Aledo Independent School Dist. v. Reese, 2-98-320-CV
| Decision Date | 01 April 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 2-98-320-CV,2-98-320-CV |
| Citation | 987 S.W.2d 953 |
| Parties | 133 Ed. Law Rep. 1078 ALEDO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT; A.I.S.D. Board of Trustees; and Allen Norman, Superintendent, Appellants, v. Ricky REESE, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Fanning, Harper & Martinson, Thomas P. Brandt, Mark D. Cronenwett, Dallas, for appellants.
Myers Law Firm, Randy S. Myers, Fort Worth, for appellee.
PANEL B: DAY, RICHARDS, and BRIGHAM, JJ.
This is an accelerated appeal in which Aledo Independent School District (A.I.S.D.), the A.I.S.D. Board of Trustees, and A.I.S.D. Superintendent Allen Norman (collectively, "Appellants") seek dissolution of a temporary injunction that requires Ricky Reese, a senior at Aledo High School, to be allowed to participate in school functions and attend regular classes. Reese was transferred from his regular classes to Aledo's alternative education program (AEP) after bringing a gun on to school property. Reese appealed the administration's decision to the 43 rd District Court in Parker County. The trial court held a hearing and granted a temporary injunction that required Appellants to allow Reese to return to his regular classes at Aledo High School and attend all school functions.
Appellants raise seven issues on appeal. In their first issue, Appellants contend that the trial court's injunction is void because a decision by a school district to assign a student to AEP classes is unreviewable by a court of law. In light of our disposition of Appellants' first issue, we need not address their remaining assertions.
Because the trial court lacked jurisdiction to review the school district's decision to transfer Reese to an AEP program, we vacate the injunctive order.
The facts in this case are primarily undisputed. On September 16, 1998, a Parker County Deputy Sheriff found a short-barrel, pump shotgun loaded with double "OO" buckshot in Reese's locked pickup truck, which was parked in the Aledo school parking lot. During questioning, Reese admitted that the gun was his and said that he had forgotten to take it out of his truck after a weekend hunting trip. Principal Lynn McKinney held a hearing two days later that was attended by Reese, his mother and father, and Reese's attorney. Following the hearing, McKinney issued a decision expelling Reese from the A.I.S.D. campus and prohibiting him from attending extracurricular activities for the remainder of the fall semester. McKinney also decided that beginning January 4, 1999, Reese would be allowed back on the campus from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. to attend AEP classes but would still be barred from attending extracurricular activities and from coming on the campus during the school day.
On September 23, 1998, Reese appealed McKinney's decision to A.I.S.D. Superintendent Allen Norman. On October 2, 1998, Norman held a conference at which Reese, his parents, and Reese's attorney were present. Following the conference, Norman modified McKinney's decision and held that Reese was still prohibited from attending his regular daytime classes for the remainder of the fall semester, but would be permitted to attend evening AEP classes on the Aledo campus. Norman also decided that McKinney would hold a hearing during the first week of January 1999 to determine an appropriate educational placement for Reese.
Reese's attorney notified Norman that he wished to appeal Norman's decision to the A.I.S.D. Board of Trustees ("Board"). Norman faxed Reese's attorney a copy of Aledo's school policy regarding the procedure to appeal student complaints. This policy provides that a student must first bring his complaint to the A.I.S.D. principal. If the student disagrees with the principal's decision, he may appeal to the A.I.S.D. superintendent or the superintendent's designee. If the outcome of the student's conference with the superintendent or his designee is not satisfactory, the student may present his complaint to the Board at the next regularly scheduled meeting during the time provided for audience participation.
At the next Board meeting, during the time for public comment, several people spoke on Reese's behalf, including his attorney. 1 At the end of the meeting, the Board did not request that Reese's complaint be put on the agenda for a subsequent meeting. Pursuant to A.I.S.D. policy, the Board's inaction had the effect of upholding Norman's decision.
On October 22, 1998, Reese filed suit in district court seeking an injunction against A.I.S.D., the Board, and Norman that would permit Reese to return to his regular courses at Aledo High School. Reese alleged that his rights to due process under the state and federal constitutions had been violated because the Board had failed to grant him a full hearing to appeal Norman's decision, as required by section 37.006 of the Texas Education Code. 2 He also argued that Appellants' wrongful acts would cause him to be irreparably harmed, because "[o]nce gone, the 1998 fall semester of Ricky Reese's senior year is irretrievable...." The trial court agreed and granted the injunction.
On appeal, Appellants contend that the trial court's injunction should be dissolved because (1) Reese's transfer to AEP classes was not an expulsion, and (2) the trial court is statutorily prohibited from considering appeals from a school district's decision to assign a student to AEP classes.
Chapter 37 of the education code sets out the disciplinary consequences for specific conduct and the procedural due process entitled to a student who is punished under this chapter. This appeal involves section 37.006 ("Removal for Certain Conduct"), section 37.007 ("Expulsion for Serious Offenses"), and section 37.009 ("Conference; Hearing; Review").
Under section 37.006, a student who engages in certain conduct, including acts punishable as a felony, may be removed from class and transferred to AEP classes. See TEX. EDUC.CODE ANN. § 37.006 (Vernon Supp.1999). This section also provides that under certain circumstances, the school's decision to place the student in AEP classes may be appealed to the Board, and that decision may be appealed to the commissioner of education. See id. § 37.006(h)-(k).
Reese alleges that he was disciplined under subdivision (a)(1) of section 37.006 (), and thus was entitled to appeal Norman's decision as provided in this section. However, the record indicates that Reese was not punished under section 37.006, but rather under section 37.007(e). Both the letter notifying Reese of his transfer to AEP classes and Norman's testimony at the hearing made it clear that Reese was disciplined for violating the rule prohibiting students from bringing firearms onto campus, not for engaging in conduct punishable as a felony. Because Norman's decision was based on section 37.007(e), Reese had no right to avail himself of the appellate remedies provided in section 37.006.
Section 37.007(e) is Texas' codification of the Federal Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994. See 20 U.S.C. § 8921 (West Supp.1998); TEX. EDUC.CODE ANN. § 37.007(e) (Vernon Supp.1999) ("the Texas Gun Free Schools Act"). Subsection (e) provides that:
In accordance with federal law, a local educational agency, including a school district, home-rule school district, or open-enrollment charter school, shall expel a student who brings a firearm, as defined by 18 U.S.C. Section 921, to school. The student must be expelled from the student's regular campus for a period of at least one year, except that:
(1) the superintendent or other chief administrative officer of the school district or of the other local educational agency, as defined by 20 U.S.C. Section 2891, may modify the length of the expulsion in the case of an individual student;
...and
(3) the district or other local educational agency may provide educational services to an expelled student ... in an alternative education program as provided in Section 37.008.
TEX. EDUC.CODE ANN. § 37.007(e) (Vernon Supp.1999) (footnote omitted).
Section 37.009 outlines the procedures by which a student may appeal unsatisfactory disciplinary decisions rendered under Chapter 37, two of which are relevant to this appeal. Subsection (b) of section 37.009 provides:
(b) If a student's placement in an alternative education program is to extend beyond the end of the next grading period, a student's parent or guardian is entitled to notice of and an opportunity to participate in a proceeding before the board of trustees of the school district or the board's designee, as provided by policy of the board of trustees of the district. Any decision of the board or the board's designee under this subsection is final and may not be appealed.
Id. § 37.009(b) (Vernon 1996). Subsection (f) of section 37.009 provides in relevant part:
(f) Before a student may be expelled under Section 37.007, the board or the board's designee must provide the student a hearing at which the student is afforded appropriate due process as required by the federal constitution and which the student's parent or guardian is invited, in writing, to attend.... If the decision to expel a student is made by the board's designee, the decision may be appealed to the board. The decision of the board may be appealed by trial de novo to a district court of the county in which the school district's central administrative office is located.
Id. § 37.009(f) (Vernon Supp.1999).
On appeal, Reese argues that his transfer to AEP, which barred him from coming on the campus during regular classroom hours and from attending extracurricular activities, was an "expulsion" under 37.007(e). He thus concludes he was entitled to the procedural due process provided in subsection (f) of section 37.009, including a full hearing before the Board and review of the matter in ...
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