Garner v. Johnson, 2

• Decision Date: 05 February 1980
• Docket Number: No. 51552,No. 2,2,51552
• Citation: 609 P.2d 760
• Parties: Larry GARNER, an Individual, Appellant, v. Mickey R. JOHNSON, Douglas A. Strange, Joe Moren, C. D. "Pat" Webb, Robert Duren, Individually and Jointly as Members of the Board of Education of Independent School Districtof Stephens County, State of Oklahoma; Board of Education of Independent School Districtof Stephens County, State of Oklahoma; C. B. Ladd, Individually and as Superintendent of Education for Independent School Districtof Stephens County, State of Oklahoma, Appellees.
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

Page 760

609 P.2d 760

1980 OK 20

Larry GARNER, an Individual, Appellant, v. Mickey R. JOHNSON, Douglas A. Strange, Joe Moren, C. D "Pat" Webb, Robert Duren, Individually and Jointly as Members of the Board of Education of Independent School District No. 2 of Stephens County, State of Oklahoma; Board of Education of Independent School District No. 2 of Stephens County, State of Oklahoma; C. B. Ladd, Individually and as Superintendent of Education for Independent School District No. 2 of Stephens County, State of Oklahoma, Appellees.

No. 51552.

Supreme Court of Oklahoma.

Feb. 5, 1980.

Rehearing Denied April 21, 1980.

Appeal from judgment of District Court, Stephens County, Hegel Branch, Jr., Judge, sustaining motion for summary determination that appellant's contract of employment as principal in the Comanche school system was "non-renewed" for the year 1976-77. Board rescinded an earlier vote to renew, voted not to renew and notified appellant his contract was not being renewed.

REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR A NEW TRIAL.

Fagin, Hewett, Mathews & Fagin, Arnold D. Fagin, Clifford A. Jones, Oklahoma City, for appellant.

Garvin, Bonney, Weaver & Corley, Henry C. Bonney, Duncan, Fenton, Smith, Reneau & Moon, Ronald L. Day, Oklahoma City, for appellees.

ORDER

IRWIN, Acting Chief Justice.

It is ordered that the opinion of this Court filed and promulgated herein on June 26, 1979, and published in 50 O.B.A.J. No. 27, page 1419 be and the same is vacated and withdrawn and the opinion of this Court filed and promulgated herein and herewith this date be and it is substituted in lieu thereof and therefor.

WILLIAMS, Justice.

There has arisen in this appeal the question of whether the trial court properly sustained the motion of the Board of the Comanche school system (Board) for summary judgment, thereby holding that the contract of appellant, formerly a school principal in that district was "non-renewed" for the school year 1976-1977. We hold the trial court erred as explained hereinafter.

Appellant, Mr. Garner, had been employed in writing by its Board as principal of the elementary and junior high schools of Independent School District No. 2 of Comanche, Stephens County, for the school year 1973-74 and his contract successively renewed for the next two years, 1974-75 and 1975-76.

The Board on February 3, 1976, by an oral vote taken on an oral motion voted to renew the employment contracts of all four of their school principals, including appellant for the year 1976-77. The Superintendent told appellant of this action and appellant expressed his pleasure at being ostensibly rehired and "accepted" reemployment.

Thereafter, on April 6, 1976, the Board met and a member moved that "upon recommendation of the Superintendent and due to the unprofessional conduct of and inability to control the conduct of the teachers in the Comanche Elementary School and due to the disruption in the teaching process caused by this lack of control" that "the contract with Larry Garner for the school year 1976-77 not be renewed and a notice of this non-renewal be sent by registered mail" to Mr. Garner on April 7th. The motion carried unanimously. Mr. Garner received the notice before April 10th and objected to his being "non-renewed."

Appellant, Mr. Garner as plaintiff, after purported, described "non-renewal" of his contract brought suit seeking reinstatement and damages. Defendants Board, District, members and superintendent (Board) in time moved for a summary judgment and plaintiff likewise moved for a partial summary judgment as to the issue of defendants' alleged liability. The trial court sustained defendants' motion and plaintiff Garner appeals.

A statute then in effect provided that the contract of a teacher automatically would be renewed unless the Board had notified him by April 10th he had not been re-employed or he had notified Board by April 25th he did not desire to be re-employed. ¹

One argument of several, advanced by appellant is that Board had adopted a school policy which had the effect of supplementing and expanding his rights as a school principal under his contract as expressed in the foregoing statute.

A possible conflict in the evidence is discernible at this point. Board's answer to one interrogatory is of import that it at the times involved herein had in effect a policy suggested by the North Central Association of Schools such as appellant asserts but that it was applicable to the High School only.

Another answer appears to be of import that Board then admittedly had in effect a policy which in pertinent part then provided:

EMPLOYING SCHEDULE: Policy for the employing of superintendent, principals and teachers: . . . the principals to be notified in February . . ., relative to their retention or dismissal.

This Court recently had before it for consideration a case the facts of which with at least one important exception were quite parallel to those herein involved. In that case, Cavett v. The Geary Board of Education, 587 P.2d 991 (Okl.1978) we held a school superintendent who had had contracts for the same three years as Mr. Garner had had, did not have tenure despite the fact that on January 5, 1976, his Board...