By Kevin Lungwitz
Three things must be considered to determine whether a school district can reassign an employee. First, does the employee’s contract speak to their position or capacity (principal, teacher, librarian, coach, administrator, etc.)? Second, what position does the employee actually hold, and is it aligned with the contract? Third, is there something else, like the education code or local policy, that tempers in any way what the contract says?
Can an at-will employee be reassigned?
Let’s start with an easy one. Yes. At-will employees do not have a written contract. The at-will employee may be reassigned to any position for which they are qualified. They may also be terminated without due process for any lawful reason. They may also resign at any time, with no advance notice.
Can a coach be reassigned from head coach to assistant coach?
Assuming a contract does not speak to the particular coaching job in question, the answer is yes. A coach may be reassigned from one coaching job to another.
Most coaches in Texas are employed under a teaching contract. Their coaching duties are supplemental and not protected by the contract. If the coaching duties are truly supplemental, then those duties are at-will. Although the teaching contract is protected by due process, the supplemental coaching duties may be reassigned—and terminated—at any time, without cause. The flip side is the coach can resign from coaching—even during the season—without affecting the teaching contract.
Are the coaching duties truly supplemental—separate from the contract? Or do the employment words just say that? That was the question in a case decided by the Texas Commissioner of Education.1 There the school district wrote a “supplemental coaching contract” and attached it to the teaching contract. The supplemental contract and local policy said the district could terminate coaching duties at any time, but the coach could not resign from coaching duties without also resigning from teaching. The district terminated the coaching duties without cause, and the coach appealed. The commissioner held that a true at-will relationship is a two-way street. Either party may terminate it at any time for any lawful reason. Here the district could not treat the coaching job as at-will but also contractually bind the coach to those same duties. Therefore, the coaching duties were protected by due process just like the teaching duties, and the coach won this case. This case is why supplemental duty agreements are carefully scrutinized by school attorneys.
A small minority of coaches have dual contracts, where the teaching and coaching duties are bound by the same “Teacher/Coach” contract. The district needs good cause to terminate either of those jobs. The employee is also bound to both jobs and may not freely resign from either. Even in these situations, unless the contract specifies the exact coaching job (i.e. “head football coach”) then the coach may be reassigned from one coaching job to another.2
Can a principal be reassigned as a teacher?
No. While this should be an easy answer, a recent case to the commissioner still generated a seven-page decision.3 The devil is in the details. For starters, this case involves an important part of the education code which says unless the district properly nonrenews an educator’s contract at the end of the contract term, the district must hire the educator back the next school year “in the same professional capacity.”
In this case, the principal’s contract said she was a “professional employee.” This is a familiar sign of sloppiness on the part of the district’s HR department. The district punitively reassigned the principal to a teaching position, saying she was still a “professional employee” in agreement with the contract—no harm, no foul. The commissioner said, “not so fast.” When the contract is too vague, the professional capacity is determined by looking at the position held, not the words of the contract. Here, the principal’s reassignment as a teacher violated the law that says an educator must be employed “in the same professional capacity” from year to year, absent a contract nonrenewal.
Can they reassign a principal to assistant principal?
Unless the contract specifically says “principal,” the commissioner has said yes, and the courts agree.4 According to the commissioner, “principal” and “assistant principal” are the “same professional capacity.” Consequently, a veteran elementary school principal can be reassigned at any time to be an assistant principal.
Can they reassign assistant principal to “xyz” administrative position?
The commissioner has never met an administrator-to-administrator reassignment he didn’t like. According to the commissioner, almost any administrative position is the “same professional capacity” as any other, except superintendent. (A superintendent may not be involuntarily reassigned.) According to the commissioner, assistant principal is the same as: science support specialist5, athletic director6, attendance coordinator7, Even-Start director8, unspecified central office position9, executive director of special education10, and human resources coordinator11.
In math terms, if (a) [principal] = (b) [assistant principal]; and (b) = (c) [all other administrative positions], does (a) = (c)? Maybe. While administrator-to-administrator reassignment cases are difficult, they are very case-specific. You should immediately consult legal assistance if you feel like you are on the wrong side of a punitive reassignment. Your specific contract, position, certification, and salary should be examined to test whether the school district cut corners.
Kevin Lungwitz practices law in Austin and is a former Chair of the School Law Section of the State Bar of Texas.
Endnotes
1Dibble v. Keller ISD, TEA Docket No. 148-R10-798 (Comm’r Educ. 2000)
2Watson v. Liberty-Eylau ISD, TEA Docket No. 003-R10-09-2021 (Comm’r Educ. 2024)
3Rodriguez-Bohn v Brownsville ISD, (Comm’r Educ. 2021) TEA Docket No. 009-R10-10-2020
4Jenkins v Crosby ISD, 537 S.W.3d 142 (Tex. App. – Austin 2017 pet. denied); TEA Docket No. 043-R10-1211 (Comm’r Educ. Dec. 2013)
5Carpenter v. Wichita Falls ISD, TEA Docket No. 247-R3-491 (Comm’r Educ. 1993)
6Keith v. Tarkington ISD, TEA Docket No. 459-R3-891 (Comm’r Educ. 1992)
7Veliz v. Donna ISD, TEA Docket No. 011-R3-999 (Comm’r Educ. 2000)
8Perales v. Robstown ISD, TEA Docket No. 052-R10-104 (Comm’r Educ. 2006)
9Sanchez v. Donna ISD, TEA Docket No. 075-R10-605 (Comm’r Educ. 2007)
10Lehr v. Ector County ISD, TEA Docket No. 003-R3-0908 (Comm’r Educ. 2011)
11Murillo v. Laredo ISD, TEA Docket No. 027-R3-0108 (Comm’r Educ. 2012)
TEPSA News, March/April 2025, Vol 82, No 2
Copyright © 2025 by the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association. No part of articles in TEPSA publications or on the website may be reproduced in any medium without the permission of the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association.
Note: Information from Legal Ease is believed to be correct upon publication but is not warranted and should not be considered legal advice. Please contact TEPSA or your school district attorney before taking any legal action, as specific facts or circumstances may cause a different legal outcome.
