Foster v. Sunflower Cnty. Consol. Sch. Dist.

• Decision Date: 09 February 2021
• Docket Number: NO. 2019-CA-01640-COA,2019-CA-01640-COA
• Citation: 311 So.3d 705
• Parties: Tom FOSTER and Alumni of Ruleville Central High School, Appellants v. SUNFLOWER COUNTY CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT, Appellee
• Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals

311 So.3d 705

Tom FOSTER and Alumni of Ruleville Central High School, Appellants

v.SUNFLOWER COUNTY CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT, Appellee

NO. 2019-CA-01640-COA

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

February 9, 2021

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANTS: ALSEE McDANIEL, Indianola

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE: CARLOS D. PALMER, Greenwood, TANGALA L. HOLLIS-PALMER, Grenada

BEFORE BARNES, C.J., McDONALD AND LAWRENCE, JJ.

BARNES, C.J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. This action arises from a decision by the Sunflower County Consolidated School District School Board (Board) to rename "Ruleville Central High School" to "Thomas Edwards, Sr. High School" at the request of Thomas Edwards Sr.'s son. Plaintiffs are alumni of the high school who oppose the name change (collectively "Plaintiffs"). After the Board made the decision at a regular board meeting, the alumni asked the Board to reconsider its decision. When the Board did not reconsider the name change, Plaintiffs filed a complaint for a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief against the Sunflower County Consolidated School District (District) as well as a motion for a temporary restraining order and a temporary injunction in the Sunflower County Chancery Court. Plaintiffs contended the District violated existing policies about community involvement in board decisions and provided inadequate notice of the name change. The chancery court denied Plaintiffs’ request for relief and dismissed their complaint, finding not only that Plaintiffs failed to seek relief properly under Mississippi Code Annotated section 11-51-75 (Rev. 2019)¹ but also because there was no merit to their arguments. Foster and the other alumni appealed.

¶2. We affirm the chancery court's dismissal of Plaintiffs’ complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief. While the chancery court erred in applying section 11-51-75 to the matter, Plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the claim. Therefore, the chancery court lacked jurisdiction to consider the complaint. "[A]n appellate court may affirm a trial court if the correct result is reached, even if the trial court reached the result for a different reason." Davis v. City of Jackson , 240 So. 3d 381, 385 (¶13) (Miss. 2018) (While the chancery court dismissed the complaint based on the failure to follow section 11-51-75 procedure, the proper result was reached because the plaintiffs lacked standing, and the supreme court affirmed.). Accordingly, we affirm the chancery court's dismissal.

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶3. The District oversees and maintains several schools in Sunflower County, including the high school at issue here. Ruleville Central High School (High School) was established in the 1930s and has alumni throughout Mississippi and other parts of the United States. Tom Foster is an alumnus of the High School and lives in Ruleville, Mississippi. Additionally, he is a member of the "Concerned Citizens Group of Ruleville" (Concerned Citizens), which is a group that opposes the name change.

¶4. In April 2018, Dr. Darron Edwards, the superintendent of a neighboring school district and Ruleville resident, made a verbal proposal before the Board to change the name of the High School to "Thomas Edwards, Sr. High School" in honor of his father, who was a former superintendent of the District. The Board's policy for renaming a school required posthumous recommendations and a majority vote from the Board; however, at this time, Thomas Edwards Sr. was still alive. During the May or June 2018 board meeting, the Board informed Dr. Edwards of its policy. The Board instructed him to "get a pulse from the community" by submitting to them a petition of signatures from residents who supported the High School's name change. Miskia Davis, superintendent for the District, testified that the Board asked Dr. Edwards to obtain 250 to 500 signatures for "community input" supporting the name change. Later, Dr. Edwards presented the Board with the petition of signatures, but there was no testimony about the number of signatures obtained.

¶5. During the September 2018 board meeting, the Board decided to change its posthumous requirement and allow a school to be named after a living person. The Board also revised the voting policy so that a unanimous vote would be required for the name change. However, the Board did not vote to change the name of the High School at this meeting. The Board continued to meet monthly through the fall without taking action on the proposed name change.

¶6. Foster testified that he learned about the Board's considering the name change from his son, also an alumnus of the High School. His son attended the September 2018 meeting by invitation of Dr. Edwards, where the High School's possible name change and revision of the posthumous policy were discussed. Foster also read an article about the meeting and possible name change in the local newspaper in September 2018.

¶7. On December 18, 2018, during its regular board meeting, the Board voted unanimously to rename the High School as Thomas Edwards, Sr. High School. However, Plaintiffs complained that they did not find out about the name change until after this meeting. Superintendent Davis acknowledged that no formal notice about the name change was issued to the students of the High School, the Ruleville community, or any community organizations in Ruleville or Sunflower County.

¶8. Foster claimed neither he nor the Concerned Citizens were made aware of the initial proposal for the name change by Dr. Edwards back in April 2018. Despite Foster's opposition to the name change, after he learned about it in September 2018 from his son, he did not attend the October, November, or December 2018 regular board meetings. Foster did, however, attend the board meeting in either January or February 2019, after reading another article in the local newspaper entitled "RCHS To Be Renamed in Honor of Thomas Edwards." Only at that time did Foster begin mobilizing alumni and members of the Concerned Citizens group to address the Board and "get an understanding ... of what was going on." Foster testified that he was not personally aware of any board or district policy that authorized the Board to change the name of the High School. Further, he admitted he was unaware of any policy requirement for community participation in changing a school's name.

¶9. Tom Allen, a High School alumnus and resident of Madison, Mississippi, learned of the Board's decision to change the school's name during a Christmas party on December 24, 2018. Allen then called alumni, friends, and community members in Ruleville to find out if they were aware of the Board's decision. Allen also called Edward Thomas, the Board's president, to confirm that the Board had approved the name change. Allen requested attendance at a meeting in order to ask the Board to reconsider or reverse the name change. Allen also testified that a circulated petition had received 700 signatures of alumni and Ruleville community members who opposed the name change. Allen testified he attended five or six board meetings to request the Board reconsider its decision, without success. When the District's counsel asked if Allen had filed a bill of exceptions, he stated he had not, explaining he had hoped his petition and personal appeal would cause the Board to change its decision.

¶10. On July 11, 2019, Foster, individually and on behalf of alumni against the name change, filed a complaint and motion asserting the District violated existing policies and provisions by changing the name of the school. Plaintiffs claimed the Board's decision was made based only upon the request of Thomas Edwards Sr.'s family members without any input from school officials, students, or the Ruleville community. Plaintiffs sought "to preclude the school district ... from proceeding with further actions to effectuate the Board's decision until a final judgment [wa]s rendered" in the case. They claimed the Board's name change would have "immediate and irreparable harm" as well as "a detrimental effect on the educational, athletic, and other programs at Ruleville Central High School, including future community support for the School, including ... financial support ... from the community."

¶11. On July 22, 2019, the District filed a motion to strike Plaintiffs’ complaint, as well as Plaintiffs’ motions, and a motion to dismiss all claims. The District argued that Plaintiffs had failed to file their appeal properly under section Mississippi Code Annotated section 37-7-115 (Rev. 2019), which provides:

Any person aggrieved by an order of the school board adopted under any of the foregoing provisions may appeal therefrom within ten (10) days from the date of the adjournment of the meeting at which such order is entered. Said appeal shall be taken in the same manner as appeals are taken from judgments or decisions of the board of supervisors as provided in Section 11-51-75, Mississippi Code of 1972, the provisions of which shall be fully applicable to appeals taken hereunder ....

(Emphasis added). The District also cited Mississippi Code Annotated section 11-51-75, referenced in the above statute, which provides that "[a]ny person aggrieved by a judgment or decision of the board of supervisors of a county, or the governing authority of a municipality, may appeal ..." to the circuit court within ten days of the decision. The District argued that Plaintiffs’ complaint and motions under section 11-51-75 were untimely and filed in the wrong court; therefore, they should be dismissed.

¶12. On August 13, 2019, the chancery court held an evidentiary hearing where Davis, Foster, and Allen testified. Plaintiffs also entered into evidence the local newspaper article dated December 20, 2018, seeking to show the proper policy was not followed for the name change. The article reported that "after a brief discussion in an earlier work session," the Board added the name change to the December meeting agenda after placing the decision "on hold" during...