Barr v. Board of Trustees of Clarendon County School Dist. No. 2

• Decision Date: 07 June 1995
• Docket Number: No. 2384,2384
• Citation: 462 S.E.2d 316,319 S.C. 522
• Parties: , 103 Ed. Law Rep. 856 Felicia B. BARR, Respondent, v. The BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF CLARENDON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 2, Appellant. . Heard
• Court: South Carolina Court of Appeals

Page 316

462 S.E.2d 316

319 S.C. 522, 103 Ed. Law Rep. 856

Felicia B. BARR, Respondent, v. The BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF CLARENDON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 2, Appellant.

No. 2384.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Heard June 7, 1995.

Decided Aug. 7, 1995.

Rehearing Denied Sept. 21, 1995.

Certiorari Denied April 4, 1996.

Kenneth L. Childs and David E. Dubberly, both of Childs & Duff, Columbia; William H. Johnson, of Coffey, Cooper, Chandler & DuRant, Manning, for appellant.

Jay Bender, of Baker, Barwick, Ravenel & Bender, Columbia, for respondent.

PER CURIAM:

Dr. Felicia C. Barr (Barr) sought judicial review of a decision of the Clarendon County School Board (the Board) terminating her employment with the Clarendon County School District (the District). The circuit court reversed the decision of the Board. The Board appeals. We reverse.

Facts

In April of 1993, Barr entered into a contract of employment with the Board which named her assistant superintendent of instruction for the 1993-94 school year. Barr had been employed by the Board in this capacity for the previous five years. On August 23, 1993, Dr. Sylvia H. Weinberg, the District Superintendent, notified Barr in writing she was being laterally transferred to the position of principal of Manning Primary School, effective September 20, 1993. Manning Primary School is the District's largest primary school with a student enrollment of over 900. In her letter notifying Barr of the transfer, Weinberg expressly stated Barr's salary for the 1993-94 school year would not be affected by the transfer. The letter further stated:

This assignment promotes the best interests of the instructional program in this district, places you in a position I believe you are best qualified to serve, and complements your professional development.

On or about August 23, 1993, Barr filed a sexual harassment complaint against a fellow administrator. The complaint was not resolved by the superintendent to her satisfaction. Thereafter, Barr filed a grievance under the District's Grievance Procedures. In her grievance complaint, Barr complained of: (1) dissatisfaction with the resolution of the harassment complaint; (2) poor communications and a hostile work environment in the district office; and (3) the job transfer to principal which she termed a demotion.

On September 7, 1993, Weinberg informed Barr in writing she was accelerating the effective date of the transfer to the next day, September 8, 1993. Weinberg also advised Barr that the transfer was "being made in lieu of recommending your termination" and any future disruptive behavior would be considered grounds for dismissal. On the same day, at the request of Weinberg and after Weinberg refused to excuse her, Barr attended a Manning Primary School faculty meeting but refused Weinberg's request that she address the faculty. Also on the same day, Barr's attorney notified Weinberg that Barr refused to accept the transfer because such a transfer was allegedly in breach of her contract with the District. After Barr did not report to Manning Primary School on September 8, 1993, Weinberg wrote to her requesting immediate notification of her intentions regarding the position as principal. Nevertheless, Barr failed to report to Manning Primary School and assume her new duties as principal. She wrote to Weinberg on September 10, 1993 stating that she had been advised by counsel not to report for duty as principal, and that all future correspondence should be to her attorney. On September 14, 1993, Weinberg wrote to Barr informing her that her employment with the District had been suspended because of Barr's refusal to accept her new duties or even to report to work, and advising her that she would recommend Barr's termination by the Board.

Thereafter, Barr requested and was granted a full evidentiary hearing before the Board pursuant to the Teachers Employment and Dismissal Act, S.C.Code Ann. § 59-25-410 et seq. (1990). In its order dated February 25, 1994, the Board unanimously concluded, among other things, (1) Barr's contract with the District did not preclude an involuntary transfer by the superintendent; (2) the involuntary transfer was justified; and (3) Barr's actions in failing to report to Manning Primary School and in failing to notify the proper authorities of her intent to remain absent constituted a material disruption of the educational process justifying the Board's acceptance of Weinberg's recommendation that her employment with the district be terminated. Barr appealed to the circuit court for judicial review of the Board's decision. The trial court reversed the Board's decision and ordered Barr's reinstatement. This appeal ensued.

Discussion

On appeal, the Board argues the trial court erred in finding no substantial evidence to support the Board's ultimate decision to terminate Barr. We agree.

I. Breach of Contract

S.C.Code Ann. § 59-19-90(2)(1990) vests in school district boards of trustees authority to "[e]mploy teachers ... and discharge them when good and sufficient reasons for doing so present themselves, subject to the supervision of the county board of education." In line with this broad legislative grant of authority to school boards, the authority of the judiciary to review district board decisions in matters brought pursuant to the Teachers Employment and Dismissal Act is limited to determining whether the decision to terminate employment is supported by substantial evidence. Kizer v. Dorchester County Vocational Educ. Bd. of Trustees, 287 S.C. 545, 340 S.E.2d 144 (1986). Substantial evidence is that which, viewing the record as a whole, would allow reasonable minds to reach the conclusion the board reached or must have reached in order to justify its actions. Id. 340 S.E.2d at 146. The reviewing court cannot substitute its own judgment for that of the school board. Id. This court, of course, may correct errors of law. Lexington County School District One v. Bost, 282 S.C. 32, 316 S.E.2d 677 (1984).

In the instant case, the trial court found the Board committed an error of law in determining Barr's contract allowed her to be involuntarily transferred to another position within the district. Based on this finding, the trial court concluded that inasmuch as the District breached its contract with Barr, she had no obligation to continue performing under the contract and, therefore, the Board's ultimate decision to terminate her employment for failure to report to Manning Primary was without evidentiary support. We hold this was error.

Barr sought and was granted a hearing before the Board pursuant to S.C.Code Ann. § 59-25-470 (1990) which affords teachers the right to a hearing before the school board upon written request following suspension or dismissal. Although Barr's position was titled Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, she is statutorily defined as a "teacher" for purposes of the Teachers Employment and Dismissal Act and is thus protected by the Act. See S.C.Code Ann. § 59-1-130 (1990) ("Teacher" means "any person who is employed ... either to teach or to supervise teaching"); see also Johnson v. Spartanburg County School Dist. No. 7, 314 S.C. 340, 444 S.E.2d 501 (1994).

Barr's claim of wrongful termination, as well as the trial court's reversal of the Board's decision to terminate her, are based on the premise that her 1993-94 contract with the Board guaranteed her the position of Assistant Superintendent of Instruction for the entire school year. Therefore, the Board breached its contract with Barr by requiring her to take another position in the District. ¹ Barr's contract with the Board is in the form approved by the State Board of Education on December 8, 1972. The contract incorporates pertinent "laws of South Carolina and [the] administrative rules and regulations" of the school district. ² Moreover, Barr's complaint regarding her transfer and subsequent dismissal commenced as grievance proceedings under the District's Grievance Procedures. The hearing before the Board and the appeal to the circuit court were both pursued under S.C.Code Ann. § 59-25-410 et seq. (1990). The breach of contract issue was interjected by Barr into the proceedings as a means of justifying her actions and/or showing a lack of justification for the action of the superintendent. This matter did not reach the circuit court as a breach of contract action, and to the extent the court treated it as such, that was in error. There is no merit to her position that she is entitled to have her job as assistant superintendent reinstated based solely on the contract. ³

II. Violation Of The Teachers Tenure Act

Specifically, Barr argues the involuntary transfer amounted to a constructive discharge. We reject this argument in light of the clear language of provisions of S.C.Code Ann. §§ 59-25-420, -430, -460 (1990) and relevant case law. In Snipes v. McAndrew, 280 S.C. 320, 313 S.E.2d 294 (1984), a case concerning the reassignment of two principals to assistant principal positions, the court expressly held that "teachers" who have been transferred, reassigned, or demoted are not entitled to an adversarial hearing because entitlement to such a hearing is dependent upon dismissal or nonrenewal. Id. 313 S.E.2d at 296. The court further expressly held that a transfer, reassignment, or demotion is not equivalent to dismissal or nonrenewal of a teacher's contract. Id. The court declined, absent legislative action evidencing contrary intent, to require adversarial hearings under such circumstances. Id.

Furthermore, having reviewed the provisions of Barr's contract with the District, we find no provision expressly guaranteeing her a particular position for the duration of the school year. In fact, under our analysis, the holding in Snipes precludes judicial review of school board policy decisions governing inter-district employee placement absent an actionable claim of nonrenewal or dismissal. Id. 313 S.E.2d at 297...