Common questions about coaching contracts

By Christy Hickman, staff counsel

The following are a few of the common legal questions we receive regarding contracts for coaching extracurricular athletic sports. If you have questions or concerns about your coaching contract, contact your ISEA UniServ Director for more information.

Is my coaching contract a continuing contract, like my teaching contract?

Like a teaching contract, Iowa law provides that coaching contracts continue from year-to-year unless terminated or modified by mutual consent of either party. Your coaching contract must be issued separately from your teaching contract. Any athletic coaching duties you are assigned must not be incorporated into your teaching contract.

Also like teaching contracts, coaching contracts must be in writing, state the number of contract days and the compensation to be paid, and any other terms mutually agreed upon. Compensation is to be paid according to the negotiated salary schedule.

What do I need to know before I resign from my coaching contract?

A coach who is offered a contract for a sport for the upcoming school year and who does not wish to accept the contract for another year, may resign from the contract within 21 days after the contract is issued by the district. A district may require, as a condition of continued employment as a teacher, that the coach accept one more year of employment in the sport if the following conditions are met: 1) the coach has accepted a teaching position in the district for the upcoming year; 2) the district has made a good faith effort to fill the position; and 3) the position is not filled by June 1.

If I am terminated or resign from my teaching contract, am I entitled to keep my coaching contract?

No. Termination of, or resignation from, a teaching contract automatically terminates any coaching contracts held by the teacher.

Can the district require that I accept a coaching position?

Under certain circumstances, a district may require a teacher to accept a coaching position as a condition of new or continued employment. Those circumstances are as follows: 1) the teacher must be properly licensed or authorized to coach; 2) the individual who held the coaching position during the prior year has either been terminated or has resigned from their teaching contract or their coaching contract has been terminated by the district; 3) the district has made a good faith effort to fill the coaching position; and 4) the position has not been filled by June 1.

Am I entitled to a hearing if the superintendent recommends my coaching contract for termination?

A coach who also holds a teaching contract with the district can be terminated only for just cause and is entitled to a hearing if the coaching contract has been recommended for termination. Coaches who are not also employed as teachers in the district serve at the pleasure of the board and are not entitled to a hearing.

For what reasons can my coaching contract be terminated?

A coaching contract, like a teaching contract, can be terminated only for just cause. Although Iowa law does not define the term just cause, Iowa courts have described the term in the context of teacher fault as follows:

[A] "just cause" is one which directly or indirectly significantly and adversely affects what must be the ultimate goal of every school system: high quality education for the district's students. It relates to job performance including leadership and role model effectiveness. It must include the concept that a school district is not married to mediocrity but may dismiss personnel who are neither performing high quality work nor improving in performance. On the other hand, "just cause" cannot include reasons which are arbitrary, unfair, or generated out of some petty vendetta. Briggs v. Board of Dirs., 282 N.W.2d 740, 743 (Iowa 1979).

Just cause also encompasses the district's personnel and budgetary requirements.