Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) training, why de-escalation should come first whenever possible, what “proportional” force means in real life, and why documentation and communication with paraprofessionals and campus leadership can protect both students and staff. Finally, we explain statutory immunity under Texas Education Code 22.0512 and Texas Penal Code 9.62, and how “non-deadly justified force” may apply when you reasonably believe you must act to maintain discipline or protect safety, even when district policy gets complicated.

If you’re a Texas teacher, especially in special education, this conversation can help you understand some of your options before you make a decision. Subscribe to Know Your Regulator, share this with a Texas educator who needs it, and leave a review with the question you want us to tackle next!

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Transcript

Purpose And Legal Disclaimer

0:00

The purpose of this podcast is to educate and inform. It does not provide legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship. While the host is not a lawyer, the content is overseen by licensed counsel. If you need help with a legal matter, you should always consult with a qualified attorney. Special education teachers are often working in highly complex environments. They may be managing behavioral plans, safety concerns, documentation requirements, maybe even aggressive student behaviors, all while trying to teach students and protect themselves. But when a district moves to terminate a teacher's contract, the process can move very quickly and the decisions made early on can have some long-term consequences.

Why Special Ed Teachers Are Exposed

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This is Know Your Regulator. I'm your host, Simone Murfrey, and today we are tackling a serious issue for Texas educators, especially special education teachers. What happens when a classroom incident, student assault, or a use of force allegation turns into a contract termination? Joining me today is Lawana Aklin, a senior associate attorney at the Bertolino law firm. She's going to help me break down what educators need to know about contract termination, whether resignation is the right move, how statutory immunity might apply, and what teachers can do if they are facing an allegation after an aggressive student incident. LJ, thank you so much for joining me. Hey, I'm glad to be here. We're going to have a really good conversation. So special education teachers are really often in a unique position because they're not just teaching curriculum. I just mentioned earlier on my intro that they manage behavioral needs, safety concerns, I mean emotional regulation, physical aggression. The list just goes on and on. From your perspective, why are special education teachers especially vulnerable when it comes to contract termination issues? I think the main thing with special education teachers is that they're balancing classroom management with behaviors of a student that may be inherent to the student's diagnoses that's outlined in their behavior plan. So with some students, unfortunately, it comes with the territory of their diagnoses, and they may be aggressive. They may be prone to what's called eloping, like they'll just run out of the classroom. Of course, and all of those are safety risks. And that is particularly dangerous for a special education teacher because they have an independent duty to not only educate that student, but to protect that student and other students and their safety. So when it comes down to a special education student, they are usually the need for more attentive one-on-one attention with the student. They have to be have they have to have more from the teacher. And especially if they do have aggressive behaviors, that teacher may have to just step in and then initiate some sort of contact that otherwise may run a file with district policy or even the uh Texas Education Agency's rules when it comes down to student uh contact. So it's it really creates this storm of what do I do in a situation with a student that they may have some behaviors that may be not safe for themselves, safe for other teachers, safe for other students. And how do you maintain discipline and control in the classroom? What do you do? And sometimes they have to make a split-second decision that one or two things can happen. It can lead to a violation, it could lead to a termination, contingent on what it is, or it could, you know, save a student's life, it could save the uh the other students' lives. So sometimes those choices with special education teachers, they have to make them and contingent on the choice that they make, it could be dangerous to their their livelihood. Yeah, I think it's it's I want to go back to that point you made that that's a split second decision, because I think a lot of people take a look at some of these situations and they're like, oh, I know exactly what I would do. But unless you're really familiar with the industry, you've worked that particular role or you know those requirements, um, that's not really something that's very easy to speak on, you know. Like you said, the teacher may just be trying to protect the student themselves or the other students that are in the classroom, and they've got the district requirements or TEA requirements to follow at the same

Incidents That Spark Termination Cases

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time. What are maybe some specific situations that you see or that you know of that can create or turn into a contract termination issue? So usually you will see that with students that have a history of violent or aggressive behaviors, right? Especially in the classroom. And there should be paraprofessionals that can help in with the nuances of schools with understaffing, may not have enough individuals to staff that particular type of classroom. If the student is engaging in those aggressive behaviors, um, such as destroying property, sometimes the students, if they become agitated, they may pick up a book and they may throw it. And of course, that's an inherent safety risk. So if a teacher has to make a determination to how do I control the classroom, how do I protect everyone? And the decision that's made is to try to restrain the student in a manner that may be outside of the training that they've done. And the training is called Crisis Prevention Institute. That's what most school districts that they use to make sure that there's uh their teachers are trained on how to properly restrain children. If they and with acting and making that, like you said, that split second decision, they may not restrain properly. The force or the contact may be disproportionate. And it's not an intentional thing on the teacher. The teacher is making a flight or fight decision, and how do they navigate that situation? And if they make the wrong decision, it can absolutely lead to a termination of their contract. Yeah, it sounds like there's just a lot of moving pieces and a lot kind of taken into making a decision very, very quickly, and you have to take into account what may happen afterwards, right? Like you said, kind of this perfect storm of things going on, and you make one wrong move and you could be looking at contract termination.

What Contract Termination Means

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So let's look at that really quick. What does contract termination really mean if a school district is moving to terminate a teacher's contract? What is happening at that point? So a couple of things. So just to give context. So they there are different categories of contracts. You have your probationary contracts, then you have your continuing contracts. In either scenario, if a district moves to terminate your contract, then essentially they are separating employment. That means that you will not be able to continue with the school year, or if you're at the end of the school year, they may institute a non-renewal and you they're not letting you come back to the district. So effectively, they are separating employment between that educator and that school district. And what does that process look like? Is that something where a teacher could maybe sit for a month on, you know, the decision and kind of think about their options? What I've seen in our practice is that typically, if there is a termination that's brewing, is usually accompanied by an internal investigation, which the district has been looking at some sort of allegations. Typically, the teacher may go on um paid administrative leave pending an investigation. And then once they conclude the investigation, if they're thinking if the district thinks there's enough evidence, then they will move to terminate the contract. So there is a process for termination. Also, the district will give notice of the intention to terminate that contract. And if there's going to be a report to the Texas Education Agency, they will also give notice of that. So there is a process in contract terminations, and they're usually linked to some sort of investigation in which there are allegations to where the educator did not follow district policy, did not follow district regulations, or even Texas law within the school uh district context.

Hearings Deadlines And Resign Options

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So, what what kind of can you take us through? If I were a teacher who has kind of received an inkling, or maybe I've received that notice that my contract is proposed to be terminated, what are sort of the next steps that I may go through? That's a great question. And this is something that I think educators should think about if they are given the option to resign in Lua termination or to be terminated. If you're going to be terminated, you do have options legally that you can uh explore, such as within, I believe, approximately 20 days, you can request a hearing before an independent hearing examiner. It's called a contract termination hearing. And you will go through the process of having your case determined as to whether or not it was either good cause to terminate your contract or as if we talked about as we talked about before with some of those issues that can come with special education teachers and making that split-second decision of how to handle a situation and control their classroom. If the use of force is involved, then they can make a determination was the force reasonable under the circumstances? So you do have the option, if you're terminated, to request that and have that decision by the district looked at by independent hearing examiner. And regardless of how that term determination unfolds, if it unfolds that, you know, in a manner that is unfavorable to the educator, then they have more recourse. They can go and file an appeal with the commissioner education. But if you decide to resign in lieu of termination, you lose those opportunities to contest uh a termination. Yeah, okay. So there's a few different options, but you've got to be careful which one that you choose. You can't be too hasty and just, you know, kind of say, all right, well, let's let's just be done with it. Is this a fast process? Is it slow? Like I said earlier, would this be something that a teacher could like sit on for about a month if could they take the summer to, you know, decide, or is this something that moves pretty quickly? Good question. So if if they're going to terminate you, if your district will terminate you or they decide to terminate you, then you only have so many days to file an appeal for before an independent hearing examiner. And once you file the appeal, I believe it's 20 days, but once uh the district uh is notified of that appeal, then it's 60 days from the appeal is filed until the independent hearing examiner makes a decision on whether or not the district had either good cause to uh terminate that contract or a force was reasonable in those circumstances because there are actually two different legal standards that they have to explore contingent on the facts of surrounding the termination. So you can't just sit on it, you have to make a determination as to whether or not you want to appeal that termination from the district. Now remember, if the district approaches you and, like, for example, let's say that you have an educator and they've been investigated for let's say just inappropriate contact with a student and they've done their investigation and they come to the educator and say, Well, we've looked at everything and we think there's enough evidence here to terminate your contract, but we're going to give you an option to either have your contract terminated, or if you're at the end of your contract, have your contract not renewed, or you can resign in lieu of the termination. Now, if you resign, then you don't have any way to exercise their recourse in uh the legal in the in the legal context. But if you say, you know what, I will allow you to terminate me, that preserves your ability to contest whatever allegations and whatever basis the district says they had in order to terminate your contract, you can contest that. So if an educator is ever in a situation to where there's been certain allegations and you want to contest those allegations, then you really have to make a determination whether or not resigning at that point is the best course of action. And how do you do that? You, of course, you hired an attorney so they can help you evaluate what the allegations are, what evidence may be there, and whether or not you want to preserve your right to contest the allegations through the avenues that are set forth by the Texas Education Code. Yeah, that's so, so important. I feel like a a ton of you know intake forms that I've seen have had little sprinkles of I was told to resign in lieu of being reported, in lieu of being terminated. And uh, I think you make a really, really great distinction there that um it looks like resigning could potentially really, really limit your options in employment moving forward. If you wanted to continue working in, you know, in the education industry, if you wanted to go to a different uh, you know, license industry, you've got to kind of explain that to that new licensing board. Um, so on the flip side of that, I do want to emphasize to teachers out there that we know it can be really, really hard to manage these types of classrooms, specifically when they're dealing with those student behaviors that they've talked about. It's a very, very sensitive issue. Teachers may get injured, students may get injured. I mean, we're talking about getting kicked, getting bitten. I used to work at preschool and I was bit by a four-year-old. And as a preschool teacher back then, didn't have, I think this was like 2010s. I we I didn't have a certification. Um, and so I didn't have any restraining, you know, uh techniques or really knowledge or training. And I just had to let him bite me until we had other teachers. I was like eight eighteen, so I was like, I don't know what to do. But um, yeah, it happens a lot and it hurts, and it is definitely a moment where that flight or fight kicks in and you have to react immediately when a teacher is in this type of situation where they're either assaulted or um, you know, by a student or by you know, uh a proxy student, they've got to intervene maybe.

De-Escalation Training And Documentation

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What do they really need to understand? So one of the main things that especially our special education that teachers should keep in mind is that the crisis prevention institute training that the district gives you. Because it is an independent duty of all educators to make sure that they use de-escalation tactics first before they may escalate. Okay, so in any situation, make sure you have that training embedded to where you de-escalate first. Now, here's where the nuance comes in because contingent on the student, contingent on the behavioral history, if it's a really dangerous or emergency situation, those tactics may not be 100% effective. So you have to make a choice. Can I de-escalate? If I cannot de-escalate, then what is the next best technique I can use to do two things? Protect the safety of the other students and to protect the safety of that student. And sometimes you may have to institute just what we call justified force in order to do that. So if a restraint is not available to you, you may have to take the child by the arms and grab them to make sure you have control of the situation. Also, two, something you want to keep in mind, you only you want to use force that's proportional to the situation. You don't want to over-exert. Okay. So if you have a, like, for example, let's say we have a sixth grader, a middle schooler. No, like middle schoolers, they have behavior plans as well, and the middle schooler, then they're agitated. And because of their agitated, they may exhibit aggressive behaviors. So you may have this individual exhibiting these behaviors, and then sometimes, especially when you know you have children that are taller for their age, you may have to institute something that's a little bit more than what you've been trained to do in order just to make sure that child is safe and other children are safe. But what you want to do is try to de-escalate first. And if you cannot de-escalate, make the best choice you can in that situation. Also, too, if you have a child in your classroom that is known to be aggressive, make sure you document and you report. Okay. Make sure you use your pair of professionals, make sure that you use all your resources available to you so you can make sure that one, you are abiding by the district rules, you are abiding by the Texas Education Agency's regulations, so you can't protect your contract.

Statutory Immunity For Justified Force

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It's really, really good advice. Something that gets kind of thrown around in these cases when we're talking about them is the term statutory immunity. Can you kind of explain in this context what that really means? Yes. So with the Texas Educator Agency, the regulations, of course, they have regulations prohibiting educators from inappropriate contact, abuse, and neglect. However, under the Texas Education Code and its um section 22.0512, basically it gives immunity to educators that use non-deadly, justified, force to the extent mentioned under the Texas Penal Code. And this is Texas Penal Code 9.62. It is a special educator student provision that says if there is an instance that the educator reasoningly reasonably believes that they have to use non-deadly justified force in order to either uh advance a special purpose or to maintain classroom uh discipline, then they are immune. So that is statutory immunity and it is a legal standard. So that's kind of tie that together to what we talked about before in the educator contract scenario. So if you have an educator contract that's up for termination and they're going to terminate you, you can use that standard as a defense, especially if the reason they're terminating you is because of some sort of force being used with a student. So it's a defense you can use to say I should be immune from disciplinary action that includes the contract terminations and also any sort of regulatory action that the Texas Education Agency may take against your certification itself. You can assert that and you can make an argument stating that because of what happened, I the educator, I felt it was reasonable under the circumstances to assort to assert non-deadly force in order to enhance um special purpose or to main control or discipline in a classroom. And oftentimes what you will see if there's going to be a contract termination, they're using the legal standard of good cause. Was it good cause to terminate this teacher? And entire within that are like the regulations of the school district. Well, other school districts in a similar circumstance make the same choice. But when it comes down to specifically using force with the student, then there's a different legal standard. And that's why it's very important to obtain an attorney so they can look at the facts of your case and they can say you may want to move forward with a contract termination hearing and appealing for one so you can assert this defense. Cause based on what happened, what we see here. That you may be immune to disciplinary action versus resigning and you lose that ability to assert that defense. That sounds so important to know because, like you said, it can kind of be there's a lot of moving parts. Some are embedded within another. It's all emotional. I mean, emotions are very, very high. It's all really stressful. You know, if you don't have the clarity or the knowledge that you should or that you would with an attorney, you could be at a severe disadvantage for the future of your employment, you know? Absolutely. And I want to go back to something that we talked about earlier about resigning. For a lot of educators and just professionals in general, resigning is attractive because if you resign, you have control of your narrative. Well, I left on my own accord, right? So for future employment, you can use that as a shield to say, I left a job. So it's not as if someone mainly left and there was an issue there. Because when people see termination and they apply for future uh places of employment, they automatically see that, oh, there's a problem with this with this particular individual. And a resignation kind of shields you from that. But in an educator uh context, you really have to look to see if that's to your advantage. And if we can just use an example, since we are talking about specifically special education, special education and those teachers, when you're dealing with students that you are required to educate that may have those behavior issues that become aggressive, it may be necessary for you to do something that was outside the ambit of your restraint training. Now, being outside of that training could mean that you are in violation of the district policy. But if you're in violation of the district policy, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't be immune from disciplinary action. It takes a lawyer to look at that to see, let's look at what's really happening here and whether or not you should just, like you said, cut your options off at a resignation or we should move forward. So it's very important, especially again, for our special education teachers, to keep that in mind. There is a legal standard out there if you have to exert any sort of contact with a student that may be deemed outside of district policy. It may be outside of district policy, but it may be within the realm of immunity.

Biggest Mistakes And First Move

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And you need a lawyer to be able to siphon that out for you. Yeah, absolutely. No, it can be incredibly nuanced, like we've said. So let's say that I'm a teacher and I am facing a possible contract termination throughout this process. What are some of the biggest mistakes that I could make? Not reporting, not communicating with your paraprofessionals and your team leads, not documenting the behaviors of the student to make sure, A, that you're following the behavior plan because you want to make sure that everyone is on board as to what's happening. And then two, I think one of the biggest mistakes is not instituting de-escalation techniques first. That's important. Yes, there is a standard for immunity that you may well fit if you end up in a situation to where you have to use force, but you want to make sure you de-escalate if you can first. You don't want to go from zero to 100. That's why they train uh educators in how to restrain students. It's for your safety as an educator and the safety of the other professionals as well as all of the students. So always try de-escalation first. Also, too, if you feel like you have not received adequate training, let your team lead know, let your assistant principal know, let your principal know. So you can have all of the tools in your arsenal so you can use those because ultimately it protects everyone. It protects your contract, it protects your livelihood, and it protects others in this in uh your classroom. Absolutely. And if you are a teacher who's placed on leave or you're asked to resign, you're facing possible termination, what would you say is the immediate first move they should make? They should consult an attorney. Consult an attorney, yeah, talk to that attorney and tell them what has occurred because you may have some defenses there that a resignation may limit you asserting those. Definitely talk to an attorney. Let them let the attorney look look at your case, evaluate the facts, and so they can assist you in making the best decision. Because a resignation may not be the best decision, especially now since the last legislative session, a lot of the statutes and the rules have changed with the Texas Education Agency, and you still may end up in front of the uh Texas Education Agency with a uh investigation based on the allegations that they may either you may either either you resign or if they terminate you, you can still end up being investigated. If an attorney can look at your case, they can help you on both ends. They can help you make a determination as to whether or not a term determination as to whether or not a termination is a better avenue for you. Because if you can be successful on an educator contract termination case and before the independent hearing examiner, then you can use that and it may help you if there is an investigation with Tia. So those things, you know, especially when you have an educator, they've been a longtime educator. Now there are these issues, and they cannot really figure out what's the best way to navigate, definitely get an attorney involved. Yeah, very well said.

Final Takeaways And Subscribe

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Well, LJ, thank you so much for joining me and helping translate this process for Texas educators. It is really important to know what options they may have and what the consequences, whether they are good or bad, may follow them. If they choose door one, door two, door three, you know. Absolutely. Absolutely. I think the moral of the story and what I think was a good way to tie a bow in our conversation is that special education educators and educators in general may feel like they have very little options when it comes down to that fork in a road with their contracts, especially if they're facing termination. But there are options that you have, you just have to exercise those. And sometimes resigning is not the best way to do it. But you won't know that unless you talk to a professional that can help you navigate that. Even if ultimately you decide to resign, at least you will know what your options are instead of feeling like I have to resign to save my career versus if you're terminated, you may be vindicated on the back. Right. You've got more power in the choice and more power in the knowledge of your options. Absolutely. Yes. Awesome. Well, thanks so much again, LJ. Thank you. And uh I I love this conversation. I love and know that we can help help people understand what their options are. Absolutely. It is so important to know and understand what options that you have and the consequences that may lie ahead, whether they are good or bad. To our Texas teachers, especially those in special education settings, if you gather anything from this episode, I hope that it's do not wait. Do not guess, and do not assume that resignation automatically protects you. Contract termination proceedings come with strict deadlines, unfamiliar hearing settings, and potential consequences for your certificate and future employment. Stay ahead and in the know with Know Your Regulator, be sure to subscribe for reminders and never miss an episode that could help protect you and your license. Until next week, stay inspired and continue engaging with your regulatory agency. Know your regulator, the podcast that inspires you to engage.