ELVA G. BRINSON, Petitioner, Appellee and Cross-Appellant, v. SCHOOL DISTRICT # 431, Respondent, Appellant.
No. 48,428
Supreme Court of Kansas
February 25, 1978
223 Kan. 465 | 576 P.2d 602
Christopher Randall, of Turner, Hensley and Boisseau, Chartered, of Great Bend, argued the cause, and Raymond L. Dahlberg, of the same firm, and Jerry L. Griffith, of Hoisington, were with him on the brief for the appellant.
Tom Kelley, of Dreiling, Bieker & Kelley, of Hays, argued the cause, and Thomas L. Toepfer, of the same firm, was with him on the brief of appellee and cross-appellant.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
FROMME, J.: Elva G. Brinson, a school teacher employed in the Hoisington school system, was terminated by the school board in June, 1974. She filed her grievance in accordance with the established grievance procedure of the school district. The board after holding a grievance hearing refused to reinstate her. She then appealed to the district court under authority of
On appeal the Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion filed June 17, 1977, reversed the judgment of the district court. The Court of Appeals held the district court exceeded the scope of review authorized by
The case is before this court on a petition filed by Elva G. Brinson for review of the decision of the Court of Appeals. At the outset it should be noted that the grievance procedure followed by the teacher and the board in this matter is not that provided for in
In support of her first argument Mrs. Brinson cites various cases decided in this court or in the Court of Appeals. None of the cases cited covers an appeal under authority of
The right to an appeal in this state is neither a vested nor constitutional right, but is strictly statutory in nature. It may be limited by the legislature to any class or classes of cases, or in any manner, or it may be withdrawn completely. It lies within the legislative domain to determine from what orders or judgments an appeal may be taken. (In re Waterman, 212 Kan. 826, 830, 512 P.2d 466; State v. Burnett, 222 Kan. 162, 166, 563 P.2d 451.) Courts have no inherent appellate jurisdiction over the official acts of administrative officials or boards except where the legislature has made some statutory provision for judicial review. (In re Chicago, R. I. & P. Rly. Co., 140 Kan. 465, 467, 37 P.2d 7; City of Kansas City v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., 187 Kan. 701, 703, 360 P.2d 29.) In the absence of a statutory provision for appellate review of an administrative decision no appeal is available but relief from illegal, arbitrary and unreasonable acts of public officials and boards can be obtained by using such equitable remedies as quo warranto, mandamus, or injunction. (State, ex rel., v. Unified School District, 218 Kan. 47, 50, 542 P.2d 664.)
In this state the legislature has provided an omnibus statute authorizing appeals to the district court from orders of any tribunal, board or officer exercising quasi-judicial functions. This authorization at the time of the present appeal was
There is no special statute to cover appeals from orders of a school board. So in the present case we must look to the omnibus statute,
“A judgment rendered or final order made by a court or any other tribunal, board or officer exercising judicial or quasi-judicial functions, and inferior in jurisdiction to the district court, may be reversed, vacated or modified by the district court. . . . The clerk shall thereupon docket the same as an action in the district court, which court shall then proceed to review the same, either with or without additional pleadings and evidence, and enter such order or judgment as justice shall require. . . . When an action is filed in the district court on appeal or removal from an inferior court the jurisdiction of the district court shall not be limited to only such matters as were within the jurisdiction of the lower court, and the district court may by order permit the issues to be enlarged in the same manner and to the same extent as if the action had been originally commenced in the district court.” (Emphasis supplied.)
It should be noted the last sentence in the statute which we have emphasized applies to inferior courts and not to administrative agencies. In construing this statute for the purpose of determining the scope of review of administrative orders authorized by the legislature we note the provision limiting the review to orders of boards exercising quasi-judicial functions. This reference is an acknowledgment of the separation of powers doctrine. This doctrine is explained in Rydd v. State Board of Health, supra:
“By reason of the constitutional inhibition known as the separation of powers doctrine, the legislature may not impose upon the judiciary the function of a trial de novo of action of an administrative agency in the sense of authorizing the court to substitute its judgment for that of the administrative agency in matters other than law or essentially judicial matters.” (Syl. ¶ 4.)
Under the decisions of this court the scope of review provided by the legislature in
“The provisions of K.S.A. 60-2101(a) are construed and it is held they do not authorize the district court to consider an appeal from an administrative agency or tribunal in a trial de novo, nor do they enlarge the jurisdiction of the district court to review administrative matters beyond limitations heretofore imposed by the law of this state. The application of the provision therein for expanded jurisdiction over appeals from judicial bodies lies only in cases where the district court would have had original jurisdiction in the first instance.” (Syl. ¶ 2.)
In reviewing a decision of an administrative agency or tribunal under authority of
We turn to the cases relied on by Mrs. Brinson to support de novo review. The first case is Stephens v. Unified School District, 218 Kan. 220, 546 P.2d 197. Stephens was an appeal from an order of the Kansas Commission on Civil Rights (KCCR). The authority for judicial review of a KCCR order is set forth in
The next case relied on by Brinson is Schulze v. Board of Education, 221 Kan. 351, 559 P.2d 367. This is not a scope of review case. That action was brought directly in the district court against the board for alleged libel and slander. The decision of this court that the board was acting in a quasi-judicial capacity was for the purpose of determining the extent of immunity from liability which the board enjoyed.
The case of Gawith v. Gage‘s Plumbing & Heating Co., Inc., supra, is also not in point. The appeal in that case was from the award of the Workers’ Compensation Director to the district court. The review is authorized by a special appeal statute,
One final case cited by Mrs. Brinson should be discussed, i.e., Gonser v. Board of County Commissioners, 1 Kan. App. 2d 57, 562 P.2d 102. It is argued that the case is authority for the rule that the scope of review on appeal in a district court is determined by the nature of the particular act from which the appeal is taken. In other words, if the board is acting on a purely administrative or
In order to review Mrs. Brinson‘s second point a brief review of the evidence before the board is required.
Elva Brinson was employed by the board as a “Title One” teacher for five years. At the time of the events pertinent to the appeal, she was president-elect of the Hoisington Area Education Association and a member of the association‘s negotiating team. On May 8, 1974, the board submitted to Mrs. Brinson a proposed contract for the coming year. The contract offered no increase in salary and contained a clause providing that advancement in salary would not be automatic. She testified she found the latter objectionable. Mrs. Brinson testified she made inquiries as to whether she was covered by the continuing contract law (
“To: Kelso
“1. I consider the terms and conditions of the enclosed contract a professional insult, as well as, a personal insult.
“2. I never have ‘brown-nosed’ and I have no intention to start now.
“3. If this contract is what A.C.E. ‘negotiated,’ may God help the kids of U.S.D. No. 431.
“4. ‘Thanks’ for four wonderful years and one ‘not so wonderful’ year teaching at Hoisington as your subordinate.
“/s/ Elva B.”
Sometime in mid-May, Mrs. Brinson showed the note along with her unsigned contract to Alan Jirik, the principal at the school in which she worked. She informed Jirik she was “snubbing $8,000,” the approximate amount of the new contract, and asked permission to see Deer. In his testimony before the board, Jirik initially said he assumed petitioner meant she was resigning. Later in his testimony, Jirik said he could not really say whether petitioner intended to resign or not.
Petitioner then took the note and unsigned contract to Deer, who read the note in petitioner‘s presence. There was little or no conversation between the two; however, Deer testified he construed the note as a letter of resignation “clear and simple.” He also testified that most resignations end with a “thank you” clause similar to Mrs. Brinson‘s. Deer delivered the note to the Superintendent of Schools, Walter Smith, who in turn presented it to the board at its next meeting on June 3. Mrs. Brinson‘s note was unanimously accepted by the school board as a resignation. A replacement was immediately hired.
Smith testified it was generally understood in the school district that the return of an unsigned contract was considered by the school board as a resignation. Smith stated many letters accepted as resignations by the board did not include the word “resignation” in them.
There was evidence in the record that Mrs. Brinson had, at the end of the school year, removed a large part of the personal items in her classroom to a pickup truck and gave another teacher some of her classroom books. Mrs. Brinson claimed she removed her personal items because she needed the materials for summer tutoring and also because she was changing classrooms for the following year.
Mrs. Brinson testified she told several people she intended to continue her employment under the continuing contract law. Apparently she did not communicate that intention to school district administrators. At the hearing she claimed the note was not a resignation but was intended as a courteous expression of her appreciation for the first four years of employment under Deer‘s supervision. Petitioner further testified she learned on
At the end of the final grievance hearing it was determined by the board that petitioner had resigned and the resignation had been accepted and acted on by the school board.
On the basis of the foregoing facts, we are unable to say the school board acted fraudulently, arbitrarily or capriciously, or that the decision of the board was not substantially supported by evidence, or that the board was acting outside the scope of its authority.
There appears to be substantial evidence to support a finding that Mrs. Brinson tendered her resignation and it was accepted by the board. Substantial evidence has been defined as that which possesses relevance and substance and which furnishes a substantial basis of fact from which the issues can reasonably be resolved. Morra v. State Board of Examiners of Psychologists, 212 Kan. 103, 510 P.2d 614. The standard has been met in this case. The district court‘s conclusion that the school board‘s decision was erroneous and arbitrary is in error.
We turn to Mrs. Brinson‘s contention that the Court of Appeals’ opinion is inconsistent with the continuing contract law.
“All contracts of employment of teachers in the public schools in the state, shall continue in full force and effect during good behavior and efficient and competent service rendered by the teacher, and all such contracts of employment shall be deemed to continue for the next succeeding school year unless written notice of intention to terminate the contract be served by the governing body upon any such teacher on or before the fifteenth day of March or the teacher shall give written notice to the governing body of the school district on or before the fifteenth day of April that the teacher does not desire continuation of said contract. Terms of a contract may be changed at any time by mutual consent of both the teacher and the governing body of the school district.”
This law requires written notice of termination by a teacher on or before April 15, and in the absence of written notice the contract continues for the succeeding school year. It is argued that the opinion of the Court of Appeals, holding that the continuing contract was terminated by mutual assent, in some way conflicts with the continuing contract law. We cannot agree.
Accordingly we affirm the opinion of the Court of Appeals and reverse the judgment of the district court.
MILLER, J., dissenting: Although I agree with the principles of law enumerated in the majority opinion, I am unable to agree with the application of those principles to the facts of this case, and therefore I respectfully dissent.
The majority‘s holding is that the district court erred “in examining the issues de novo and in substituting its judgment for that of the school board,” and that “In this case there was substantial evidence of rescission by mutual assent . . . .” As I read the record, the initial evidentiary hearing before the board of education was conducted on September 26, 1974. Witnesses testified and exhibits were introduced. Shortly thereafter the board ruled—and not surprisingly—that Mrs. Brinson had indeed resigned, just as the board had contended all along. No written order of the board is included in the record, so we do not know what findings of fact the board made. We must examine the
Mrs. Brinson appealed the board‘s decision to the district court. The transcript of the testimony taken before the board, together with the exhibits there presented, constituted the entire record before the district court. The district court‘s findings of fact, with the exception of the last eighteen words, may well have been the board‘s findings of fact; at least they would appear to be undisputed.
The findings are as follows:
“FINDINGS OF FACT
“1. Petitioner has been employed as a teacher in Unified School District No. 431, Barton County, Kansas, for more than two years before March 15, 1974, as a certified teacher.
“2. On March 15, 1974, she was employed under a written contract covering the 1973-1974 school year.
“3. No new contract was ever entered into between the parties and no written notice of discontinuance of employment was given by either party before April 15, 1974.
“4. A few days before May 8, 1974, respondent offered a new contract to petitioner which was returned by her unsigned and as to which she appended a note addressed to her immediate superior. The note is reproduced as ‘Exhibit A’ of petitioner‘s brief and incorporated herein by reference.
“5. The only material content of the note is item number ‘4,’ and it is ambiguous.
“6. Actions of petitioner in giving some books to another teacher and loading things in a pickup are considered in the light of moving a reading room and evidence no clear intentions that are material.” (Emphasis supplied.)
The trial court then ruled as a matter of law that by operation of
I cannot but agree with the district judge. Evidence that a teacher gives a few books to a colleague, or that a teacher takes her teaching materials home during the summer months, does not evidence a voluntary resignation. Likewise, the fact that a teacher does not sign a new contract, proffered long after the continuing
The note which Mrs. Brinson returned with the unsigned proposed contract speaks for itself, and is certainly not a clear declaration by the teacher which could lead to the mutual consent necessary, under the last sentence of
In short, I believe the district court properly exercised its limited function in this case and correctly held that the action of the school board, sitting first as a school board and later as a panel to review its own action, was not supported by substantial competent evidence. A modicum or a smidgen of evidence is not enough to support the decision of an obviously partial administrative body.
The district courts have the responsibility for the just and sound administration of the limited appellate function which they exercise in administrative appeals such as this. I find the district court‘s opinion factually just and legally sound. The principal reason for the appellate process and the primary objective of all Kansas courts is to insure that wherever the courts of Kansas sit, justice is dispensed to her people. I cannot see that the results reached in this case satisfy that aim.
PRAGER, J., joins in the foregoing dissenting opinion.