Section 5.2 Compensation and Terms of Employment

• Library: School Law (2003 Ed. + 2016 Supp)

II. (§5.2) Compensation and Terms of Employment

In seven-director and urban school districts, teachers are employed in accordance with the Teacher Tenure Act (TTA), §§ 168.102–168.130, RSMo 2000. The form of contract for the permanent teacher is set out in § 168.108, RSMo 2000, and the terms of the contract are largely determined by statute. Published school board policies, rules, and regulations become a part of the teacher’s contract, and violations of the policies, rules, and regulations can constitute grounds for termination. Sections 168.114, 171.011, RSMo 2000; see also Carter County Sch. Dist., R-1 v. Palmer, 582 S.W.2d 347 (Mo. App. S.D. 1979). In Blue Springs Reorganized School District IV v. Landuyt, 499 S.W.2d 33, 40 (Mo. App. W.D. 1973), the court noted that, because a 30-day warning period is not required before charging a permanent teacher with violation of the published regulations of the board, school boards should “see to it that all of its important rules are contained in published regulations.” Board policies also become part of the employment contract with non-teaching employees, particularly if reference is made to them in the contract or letter of employment.

Although the compensation that a school district pays school employees is largely a matter of agreement between the parties, some statutory provisions apply. The minimum wage and overtime provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 apply to school district employees. Garcia v. San Antonio Metro. Transit Auth., 469 U.S. 528 (1985).

Permanent—i.e., tenured—teachers in seven-director and urban school districts are to be compensated from year to year “as...