Evans v. McKinley

• Decision Date: 15 January 1962
• Docket Number: No. 5-2564,5-2564
• Citation: 234 Ark. 472,352 S.W.2d 829
• Parties: Chiles T. EVANS et al., Appellants, v. W. H. McKINLEY et al., Appellees.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 829

352 S.W.2d 829

234 Ark. 472

Chiles T. EVANS et al., Appellants, v. W. H. McKINLEY et al., Appellees.

No. 5-2564.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Jan. 15, 1962.

B. W. Thomas, Hot Springs, for appellants.

Wood, Chesnutt & Smith, Hot Springs, for appellees.

McFADDIN, Justice.

The appellants (plaintiffs below) are patrons of Garland County School District No. 1; and the appellees (defendants below) are (a) the Directors of the said School District, and (b) the members of the Garland County Board of Education. We will refer to the parties as they were styled in the Trial Court.

The plaintiffs sought a writ to require the Directors of Garland County School District No. 1 to maintain in or near the community of 'Star' a school for children of the first six grades; and the plaintiffs also sought a writ to require the said School Directors and the County Board of Education to designate a site and build a school building in the western part of the School District. After hearing the evidence, the Chancery Court ruled against the plaintiffs on both points, and this appeal ensued. For convenience, we discuss separately the two alleged causes of action.

I. Maintaining A Grade School At 'Star.' Garland County School District No. 1 is about thirty miles long, east and west. Star is located in the western part of the District; Jessieville is located in the eastern part of the District; and by far the greater number of pupils of the District live in the Jessieville area. The problem is how to maintain a creditable school near Star, where there are only a few pupils. For years there had been a grade school at Star, with only one teacher who taught the six grades; but the pupils in attendance at the Star School gradually declined, so that for the years shown below there were only the following pupils:

                1957  18 pupils
                1958  12 pupils
                1959  16 pupils
                1960  12 pupils
                

In 1960 the School Directors discontinued the school at Star and had the pupils in the Star community transported each school day to the larger school at Jessieville, thirty miles distant. This necessitated that some of the children had a bus trip of nearly two hours each morning and evening; and this suit resulted.

It was shown that the school at Star for the first six grades was inefficient, both educationally and economically; and the School Officials testified that it was far better for the children to endure the long bus ride, rather than continue in the small one-room school in Star. After hearing all the evidence, the learned Chancellor ruled:

'That the action of the Board of Education of Garland County School District No. 1 in closing the Grade School known as the 'Star' School in said District was within the discretion of said Board of Education, and the Plaintiffs have shown no abuse of discretion on the part of the Defendant Board of Education in closing the said school.'

We conclude that the Chancellor was correct. Section 80-509 Ark.Stats., in listing the powers and duties of school directors, says that they shall: '(a) Have the care and custody of the school house, grounds, and other property belonging to the District, * * *.' '(b) Purchase buildings or rent school houses and sites therefor, and sell, rent, or exchange such sites or school houses. * * *' '(d) Employ such teachers and other employees as may be necessary for the proper conduct of the public schools of the district, * * *.' '(g) Visit the schools frequently, see to the welfare of the pupils, encourage them in their studies, and assist the teacher in the work so far as they can. * * *' '(m) Do all things necessary and lawful for the conduct of an efficient free public school or schools in the district.'

Under these and other powers, the School Directors could, in good faith, reach the decision they did about the Star School; and the evidence herein does not show that the School Directors acted in bad faith. In Pugsley v. Sellmeyer, 158 Ark. 247, 250 S.W. 538, 30 A.L.R. 1212, we said:

'Courts will not interfere in matters of detail and government of schools, unless the officers refuse to perform a clear, plain duty, or unless they unreasonably and arbitrarily exercise the discretionary authority conferred upon them.'

In 47 Am.Jur. 325, 'Schools' § 44, cases from many jurisdictions are cited to sustain this statement:

'The courts will not interfere with the exercise of discretion by school directors in matters confided by law to their judgment, unless there is a clear abuse of the discretion, or a violation of law. Every presumption is in favor of the proper...