Board of Educ. of Blount County v. Phillips
| Decision Date | 26 July 1956 |
| Docket Number | 6 Div. 829 |
| Citation | 89 So.2d 96,264 Ala. 603 |
| Parties | BOARD OF EDUCATION OF BLOUNT COUNTY et al. v. C. B. PHILLIPS, Superintendent of Education, et al. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Finis E. St. John and Jack C. Riley, Cullman, for appellants.
Johnson & Randall, Oneonta, for appellees.
This is an appeal from a judgment overruling the respondents' demurrer to a bill in equity which was filed for the purpose of enjoining the establishment of a senior high school at Appalachian, in Blount County, Alabama. The complainants are the Blount County Superintendent of Education and 38 individuals who are resident taxpayers and patrons of the Blount County school system. The respondent are the Board of Education of Blount County, Houston C. Blackwood, Lawrence E. Sellers, Ernest T. Bynum, Frank Carter, and Marvin L. Cox, as members of the Board of Education of Blount County, and W. J. Terry, as Superintendent of Education of the State of Alabama.
The bill alleges that the Board of Education of Blount County operates a general school system throughout the county with the exception of the City of Oneonta which operates its own system; that the county schools operate on a split or 'cotton picking term,' whereas the city schools do not; that the children in the Appalachian area would suffer economically from a cotton picking term; that the population of Blount County decreased between the 1940 and 1950 census while the population of Oneonta and the adjacent area increased; that there are six white senior high schools and eight junior high schools, including one at Appalachian in Blount County; that the State Department of Education in 1952-53 recommended there be only four senior high schools in the county, and that the junior high school at Appalachian be discontinued that there is only one paved road in the area of Appalachian; that the senior high students in the Appalachian area attend the high school in Oneonta, and the majority desire to continue to do so; that the senior high school in Oneonta has 650 students and 20 teachers, and offers a wide variety of subjects and extracurricular activities; that the County Board of Education owes $184,000 in outstanding warrants due September 1954 to September 1965, $120,000 in short-term loans to the State National Bank; has on hand $55,220.92 cash, and has a deficit balance of $77,726.87, to be made up from future earnings; that many school buildings in the county need repairs and improvements including inside toilets, and the County Board of Education is without funds to provide these items; that there would be less than 50 students in the senior high at Appalachian, and they would have a very limited choice of courses and extracurricular activities; that some students would have a longer ride on the school bus than they now have; that the site at Appalachian is unsuited for a senior high school; that the water supply is insufficient; that Appalachian is a small community with no nearby densely populated areas, and the average daily attendance at the junior high school there is 73.25; that it would cost $75,000 to establish a senior high school and would require two additional teachers at a salary of $2,500, which would be a waste of the taxpayers' money; that the Blount County Board of Education, without the recommendation or approval of the County Superintendent of Education, arbitrarily and contrary to the best interest of the schools and students, authorized the establishment of a senior high school at Appalachian; that the State Superintendent of Education, acting solely on the unanimous request of the County Board of Education and contrary to his better judgment, approved the action of the County Board and authorized a senior high school at Appalachian; that the County Board authorized the chairman of the board to advertise for bids for the sale of $75,000 in school warrants, payable from the countywide three-mill school tax in order to establish the school, and that the warrants have been advertised for bids.
An amendment to the bill sets out the repairs and equipment needed at various schools in the county and alleges that the county board will be without the funds necessary to meet those needs for several years if it incurs the additional $75,000 deficit. It further alleges that none of the county high schools are overcrowded and that no high school in the county has ever qualified for membership in the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges.
The complainants prayed that the respondents be enjoined from accepting any bid upon any warrant or bond against the Blount County-wide three-mill school tax, issuing any warrants, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness against the Blount County-wide three-mill tax, or any other school-fund tax or income or anticipated revenue, selling any school warrants or bonds, incurring any liability against the Blount County school funds or assets, or anticipated tax or revenue for the purpose of establishing a senior high school at Appalachian, or constructing a senior high school building, or remodeling the present school at Appalachian for a senior high school. They further prayed that the respondents be enjoined from building a senior high school or establishing a senior high school at Appalachian, or remodeling the present school building for a senior high school.
It is within the discretion of the County Board of Education to determine the need for and location of schools within the county, and in the absence of fraud or bad faith or gross abuse of discretion, the courts will not interfere and thus substitute their judgment for the judgment of the board. Vaughan v. McCartney, 217 Ala. 103, 115 So. 30; Mullins v. Board of Education of Etowah County, 249 Ala. 44, 29 So.2d 339.
In Scott v. Mattingly, 236 Ala. 254, 182 So. 24, 26, this court held a bill seeking to enjoin a county board of education from purchasing certain school buses to be without equity and applied the rule as stated in Corpus Juris. In that case the court said:
'In Vol. 32, Corpus Juris, p. 242, § 384, the author of the text states the rule with respect to restraining public officials in the exercise of their discretion in the performance of their official duties, as follows:
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State ex rel. Com'r of Ins. v. North Carolina Rate Bureau
...and careful consideration; when they fail to indicate "any course of reasoning and the exercise of judgment," Board of Education v. Phillips, 264 Ala. 603, 89 So.2d 96 (1956), or when they impose or omit procedural requirements that result in manifest unfairness in the circumstances though ......
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Lee v. Macon County Board of Education
...supervision over the public schools of this State. As to the State Board's general control and power, see Board of Education of Blount County v. Phillips, 264 Ala. 603, 89 So.2d 96; Keller v. State Board of Education of Alabama, 236 Ala. 400, 183 So. 268, and First Nat. Bank of Anniston v. ......
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Enoch v. Alamance County Dep't of Social Services, No. COA03-385 (NC 5/18/2004)
...of judgment.'" Comr. of Insurance v. Rate Bureau, 300 N.C. 381, 420, 269 S.E.2d 547, 573 (1980) (quoting Board of Education v. Phillips, 264 Ala. 603, 89 So.2d 96 (1956)). Upon our review of the ALJ's decision, constituting 110 detailed findings of fact and 86 well-cited conclusions of law,......
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Enoch v. ALAMANCE CTY. DEP'T OF SOC. SERVS.
...of judgment.' " Comr. of Insurance v. Rate Bureau, 300 N.C. 381, 420, 269 S.E.2d 547, 573 (1980) (quoting Board of Education v. Phillips, 264 Ala. 603, 89 So.2d 96 (1956)). Upon our review of the ALJ's decision, constituting 110 detailed findings of fact and 86 well-cited conclusions of law......