Jager v. Ramona Bd. of Educ., Ramona School Dist.

• Decision Date: 24 May 1989
• Docket Number: No. 16450,16450
• Citation: 55 Ed.LawRep. 721,444 N.W.2d 21
• Parties: 55 Ed. Law Rep. 721 Mary JAGER, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. RAMONA BOARD OF EDUCATION, RAMONA SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant and Appellant. . Considered on Briefs
• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court

Page 21

444 N.W.2d 21

55 Ed. Law Rep. 721

Mary JAGER, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. RAMONA BOARD OF EDUCATION, RAMONA SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant

and Appellant.

No. 16450.

Supreme Court of South Dakota.

Considered on Briefs May 24, 1989.

Decided July 12, 1989.

Karen E. Schreier of Hagen & Wilka, Sioux Falls, for plaintiff and appellee.

Rodney Freeman, Jr., of Churchill, Manolis, Freeman & Kludt, Huron, for defendant and appellant.

MORGAN, Justice.

The Board of Education of the Ramona School District (Board) appeals from a judgment rendered by the trial court which found that Board's decision to nonrenew Mary Jager's (Jager) teaching contract was an arbitrary, capricious decision and an abuse of discretion, and was clearly erroneous in light of the evidence. The trial court ordered reinstatement with full-time benefits and back pay, if any. We affirm.

Jager was employed by Board for six years and was a tenured full-time teacher. When first hired, her primary area of instruction was art in grades kindergarten through twelve. At Board's urging, Jager also received certification in social studies and junior high science and began teaching both these subjects as well. From the time of her employment in 1983 until the Spring of 1987, Jager received excellent ratings on her evaluations. No deficiencies were noted by any of her supervisors.

On two occasions during the 1986-87 school year, Jager used inappropriate language in front of students. Considering the weight Board seeks to place on these words, the context in which they were used becomes important.

In November 1986, Jager was working with a very introverted student who seldom looked up and never spoke in class. When this student turned in a diary episode that Jager felt was "fantastic," she responded to the breakthrough by putting her arms around the student, hugging him and saying, "You worked your butt off."

The second incident occurred during January 1987, while Jager stood on a chair, trying to hang a mobile in a window. The students were being disruptive: moving in their seats and talking to one another. In an attempt to quiet the room, Jager turned and said, "Quit jacking off." She meant to say "Quit jacking around," a term frequently used by her family when she was growing up and at a Catholic school in Nebraska where she had taught. "Quit jacking around" has no sexual connotations. She accidentally used the term "Quit jacking off," which she said was a combination of "jacking around" and "goofing off." Immediately after the error, Jager apologized to the class. No exception was taken to this language until late May 1987. To understand the reason for this nearly five-month delay, we need to review the events surrounding one of Jager's junior high students and her parents.

During the Spring of 1987, a problem developed with one of Jager's students and her parents. The student failed to hand in a science project, claiming that her mother had thrown the booklet away. Jager met with the parents and proposed to orally examine the student on the material so their daughter could receive a grade. Initially, the parents agreed, but the father returned after the meeting and said that if his daughter received a grade on the booklet he'd go to the Board. The matter was discussed further between the father, the secondary principal and Jager, and it was agreed that the student would receive the grade of "C" for the booklet.

At this same time, Jager had a field trip to an environmental camp planned for her students. Two students were not able to attend, so Jager prepared materials for them to complete while the class was away. One of the students who could not attend the field trip was the same student who lost her science project. The two students completed the materials during the first day and did not come to school for the second day of classes. When Jager reviewed the assignments, she determined that the work had not been completed and was of "shoddy" quality. Jager spoke with the secondary principal and they agreed that the students should do the work over. Jager called the two students in that Friday afternoon and told them that she was not trying to ostracize them for not going to the environmental camp, but their work was not satisfactory and they would have to re-do the project.

That evening the parents of the student who lost the science project complained to Board, alleging for the first time that Jager used inappropriate language in the classroom, specifically the term "jacking off." Board immediately suspended Jager for the remainder of the school year. Board conducted an investigation and Board president Molstad testified that they did not find "that much wrongdoing."

However, during Board's investigation, Jager hired an attorney who recommended to her that she send a letter to Board and parents to try to rally community support. The attorney reviewed the letter and deleted some items. In the letter, Jager admitted using the terms "jacking off" and "butt," explained the context in which she used the words, and further stated why she believed the complaint was filed against her, making references that may have allowed the individual student to be identified.

On June 2, 1987, due to Jager's letter, a special Board meeting was held in executive session. Jager testified that during the meeting Board's attorney told her that if she apologized the Board would drop the matter. She testified further that she apologized to Board for her foul language, for offending anyone, for sending the letter, and for embarrassing Board. Once out of executive session, Jager's attorney apologized on her behalf to the public attending the Board meeting.

On July 1, 1987, Douglas Degen (Degen) was hired by Board as Superintendent. He testified that he thought the matter had not been properly handled. Jager was asked to attend the July 13, 1987, Board meeting without her attorney. At that time, Board informed her that they were losing the students of the complaining parents because of her letter. After the July 13, 1987, meeting, Jager received a written reprimand from President Molstad. Degen gave Jager a second letter of reprimand on August 3, 1987. This letter also informed Jager that her letter to parents was a violation of her professional ethics because it revealed confidential information. Subsequently, Degen filed a complaint with the Professional Practices and Standards Commission (PPSC) of the South Dakota Department of Education and Cultural Affairs. In September 1987, Degen informed Jager that if she apologized to Board, he would withdraw the complaint. Jager felt she had sufficiently apologized, so decided not to do so again.

In December 1987, the PPSC proceeding was conducted. Both Jager and Board presented evidence. The PPSC found that Jager violated ARSD 24:08:03:01(8), ¹ upon advice of counsel. It found further that Jager had apologized to Board and the public regarding both her use of inappropriate language and the issuance of the letter. In reaching this conclusion, it stated in part:

Superintendent Degen arriving very late to the situation reacted, in the Commission's opinion, too forcefully. Respondent Jager had already been suspended--a public humiliation--and had been required to apologize to the Board and to the public for both her language and the public letter. In the Commission's opinion, Superintendent Degen's placement of another letter of reprimand into Respondent's Jager's personnel file and the filing of this complaint with the Commission is an unwarranted reaction to the facts he faced.

Subsequently, the Secondary Principal, John Putnam (Putnam), evaluated Jager for the 1987-88 school year. This evaluation indicates satisfactory to exceptional instructional skills. He further noted that Jager has exceptional knowledge in the field of art and that she is a very creative teacher who uses a variety of activities and approaches in her classes. Putnam noted that Jager needed improvement due to her use of vulgar language in the classroom. However, Putnam recommended Jager be renewed.

In March 1988, Elementary Principal Diane Spilde (Spilde) also evaluated Jager, giving her a satisfactory score in five of ten categories. Spilde noted that Jager needed improvement in preparing daily assignments. In no category did Jager receive an "unsatisfactory" score. Spilde also recommended that Jager be renewed.

On March 15, 1988, Degen notified Jager that he was recommending nonrenewal of her teaching contract. His letter of March 21, 1988, set forth his reasons as follows:

Finally, the reasons for my intention to recommend nonrenewal to the Board of Education are delineated in the evaluations you received from Mr. Putnam and Mrs. Spilde on March 4, 1988 and March 11, 1988. Certainly, the events of last spring which the Professional Practices and Standards Commission reviewed, and for which you were reprimanded by that body, played a major role in my decision to make my recommendation for non-renewal to the Board of Education. In addition, there are a number of areas noted on your evaluation which Mrs. Spilde discussed with you, which indicate your performance is substandard. For details, please see the above mentioned evaluations. If you have any questions for me, please ask them at our scheduled conference.

Subsequently, Board notified Jager of its decision not to renew her contract. Jager was granted a formal hearing before the Board on April 11, 1988. At the conclusion of the hearing, Board moved into executive session. Board President Molstad testified that the Board voted to nonrenew Jager's contract because: "The Board found no evidence or--we did not find enough evidence to overturn the recommendation of the administration, from the hearing."

Jager appealed to the circuit court and a trial de novo was held. Testimony established that another teacher, as well as Principal Putnam and Superintendent Degen, used vulgar language, some...