Bradley v. Beach Public School Dist. No. 3, 870353

• Decision Date: 16 August 1988
• Docket Number: No. 870353,870353
• Citation: 427 N.W.2d 352
• Parties: 48 Ed. Law Rep. 665 Connie BRADLEY, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. BEACH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 3, a public corporation, Defendant and Appellee. Civ.
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

Page 352

427 N.W.2d 352

48 Ed. Law Rep. 665

Connie BRADLEY, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. BEACH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 3, a public corporation Defendant and Appellee.

Civ. No. 870353.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

Aug. 16, 1988.

Chapman & Chapman, Bismarck, for plaintiff and appellant; Daniel J. Chapman (argued).

Pearce & Durick, Bismarck, for defendant and appellee; Gary R. Thune (argued).

GIERKE, Justice.

Connie Bradley appealed from a district court judgment denying her request for a writ of mandamus to reinstate her as a teacher with the defendant, Beach Public School District No. 3 (School District). We affirm.

The School District gave Bradley a teaching contract for the 1986-87 school year to be the learning disabilities teacher for grades 7-12. The contract contained the following condition:

"... It is hereby further understood that said teacher must fulfill required hours of credit to acquire credential requirement for North Dakota SLD [Specific Learning Disabilities] credential."

On March 3, 1987, Bradley was informed by the Department of Public Instruction that she was not eligible for the SLD credential. The School District, upon learning this fact, notified Bradley during March 1987 that it was contemplating nonrenewal of her teaching contract for the 1987-88 school year on the basis of teacher qualification. Following a hearing to consider the nonrenewal, the School District's board voted unanimously to nonrenew Bradley's contract.

Bradley then filed a petition in district court seeking a writ of mandamus to reinstate her as a teacher with the School District. The trial court, concluding that Bradley had been properly nonrenewed on the basis of lack of qualification, denied her petition.

The dispositive issue before us is whether the trial court erred in dismissing Bradley's petition for a writ of mandamus. To be entitled to a writ of mandamus, the petitioner must show that she has no plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary cause of the law and that she has a clear legal right to the performance of the particular act sought to be compelled by the writ. Fargo Ed. Ass'n v. Paulsen, 239 N.W.2d 842 (N.D.1976). This court will not overturn a trial court's denial of a writ of mandamus unless the trial court has abused its discretion. Feldhusen v. Beach Public School District No. 3, 423 N.W.2d 155 (N.D.1988).

A teacher's contract can be nonrenewed for a lack of qualifications. Feldhusen, supra. The trial court correctly concluded that Bradley's failure to acquire the required SLD credential was a proper ground for nonrenewal under subsection 5 of Section 15-47-38, N.D.C.C.

Bradley asserts, however, that "everyone" knew at the time she was given the 1986-87 contract that she did not have the necessary credits to obtain the required SLD credential and, therefore, the School District...