Barnes v. Spearfish School Dist. No. 40-2, 24007.
| Decision Date | 29 November 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 24007.,24007. |
| Citation | 725 N.W.2d 226,2006 SD 108 |
| Parties | Jeannie BARNES, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. SPEARFISH SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 40-2, Respondent and Appellee. |
| Court | South Dakota Supreme Court |
Dennis W. Finch of Finch, Bettmann, Maks & Hogue, P.C., Rapid City, South Dakota, Attorneys for plaintiff and appellant.
Eric John Nies of Hood & Nies, P.C., Spearfish, South Dakota, Attorneys for respondent and appellee.
[¶ 1.] The Spearfish School District decided not to renew its teaching contract with Jeannie Barnes for the 2004-05 school year based on her insubordination, violation of district policy, and poor performance. At a hearing before the Board, Barnes argued that the district failed to comply with Board Policy 4505 and did not have sufficient evidence to support a just cause termination as required in SDCL 13-43-6.1. After the hearing, the Board issued its decision to non-renew her contract. Her appeal to the circuit court was affirmed. She now appeals to this Court, and we also affirm.
[¶ 2.] Jeannie Barnes was an elementary school teacher in the Spearfish School District for fourteen years. As required by district policy, Barnes was evaluated annually by her supervising principal. In these evaluations, the principal was required to either recommend her for continued employment or recommend that her contract not be renewed for the next school year. For every contract term, except the 2003-04 school year, the principal supervising Barnes recommended that her employment be continued and her contract be renewed. However, on February 24, 2004, after Principal Paul Soriano evaluated her, he recommended that the district not renew her contract for the 2004-05 school year. According to Soriano, Barnes failed to meet the performance expectations established for her. Specifically, Soriano recommended that just cause existed to not renew her contract based on her "continued poor performance as it related to ineffective communication with others; continued unsatisfactory response to supervision and suggestions for improvement; continued insubordination to me, your [p]rincipal; and continued violation of Board Policy 4335, # 8 — `Maintain effective working relationships with colleagues.'"
[¶ 3.] Barnes received a copy of this evaluation and Soriano's recommendation. Superintendent David Peters notified her in a letter dated March 15, 2004, that the Spearfish School Board had preliminarily accepted the recommendation not to renew her contract. Barnes requested a hearing before the Board. She argued that there was not enough evidence of insubordination toward her supervisors or a violation of district policies. She also alleged that the administration failed to follow the procedural requirements in Board Policy 4505. Policy 4505 mandates that the administration, before recommending that a teacher's contract not be renewed, provide the teacher with at least a minimum of two conferences. One conference must occur on or before the end of the first semester, and additional conferences may be held thereafter and into the next semester. Also, the teacher must be informed in writing of the "basis and reason for the supervision/evaluation" and receive suggested "remedial measures."
[¶ 4.] After a four-day hearing, the Board ruled that the administration complied with the requirements of policy 4505. It recognized that a conference was held in September 2003, and the basis for the supervision and evaluation of Barnes and her suggested remedial measures were reduced to writing. A second conference was held in January 2004, with additional meetings between those two dates. In regard to her further claims, the Board concluded that her
response to any attempt at supervision or suggestions for improvement is completely unsatisfactory when considered on an objective basis. The aggressive, insolent, and occasionally vindictive nature of her responses support a finding that the Administration's allegation [of insubordination] is fully supported. Barnes' relationship to two different supervisors, as well as her attempted involvement of other employees in her personnel issues, support a finding that Barnes violated Spearfish Board Policy 4335, # 8.
Based on this conclusion and many additional findings, the Board confirmed its preliminary decision to non-renew her contract.
[¶ 5.] Barnes appealed the decision to the circuit court. She asserted that the Board's findings were clearly erroneous and the Board erred when it found the administration complied with the requirements in policy 4505. The circuit court affirmed the Board's decision in its entirety. Barnes now appeals to this Court asserting that the Spearfish School District (1) had no just cause under SDCL 13-43-6.1 to non-renew her contract; (2) acted arbitrarily, capriciously, and in an abuse of discretion when it non-renewed her contract; and (3) failed to comply with the procedural requirements of Board Policy 4505.
[¶ 6.] Our standard of review of a school board's decision is well established:
School boards are creatures of the [L]egislature and the judiciary may not interfere with their decisions unless the decision is made contrary to law. Therefore, "[a]s long as the school board is legitimately and legally exercising its administrative powers, the courts may not interfere with nor supplant the school board's decision making process." Only the legality of the decision, not the propriety of the decision, may be reviewed by the courts. The legality of a school board's decision is determined by a two-prong review. First, the procedural regularity of the decision is reviewed. This review includes whether the school board was vested with the authority to act and whether all procedural requirements required by law were followed. Second, the school board's decision is reviewed to determine whether the decision was arbitrary, capricious or an abuse of discretion.
Hicks v. Gayville-Volin School District, 2003 SD 92, ¶ 10, 668 N.W.2d 69, 73 () (alterations in Gauer).
[¶ 7.] A school board's decision is arbitrary or capricious when it is "founded on prejudice or preference rather than on reason or fact" or "is contrary to the evidence or established rules of law." Black's Law Dictionary (8th ed. 2004); see also Pruchniak v. School Bd. of Elk Point-Jefferson School Dist. No. 61-7, 2004 SD 133, ¶ 6, 691 N.W.2d 298, 300; Johnson v. Lennox School Dist. No. 41-4, 2002 SD 89, ¶ 8, 649 N.W.2d 617, 621. Decision makers abuse their discretion only when they make "`a fundamental error of judgment, a choice outside the range of permissible choices, a decision, which, on full consideration, is arbitrary or unreasonable.'" In re Adoption of C.D.B., 2005 SD 115, ¶ 11, 706 N.W.2d 809, 814 (quoting Arneson v. Arneson, 2003 SD 125, ¶ 14, 670 N.W.2d 904, 910).
[¶ 8.] Barnes was a tenured teacher, having taught for more than four consecutive terms of employment, and, under SDCL 13-43-6.1, the school district may only non-renew her employment "for just cause, including breach of contract, poor performance, incompetency, gross immorality, unprofessional conduct, insubordination, neglect of duty, or the violation of any policy or regulation of the school district." (Emphasis added). Here, the basis of the district's decision to non-renew her contract was her "poor performance, unsatisfactory response to supervision and suggestions for improvement, insubordination, and violation of Board Policy 4335, # 8 — `Maintain effective working relationship with colleagues.'"
[¶ 9.] Barnes contends that the Board did not have "just cause" to non-renew her contract. In particular, she claims the definition of insubordination used by the Board is incomplete. The Board defined insubordination as "not submitting to authority; disobedient." Barnes would use the definition of insubordination from the Sixth Edition of Black's Law Dictionary: With this definition, she asserts that there is no evidence of her "willfully or intentionally disregarding any instructions of her supervisors."
[¶ 10.] The definition Barnes asks this Court to adopt is obsolete. She cites the Sixth Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, which has been twice updated and now exists in its Eighth Edition. Black's Law Dictionary now defines insubordination as: (8th ed. 2004). The definition of insubordination used by the Board and accepted by the circuit court was adopted by this Court in Schroeder v. Department of Social Services, 1996 SD 34, ¶ 10, 545 N.W.2d 223, 228, and restated in Bad Wound v. Lakota Cmmty Homes, Inc., 1998 SD 25, ¶ 18, 576 N.W.2d 229, 232. This definition is sufficient. Moreover, it is in accord with the second definition of insubordination as stated in Black's Law Dictionary (8th ed. 2004).
[¶ 11.] Nonetheless, Barnes asserts that the Board's finding that she was insubordinate is clearly erroneous. She further argues that the Board's decision was arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion. According to Barnes, there is no evidence that she refused to obey any orders from her supervisors. Rather, she contends that "[i]t is clear that what occurred here could probably best be described as personality conflict between Barnes and Fridell and which carried over into Soriano's administration." Further, she alleges...
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