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Governing Board releases athletic trainer Hannah Johnson from contract, assesses $1,000 liquidated damages
Summary
At its Jan. 28 meeting the Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District Governing Board approved releasing Hannah Johnson from her contract and assessing $1,000 in liquidated damages after Johnson told the board she accepted a position with the U.S. Air Force. Board members also opened a broader review of the district's liquidated-damages policy.
The Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District Governing Board voted Jan. 28 to release Hannah Johnson from her contract and assess $1,000 in liquidated damages after Johnson told the board she had accepted a position with the U.S. Air Force.
Johnson told the board during the public-comment portion that she had been contracted through Tucson Orthopedics and was asked by the Air Force to serve as an athletic trainer, which is why she was requesting release: “the Air Force needs athletic trainers. So they asked if I would end contract, and so that's why I'm requesting to end,” she said during the meeting.
The matter moved to the formal agenda later in the meeting. A staff recommendation to release Johnson and assess $1,000 in liquidated damages was read aloud; a board member moved the motion and it passed. The board record in the meeting shows the motion carried with one abstention; the transcript does not identify the vote tally in full.
District staff and board members used the item to reopen a broader discussion about how and when the district enforces liquidated-damages provisions in employee contracts. Superintendent Mister Verdugo told the board that, as currently written, liquidated-damages language appears in individual contracts and that Board Policy 04/2001 does not address the range of mitigating circumstances the board was discussing. Verdugo said the district would collect samples from other districts and return with recommendations.
Several board members said they support exceptions for clearly documented extenuating circumstances but said they want a consistent, objective policy so similar cases are treated the same. One board member urged that the board consider removing liquidated damages altogether if the provision does not serve as an effective retention tool; another said the district needs a clear mechanism to hold employees to contractual obligations if the state no longer enforces certifications for abandonment.
No additional action on a policy change was taken at the Jan. 28 meeting; the board directed staff to research policy options and return with proposals for the board to consider.
The board meeting began at 5 p.m.; the record shows the meeting adjourned at 6:43 p.m.
The district did not provide further written details about Hannah Johnson's contract date or the full roll-call vote in the public meeting packet included in the transcript.
