Superintendent Payment Disclosure

This page provides a general overview of the definition for severance payments, requirements for reporting severance payments, and procedures for reducing Foundation School Program (FSP) funding.

Statutes and Rules

• Texas Education Code, §11.201(c) 
• Texas Education Code, §12.104(b-4) includes open-enrollment charter schools, with superintendent defined
• 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §105.1021
• 19 Texas Administrative Code §109.1001(q)(3)(B)(i)  requires publishing superintendent's contract on website 

Recent Changes

House Bill (HB) 189, 87th Regular Session 2021, amended Texas Education Code (TEC), §12.104(b-4) to make TEC, 11.201 (c), applicable to open-enrollment charter schools effective June 4, 2021.

Definition of Severance Payment

A severance payment is any amount paid by an independent school district's or open-enrollment charter school's board of trustees to or on behalf of a superintendent upon the early termination of the superintendent's contract. To be considered a severance payment, the amount must exceed the amount earned by the superintendent under the superintendent's contract as of the termination date. A severance payment includes any amount that exceeds the amount of a superintendent's earned standard salary as well as benefits paid as a condition of early contract termination.

When a former superintendent remains employed by the school district or open-enrollment charter school in another capacity or contracts with the school district or open-enrollment charter school to provide the school services, payments to this superintendent may be severance payments, in whole or in part, if the payments are compensation for the early termination of a prior employment agreement.

Severance payments also include any payment for actual or threatened litigation involving or related to the employment contract.

Requirements for Reporting Severance Payments

If an independent school district or open-enrollment charter school makes a payment to a superintendent who is departing early, the school must file a Superintendent Payment Disclosure Form (PDF, 185 KB) with the Texas Education Agency (TEA). The school does not have to file the form for a payment already earned and payable under the terms of a terminated employment contract.

The form must be filed not later than the 60th day after the earlier of the following events:

• The independent school district or open-enrollment charter school executes the agreement to make the payment.
• The independent school district or open-enrollment charter school makes any payment under such an agreement.

The interim superintendent, new superintendent, or school board president is responsible for timely filing of the Superintendent Payment Disclosure Form (PDF, 185 KB). The school must file the form regardless of whether the school considers a payment to be a severance payment as that term is defined in 19 TAC 105.1021(a).

Redacting Personal Data Identifiers in Electronically Filed Documents

Before submitting the Superintendent Payment Disclosure Form and related documents to TEA, all confidential information must be redacted from the documents, which includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Social Security numbers
• Financial account numbers
• Date and place of birth
• Addresses and phone numbers

Filing the Superintendent Payment Disclosure Form

The form, which includes the filing information, is found at the following link:

Superintendent Payment Disclosure Form (PDF, 185 KB)

Email the Superintendent Payment Disclosure form and supporting documentation to: SeverancePayment@tea.texas.gov

Procedure for Reducing FSP Funding

The commissioner will reduce an independent school district’s or open-enrollment charter school's FSP funding by the amount that a severance payment to a superintendent exceeds one year’s salary and benefits under the superintendent’s terminated contract.

If an independent school district’s or open-enrollment charter school's liability to the state exceeds the total of the school’s estimated payments of FSP funding for the remainder of the school year, the school is subject to reductions in its FSP funding for subsequent school years until the liability has been fully liquidated.

The reduction in FSP funding may be applied to any source of FSP estimated earned revenue. A proportionate amount of the reduction in FSP funding will be deducted from each FSP state aid payment for the school year or years.