Kennington v. Red River Parish School Board, 6168.

• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana (US)
• Writing for the Court: DREW, Judge.
• Citation: 200 So. 514
• Parties: KENNINGTON ET AL. v. RED RIVER PARISH SCHOOL BOARD.
• Decision Date: 29 November 1940
• Docket Number: 6168.

200 So. 514

KENNINGTON ET AL.
v.
RED RIVER PARISH SCHOOL BOARD.

No. 6168.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

November 29, 1940

Rehearing Denied Jan. 13, 1941.

Writ of Certiorari and Review Denied March 3, 1941.

Appeal from Tenth Judicial District Court, Parish of Red River; Jas. W. Jones, Judge.

Suit by Charles L. Kennington and another against the Red River Parish School Board to recover salary due to plaintiff's wife as a teacher. From an adverse judgment, defendant appeals.

Affirmed.

See, also, 199 So. 123.

H. L. Hughes, of Natchitoches, and H. W. Bethard, Jr., of Coushatta, for appellant.

Cawthorn, Golsan & Hunter, of Shreveport, for appellees.

DREW, Judge.

The School Board of Red River Parish has made three attempts to discharge Mrs. C. L. Kennington as a teacher in the public schools of that parish. The first attempt was made by the Board in the summer of 1937 by not sending to her a contract of employment for the school year 1937-1938. See [200 So. 515] State ex rel. Kennington v. Red River Parish School Board, __ La.App. __, 185 So. 490.

The second attempt was made on July 22, 1938, by a resolution adopted unanimously by the School Board, as follows: " Be it resolved by the Red River Parish School Board in regular session convened that the following teachers be notified that their services cannot be retained for the session 1938-1939 for the reason that many applicants to teach have incurred heavy indebtedness and will be unable to pay their debts unless they can secure employment."

Among the four teachers notified under the above quoted resolution was Mrs. C. L. Kennington. When that case came before us, we held that the School Board had failed to comply with the Teachers' Tenure Act, No. 58 of 1936; 193 So. 225.In that case we held that Mrs. Kennington was a probationary teacher in the public schools of Red River Parish.

On December 7, 1938, at a regular meeting of the Red River Parish School Board, the said Board adopted a resolution to pay Mrs. Kennington her salary for four months beginning September 12, 1938, and ending on December 12, 1938. On the same day, by unanimous vote, it accepted the following recommendations made in writing by the Superintendent of schools for Red River Parish:

" December 7, 1938

" Members of the Red River Parish

" School Board,-

" Gentlemen: " The highly controversial matter as to whether the services of Mrs. C. L. Kennington shall be continued as a teacher in the Martin High School or not will again engage your attention. " The Circuit Court of Appeals has sustained the School Board's position that Mrs. C. L. Kennington is not a permanent teacher in the Martin High School.

" However, a new suit which Mrs. C. L. Kennington has more recently filed against the School Board, the District Court has held that Mrs. C. L. Kennington is a probationary teacher and that the method used in dismissing her as a teacher from the Martin High School was not in accord with the provisions of the Teacher Tenure Act. (The word " in" omitted in first line.)

" Therefore, after giving this matter considerable thought, I recommend that the services of Mrs. C. L. Kennington be dismissed as a teacher from the Martin High School for the following reasons:

" 1. The members of the School Board are elected by the people and are therefore in a position to keep in close touch with public sentiment in the community.

" 2. The School Board has voted unanimously on two occasions to discontinue the services of this teacher.

" 3. It is my impression that this teacher has not been in attendance in summer schools for the purpose of keeping abreast with modern trends in education for the past 15 or 20 years.

" 4. Public

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