Havner v. Meno
| Decision Date | 08 December 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 3-93-185-CV,3-93-185-CV |
| Citation | 867 S.W.2d 130 |
| Parties | 88 Ed. Law Rep. 456 Marilyn HAVNER, Appellant, v. Lionel R. MENO, The State Commissioner of Education, in his Official Capacity, and Water Valley Independent School District, Appellees. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Mark W. Robinett, Brim & Arnett, Austin, for appellant.
Dan Morales, Atty. Gen., Frank J. Knapp, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Austin, for appellee Lionel R. Meno, State Com'r of Educ.
Phillip R. Lane, Hall & Lane, L.L.P., San Angelo, for appellee Water Valley Independent School Dist.
Before POWERS, JONES and KIDD, JJ.
The State Commissioner of Education ("the Commissioner") dismissed Marilyn Havner's appeal from a decision or action of the Water Valley Independent School District ("the District") regarding its career-ladder policy. See Tex.Educ.Code Ann. § 11.13(c) (West 1991). Havner filed a suit for judicial review in the district court of Travis County, which affirmed the Commissioner's dismissal. We will reverse the judgment of the district court.
Marilyn Havner was employed as a teacher by the District. In 1989 the District did not receive enough money from the state to fully fund its career-ladder program if the usual statutory criteria were used for placing teachers on the career ladder. In response to this shortfall, and using a procedure authorized by the Education Code, the District adopted stricter local criteria for placing teachers on level three of the career ladder. See Tex.Educ.Code Ann. § 16.057(c)(2) (West Supp.1993). The District thereafter determined that, under the stricter criteria, no teacher qualified for level three. As a result, several teachers, including Havner, were kept on level two of the career ladder and paid the level-two salary supplement instead of being advanced to level three. See Tex.Educ.Code Ann. § 16.057(a) (West Supp.1993). After paying these benefits, the District had career-ladder funds remaining on hand. The District returned these funds to the Texas Education Agency.
Havner met with the District's career-ladder committee and requested placement on level three of the career ladder. The committee denied her request. Havner then asked the committee to waive the stricter local criteria for level three and divide whatever money was available among the teachers who qualified for advancement to level three under the statutory criteria. If divided among those teachers eligible for level three under the statutory criteria, the remaining money would have provided less than the standard level-three benefit, but still would have been within the allowable range of benefits. See Tex.Educ.Code Ann. § 16.057(c)(1) (West Supp.1993). The committee agreed to present Havner's request to the board of trustees of the District. Havner did not personally appear before the board to request a waiver of the stricter criteria. Instead, the superintendent of the District, a member of the career-ladder committee, presented the request. The board refused to waive the stricter criteria.
The superintendent notified Havner of the board's decision. Havner appealed to the Commissioner. See Tex.Educ.Code Ann. § 11.13(a) (West 1991). The Commissioner dismissed Havner's appeal for lack of jurisdiction, basing his decision on a finding that Havner did not have a hearing before the board. The Commissioner concluded that Havner did not appeal the denial of her request for level three placement to the board. The Commissioner held that "[b]ecause neither [Havner] or her representative presented [her] grievance in a hearing before [the District's] board of trustees, [Havner] has failed to exhaust all available administrative remedies and the Commissioner of Education is without jurisdiction." In Havner's suit for judicial review, the district court affirmed the Commissioner's dismissal.
The Education Code does not provide a standard by which a court is to review the Commissioner's decisions. Hernandez v. Meno, 828 S.W.2d 491, 493 (Tex.App.--Austin 1992, writ denied); see Tex.Educ.Code Ann. § 11.13(c) (West 1991). The Administrative Procedure Act provides that, when the scope of judicial review is undefined, the court
shall reverse or remand the case for further proceedings if substantial rights of the appellant have been prejudiced because the administrative findings, inferences, conclusions, or decisions are:
(A) in violation of a constitutional or statutory provision;
(B) in excess of the agency's statutory authority;
(C) made through unlawful procedure;
(D) affected by other error of law;
(E) not reasonably supported by substantial evidence considering the reliable and probative evidence in the record as a whole; or
(F) arbitrary or capricious or characterized by abuse of discretion or clearly unwarranted exercise of discretion.
Act of May 4, 1993, 73rd Leg., R.S., ch. 268, sec. 1, § 2001.174(2), 1993 Tex.Gen.Laws 583, 749 ().
We will address the Commissioner's jurisdiction over Havner's appeal, without reaching the merits of that appeal. The right to appeal local career-ladder disputes is granted in section 11.13(a) of the Texas Education Code. That section provides:
Except in cases of student disciplinary actions under Section 21.301 or 21.3011 of this code, persons having any matter of dispute among them arising under the school laws of Texas or any person aggrieved by the school laws of Texas or by actions or decisions of any board of trustees or board of education may appeal in writing to the commissioner of education, who, after due notice to the parties interested, shall hold a hearing and render a decision without cost to the parties involved, but nothing contained in this section shall deprive any party of any legal remedy.
Tex.Educ.Code Ann. § 11.13(a) (emphasis added). Thus, section 11.13(a) allows "any person aggrieved ... by actions or decisions of any board of trustees" to appeal to the Commissioner. It does not require that the aggrieved person have participated in a hearing before the board, but only that the board have made a "decision" or taken "action."
Havner asserts that she is a person aggrieved by an action or decision of a board of trustees. For this reason, she argues that the trial court erred in affirming the Commissioner's refusal to hold a hearing and render a decision on the merits of her appeal. The District and the Commissioner respond with three arguments in support of the trial court's decision. They argue that (1) even if the board did make a decision regarding the stricter criteria, Havner's appeal pertained to the board's decision not to place her on level three of the career ladder, a matter on which the board made no decision; (2) the board's refusal to waive the stricter criteria in response to the superintendent's question is not an action or decision which gives the right to appeal to the Commissioner; and (3) in any event, a hearing before the board of trustees is a prerequisite to review by the Commissioner.
In her appeal to the Commissioner, Havner admitted she did not meet the stricter criteria adopted by the board. Instead, she asserted that those criteria were not valid under the present...
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...appeal to the Commissioner may not be conditioned on having requested and participated in a hearing before the local board. Havner v. Meno, 867 S.W.2d 130, 133-34 (Tex.App.-Austin 1993, no writ). The majority do not explain how the Commissioner would conduct a pure-substantial-evidence revi......
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...Independent School District, et al., contend on rehearing that our decision should be controlled by the reasoning set out in Havner v. Meno, 867 S.W.2d 130 (Tex. App.-Austin 1993, no writ). In Havner, a teacher appealed to the Commissioner of Education because of a school board's refusal to......
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Jones v. Clarksville Isd
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