Resignation penalty riles CG teachers
CASA GRANDE — Some teachers in the Casa Grande Union High School District were not expecting to pay $2,000 in liquidated damages when they resigned near the end of this school year.
The potential penalty is a stipulation written into contracts teachers sign each spring. Teachers who abandon a contract after signing and submitting it are subject to pay the school district $2,000 in liquidated damages.
Christopher Ervin, a former Vista Grande High School science teacher, said he feels as if the district is holding him “hostage” by imposing liquidated damages. He was fully aware of the stipulation but claims there have been other teachers not forced to pay liquidated damages after resigning.
Ervin taught at Vista Grande for five years and said he resigned after being offered a better opportunity in another school district.
The district doesn’t pick and choose how it imposes liquidated damages, CGUHSD Superintendent Shannon Goodsell said. It depends on how soon another teacher can be hired to replace the teacher whose leaving.
