Hiring New Teachers Using the Regular Teacher Contract
By Lisa Tanselle, ISBA General Counsel
August 2024
August 2024
Indiana law requires every teacher, except a substitute teacher or an adjunct teacher, to be employed via a written contract. There are three contracts prescribed by the Secretary of Education that may be used – the regular teacher contract, the temporary teacher contract, or the supplemental services teacher contract. Most teachers are hired using the regular teacher contract.
Indiana law also sets forth some basic contract requirements. Each contract must contain the beginning date of the school term, the number of days of the school term, the salary the teacher is to be paid, the number of salary payments, and the hours the teacher is expected to work each day. School corporations must use the contracts developed by the Secretary of Education without any amendments. Lastly, to be a valid and binding contract, the contract must be signed by the school board and the teacher.
The General School Powers Act grants the school board the authority to hire (and fire) all personnel.
School administrators have the authority to recommend to the school board the candidate chosen by them. The recommendation to hire a person must be approved by a majority of the members of the school board, not just a majority of the members present. Upon a proper vote, the board president and the board secretary are authorized to sign the employment contract. In the absence of either of these persons, another officer of the board may sign the contract.
Especially at the beginning of the school year, when there may be an immediate need to hire a teacher, school administrators may make an offer of employment (sometimes referred to as a letter of intent to employ) to a teacher. This is permissible, but because of the laws discussed above, the teacher’s employment is not binding until a recommendation is given to the board, the board ratifies the administrator’s decision to offer employment to the individual, and a contract is signed by both parties. (The General School Powers Act also authorizes a school board to ratify a decision made by an individual employee.)
Once a teacher is hired and a contract has been signed, Indiana law provides that the contract (limited to the regular teacher contract) continues into the next school year on the same terms and conditions. Because of this statutory language, school boards do not have to re-hire existing teachers or sign new contracts with current teachers immediately at the beginning of the school year. A common practice among school corporations in our state is to wait until a new collective bargaining agreement is agreed to by the school board and the exclusive representative. This way, contracts with any salary increases can be signed by the board.
Indiana law also sets forth some basic contract requirements. Each contract must contain the beginning date of the school term, the number of days of the school term, the salary the teacher is to be paid, the number of salary payments, and the hours the teacher is expected to work each day. School corporations must use the contracts developed by the Secretary of Education without any amendments. Lastly, to be a valid and binding contract, the contract must be signed by the school board and the teacher.
The General School Powers Act grants the school board the authority to hire (and fire) all personnel.
School administrators have the authority to recommend to the school board the candidate chosen by them. The recommendation to hire a person must be approved by a majority of the members of the school board, not just a majority of the members present. Upon a proper vote, the board president and the board secretary are authorized to sign the employment contract. In the absence of either of these persons, another officer of the board may sign the contract.
Especially at the beginning of the school year, when there may be an immediate need to hire a teacher, school administrators may make an offer of employment (sometimes referred to as a letter of intent to employ) to a teacher. This is permissible, but because of the laws discussed above, the teacher’s employment is not binding until a recommendation is given to the board, the board ratifies the administrator’s decision to offer employment to the individual, and a contract is signed by both parties. (The General School Powers Act also authorizes a school board to ratify a decision made by an individual employee.)
Once a teacher is hired and a contract has been signed, Indiana law provides that the contract (limited to the regular teacher contract) continues into the next school year on the same terms and conditions. Because of this statutory language, school boards do not have to re-hire existing teachers or sign new contracts with current teachers immediately at the beginning of the school year. A common practice among school corporations in our state is to wait until a new collective bargaining agreement is agreed to by the school board and the exclusive representative. This way, contracts with any salary increases can be signed by the board.
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