State ex rel. Lee v. Bellefontaine City Board of EducationState ex rel. Lee v. Bellefontaine City Board of Education
Lead Opinion
The sole issue before the court involves the interpretation of
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“Upon the recommendation of the superintendent that a teacher eligible for continuing service status be re-employed, a continuing contract shall be entered into between the board and such teacher unless the board by a three-fourths vote of its full membership rejects the recommendation of the superintendent. The superintendent may recommend reemployment of such teacher, if continuing service status has not previously been attained elsewhere, under a limited contract for not to exceed two years, provided that written notice of the intention to make such recommendation has been given to the teacher with reasons directed at the professional improvement of the teacher on or before the thirtieth day of April, and provided that written notice from the board of education of its action on the superintendent’s recommendation has been given to the teacher on or before the thirtieth day of April, but upon such subsequent reemployment only a continuing contract may be entered into. If the board of education does not give such teacher written notice of its action on the superintendent’s recommendation of a limited contract for not to exceed*127 two years before the thirtieth day of April, such teacher is deemed re-employed under a continuing contract at the same salary plus any increment provided in the salary schedule. * * *
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“The failure of a superintendent of schools to make a recommendation to the board of education under any of the conditions set forth in this section, or the failure of the board of education to give such teacher a written notice pursuant to this section shall not prejudice or prevent a teacher from being deemed re-employed under either a limited or continuing contract as the case may be under the provisions of this section.” (Emphasis added.)
The superintendent attempted to qualify his recommendation for reemployment of relator by suggesting the board enter into another limited contract rather than a continuing contract with relator. However, the trial court found that the superintendent failed to comply with the mandatory prerequisites of
Where a teacher who is eligible for continuing service status is reemployed, the failure of the superintendent to meet the mandatory requirements of
The last paragraph of
“The failure of a superintendent of schools to make a recommendation to the board of education * * * shall not prejudice or prevent a teacher from being re-employed under * * * a * * * continuing contract * * *.”
There is a second reason that relator has a right to a continuing contract. The delivery on April 23, 1982, by the board of a one-year limited contract was not preceded by any prior written notice from the board to the relator that it decided to act on the superintendent’s recommendation that relator be given a limited contract. This failure to fulfill the mandatory requirement of
“* * * and provided that written notice from the board of education of its action on the superintendent’s recommendation has been given to the teacher on or before the thirtieth day of April, * * *. If the board of education does not give such teacher written notice of its action on the superintendent’s recommendation of a limited contract for not to exceed two years before the thirtieth day of April, such teacher is deemed reemployed under a continuing contract. * * *”
Although a board of education has the final responsibility for employing teachers, it must do so within the statutory confines and has no power to restrict the contract of a re-employed teacher eligible for continuing service status to a limited contract unless a valid recommendation from the superintendent has been received recommending such limited contract. Since the board chose to re-employ relator, it did so under a continuing contract by operation of law.
Therefore the judgment of the court of appeals is reversed.
Judgment reversed.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring. I concur in today’s opinion, but write separately to more fully develop the argument made by the majority. The issue in this case is whether the procedure utilized by the school system to notify appellant of the superintendent’s recommendation to the board was in compliance with the mandatory provisions of
The board argues, in effect, that appellant had constructive notice of the superintendent’s recommendation, and the reasons therefor through the superintendent’s agent, the school principal. The board’s argument is unsound because it fails to recognize the purpose behind the
It seems clear to me that the
In the case before us, appellant never received actual notice of the superintendent’s recommendation and his reasons for so recommending. What appellant received was another’s good faith opinion of what the superintendent’s report to the board would contain. It is unfair to expect appellant to prepare a response based on another’s opinion of what the superintendent might recommend. As well as the requirements of
It is not an unfair burden to require school boards and superintendents to follow precisely the terms of the statute. R.C. Chapter 3319 imposes mandatory obligations on teachers as well.
“No teacher shall terminate his contract after the tenth day of July of any school year or during the school year, prior to the termination of the annual session, without the consent of the board of education; and such teacher may terminate his contract at any other time by giving five days’ written notice to the employing board. Upon complaint by the employing board to the state board of education and after investigation by it, the certificate of a teacher terminating his contract in any other manner than provided in this section may be suspended for not more than one year.”
Non-compliance by a teacher with the requirements for contract termination can result in a very severe penalty. Is it likely that the Bellefontaine City Board of Education would waive the above-quoted mandatory notice requirements and adopt a policy that teachers may terminate their contracts by giving constructive notice to the board, as opposed to the “five days’ written notice” required by the statute? Obviously, the General Assembly adopted these statutes so that both school boards and teachers would avoid arbitrary actions, and the employment relationship between such parties would be clear, unequivocal and fair — fair to teachers as well as school boards.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the court of appeals must be reversed.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. I dissent herein due to the majority’s extremely hypertechnical and ill-advised interpretation of
I believe a superintendent should be allowed to delegate to a school principal the ministerial task under
On April 14,1982, Gleason met with relator to discuss her contract. At this meeting relator was told of the superintendent’s proposed recommendation and given an evaluation form which indicated the reasons underlying the recommendation. This written notice was believed by school authorities to satisfy the statute.
The clear import of this portion of
Furthermore, it is my opinion that the court of appeals correctly reversed the trial court’s award of a continuing contract to relator for the simple reason that
“* * * If the board of education does not give such teacher written notice of its action on the superintendent’s recommendation of a limited contract for not to exceed two years before the thirtieth day of April, such teacher is deemed reemployed under a continuing contract * *
In what I consider shallow reasoning, the majority compounds its error by pointing to the last paragraph of the statutory provision in affirming relator’s award of a continuing contract. This paragraph states:
“The failure of a superintendent of schools to make a recommendation to the board of education * * * shall not prejudice or prevent a teacher from being re-employed under * * * a * * * continuing contract * *
Here, however, we are not faced with the failure of a superintendent
Finally, the majority attempts to bolster its decision by stating that the board’s notice of the limited contract itself is not sufficient pursuant to the provision quoted above. I believe all that is statutorily required of the board is to provide written notice to the teacher of its action on the superintendent’s recommendation: namely, whether he or she will be reemployed, by the thirtieth day of April. This court has previously stated that “[w]hile
The majority opinion in this regard now seems to mandate that after a board of education votes to accept a superintendent’s recommendation by awarding a limited contract, it must immediately provide the teacher with notice of its action before the limited contract is delivered. This ex post facto notice requirement does not, in any way, assist the aggrieved teacher as the board has already conclusively voted on his or her continuing employment. Based upon the plain language of
Accordingly, I would affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. I concur in Justice Holmes’ thorough, well-reasoned dissent. I fully agree that the notice provided the appellant by the superintendent of schools satisfies the requirements of Ohio law. Appellant’s principal timely informed her that the superintendent would recommend her for a one-year probationary contract. The reasons for the probationary status were embodied within a detailed evaluation checklist which was given to the appellant. The majority does not dispute that the principal acted as an agent for the superintendent or that appellant received written notice of her proposed probationary status.
The majority has indeed elevated form over substance. It is beyond cavil that the appellant was fully aware of the reasons for the decision by appellee and was in no way prejudiced by any of the procedures followed by any of the actors in this particular controversy.
Accordingly, I dissent.