THEATTORNEYGENERAL
OF TEXAS
AUSTW. T-s 78711
August 30, 1977
Hon. Oscar H. Mauzy, Chairman Opinion No. H-1044
Senate Education Committee
Senate of the State of Texas Re: Whether a school dis-
Austin, Texas 78701 trict may require newly em-
ployed teachers to report
for a week of preparation
without pay.
Dear Senator Mauzy:
YOU have asked whether a school district may require newly
employed teachers to report for five days of preparation without
pay in addition to the ten-day period of inservice training per-
mitted by the Education Code. Your request involves an inter-
pretation of certain provisions of the Education Code that have
been amended by Senate Bill No. ,l enacted by the First Called
Session of the 65th Legislature, effective September 1, 1977.
In answering your question we will discuss both the present law
and the amendments.
Chapter 16 of the Education Code provides for the Foundation
School Program whereby school districts may receive state finan-
cial aid. Education Code 5 16.004. The commissioner of education,
with approval of the State Board of Education, may
make such rules and regulations consistent
with the terms of this chapter as may be
necessary to implement and administer the
Foundation School Program.
Education Code 6 16.005. To receive financial support under the
program, school districts must comply with various statutory
standards, including those governing compensation of school em-
ployees. -Id. 8 16.051.
Section 16.055 of the Education Code now provides:
(a) A school district must pay each em-
ployee who is qualified for and employed
in a position classified under the Texas
Public Education Compensation Plan set
forth in Section 16.056 of this chapter
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Hon. Oscar H. Mausy - Page 2 (H-1044)
not less than the minimum monthly base
salary, plus increments for teaching ex-
perience, specified for the position.
(b) Salaries shall be paid on the basis
of a minimum of 10 months' service, which
must include 180 school days lus not more
than 10 days of inservice trafning and
preparation. Personnel employed for more
than 10 months shall be paid not less than
the minimum monthly base pay plus incre-
ments for experience for each month of
actual employment. Personnel employed for
11 months must render 210 days of service,
and personnel employed for 12 months must
render 230 days of service.
(hphasis added.) This statute expressly limits to ten the
number of inservice strainingdays that can be required of
teachers paid for ten months' service. In our opinion, under
this law a school district may not require teachers employed
for ten months of service to report for five additional days
of preparation.
Senate Bill 1 makes the following provision for inservice
training:
Each school district must provide for not
less than 175 days of instruction for
students and not less than 10 days of
inservice-and
trainin
teachers for the 1977-1978 school year
and not less than 175 days of instruc-
tion for students and not less than eight
days of inservice training and preparation
for teachers for each school year there-
after. . . .
Education Code 8 16.852(a) (emphasis added). Section 16.055(b),
relating to compensation, is amended in part:
Salaries shall be paid on the basis of a
minimum of 10 months' service, which must
include the number of days of instruction
for students and days of inservice train-
ing and preparation for personnel required
by Section 16,052 of this code. The days
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Hon. Oscar H. Mausy - Page 3 (H-1044)
of inservice training and preparation
required herein shall be conducted by
local boards of education under rules and
regulations established by the State Board
of Education tha'tare consistent with the
state accreditation standards for program
planning, preparation, and improvement.
Personnel employed for more than 10 months
shall be paid not less than the minimum
monthly base pay plus increments for
experience for each month of actual employ-
ment. Personnel employed for 11 months
must render 210 days of service, and
personnel employed for 12 months must render
230 days of service. . . .
The amendment to section 16.052(a) removes the ten day limita-
tion on inservice training. Thus, as of September 1, 1977,
school districts may require more than ten days of inservice
training, subject to the rules and regulations established by
the State Board of Education.
Section 16.055(b) indicates how many days of service must
be rendered to receive payment for ten, eleven, or twelve
months. A schedule in section 16.056 gives the monthly salary
rate applicable to various employee classifications. 'Section
16.055(b) expressly provides that persons employed for more than
ten months "shall be paid not less than the minimum monthly base
pay . . . for each month of actual employment." With respect to
districts paying the minimum salary required by section 16.055(b),
the Texas Education Agency has construed this provision to re-
quire payment for any fraction of a month worked of the corres-
ponding fraction of a month's salary. Without this interpretation,
a district might require teachers to work 200 days a year for ten
months' salary. It could thereby circumvent the pay increase
achieved when the legislature mandated ten monthly payments for
190 days of work, rather than the nine months' pay for 180 days
formerly required. See Acts 1969, 61st. Leg., ch. 872, S 1, at
2634; Attorney GenerxOpinion M-643 (1970).
If a school district pays for each day of work at least
the minimum salary set forth in section 16.056, it has complied
with the requirements of section 16.055. 'It has considerable
discretion with respect to how it supplements the basic salary
as long as its decision has some reasonable basis. See Attorney
General Opinion M-493 (1969). The terms of employmentare thus
a matter of contract between the district and the employee. If
the district wishes to compensate some teachers at a lower rate
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Hon. Oscar H. Mauzy - Page 4 (H-1044)
than others it may do so, .providingthat the total compensation
is at least the amount required by section 16.056, and that
salary differences rest on some reasonable basis. By requiring
five extra days of work, the district in effect is changing the
compensation rate of newly employed teachers. In our opinion
it has authority to do so, but whether it has done so depends
on the terms of the particular contract, which is not before
us. See e. Cusmiinsv. Eanes'Independent Schodl Dist
S.W.2ml&Lx. Civ. App. -- Austin lvlh"t8
Morton Independent School Dist., 85 S.W.2d 853 (Tex. Crv. App. --
Amarillo 1935, writ dism'd).
S U M M AAR Y
Prior to September 1, 1977, a strhool
district could not require a teacher
employed on a ten-month contract to
serve more than ten days of inservice
training. After September 1, 1977,~the
school districts could require teachers
to have more than ten days of inservice
training. Article 16.055 of the Education
Code does not prevent the district from
requiring extra days inservice training
without extra compensation, as long as the
overall per day compensation is at least
equal to the per day compensation under
the minimum base pay set out in section
16.056.
*Very truly yours,
General of Texas
APPROVED:
DAVID K. KENDALL, First Assistant
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Hon. Oscar H. Mauzv - Page 5 (H-1044)
Opinion ComnitGe
jst
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