Hibbard v. Smith

• Decision Date: 23 February 1909
• Citation: 116 S.W. 487,135 Mo. App. 721
• Parties: HIBBARD v. SMITH et al.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

116 S.W. 487

135 Mo. App. 721

HIBBARD v. SMITH et al.

St. Louis Court of Appeals. Missouri.

February 23, 1909.

1. SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS (§ 131)— TEACHERS—NECESSITY OF CERTIFICATE.

Under Ann. St. 1906, §§ 9766, 9796, requiring a teacher as a condition precedent to her employment to have a certificate to teach covering the entire term of her employment, it is sufficient if at the time of employment she has a certificate covering a portion of the term, and obtains another on its expiration covering the remaining portion of the term.

2. SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS (§ 135)— TEACHERS—CONTRACTS—SPECIAL MEETING.

Under Ann. St. 1906, § 9766, authorizing school directors to employ teachers at a special meeting called by the president on notice being given to each director of the time, place, and purpose of the meeting, and requiring a record to be kept, a meeting at the house of one of the directors not called by the president, but each director being there, on agreement with a school teacher for the purpose of deciding whether she should be re-employed for the ensuing term, is a special meeting within the statute, though the evidence is conflicting as to whether records were kept, and a contract there entered into and signed is valid.

3. SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS (§ 135)— EMPLOYMENT OF TEACHER—FILING OF CERTIFICATE.

Under Ann. St. 1906, § 9766, requiring that a contract employing a teacher shall be attested by the clerk when she files a certificate showing that she is entitled to teach, the fact that she files her certificate after the attestation does not affect the validity of her contract, otherwise valid.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Texas County; Leigh B. Woodside, Judge.

Action by Annie Hibbard against John H. Smith and others for breach of a contract to teach school. From a judgment for defendants on a directed verdict, plaintiff appeals. Reversed and remanded.

This action was instituted before a justice of the peace, where plaintiff obtained judgment for $210, and on an appeal to the circuit court and a retrial a verdict was directed for defendant, and plaintiff appealed to this court. The action was instituted to recover six months' salary alleged to be due plaintiff under a contract employing her to teach a school in district No. 1, township 28, range 7, in Texas county. The salary to be paid was $35 a month. Evidence for plaintiff is that she was employed by the defendants John H. Smith, Samuel Harrison, and George Thomas, the directors of said district to teach a term of school to begin September 3, 1906, and continue six months. The action is against the district and the directors, who are alleged to have locked the schoolhouse door, refused plaintiff ingress, and prevented her continuously during the term from teaching the school, while she was offering to perform the contract. It is alleged the engagement with defendant district prevented her from accepting employment to teach elsewhere, and the action of the directors caused her to lose the entire six months of time. Plaintiff had taught in the district during the previous year, 1905, and in April, 1906, shortly after the term ended, she again sought employment from the directors. She spoke about the matter first to defendant Smith, clerk of the school board, and he said the board would have a meeting at the home of Mr. Harrison, its president, on April 14th, and determine whether to re-employ plaintiff, and at the same time he requested her to make no contract with another district. On said day plaintiff went to Mr. Harrison's home. Smith had notified George Thomas, one of the directors, to be at Harrison's on that day, and had agreed to be there himself. When those two directors arrived at Harrison's farm, they found him at work about the place, and Mrs. Hibbard there. She and the three directors went to the house together, where, according to Smith's testimony, the question of re-employing her was talked over, and finally Harrison drew up a contract, signed it, Mrs. Hibbard signed it too, and Smith attested it as the district clerk. Harrison testified plaintiff wanted $35 a month, and the directors talked the matter over pro and con, parleying a little over the price. After the talk had gone on a while, he took a blank contract which he happened to have in a book treating of school laws, and this contract was filled out according to the terms the parties had been talking over. They asked her about her certificate to teach, or remarked her certificate would expire before the next term of school would commence, and she said she would get a new one before then. Harrison said: "We drew up the contract, she signed it, and I signed it; and I do not know whether Mr. Smith signed it or not." He said further no meeting of the board had been called and no entry of the supposed meeting was made in any record of the board; but plaintiff testified Smith made a record of the doings at the meeting, and copied the contract with her in the record book. Harrison's testimony implies that the understanding of the parties was the contract should be binding on the district only after the board had assented to it at a formal meeting, and after plaintiff had procured a new certificate. Smith, the clerk, said no memorandum of the contract was made, but it was signed, and he could not be positive whether anything was said to plaintiff about considering the matter of her employment and deciding upon it in the future, but rather thought something of the sort was said. He testified he recorded the contract with plaintiff for 1905, but had no remembrance of recording the one for the year 1906. Plaintiff testified positively the directors employed her at the meeting at Harrison's house, and said nothing about holding the matter under advisement to be completed later. This memorandum of a contract, recorded in the board's register or journal, was put in evidence: "Teacher's Contract. This agreement made on the 4th day of April, 1905. Anna Hibbard, a legally qualified public school teacher of the first party and the School Board of Dist. 1, T. 28 R. 7, county of Texas and state of Missouri, the second party, Witnesseth: that the said Anna Hibbard agrees to the public of said Dist. for the term of six months, provided there is sufficient money to run six months, commencing on 3d day of September, 1905, for the sum of...