Knox Cty Education v Knox Cty Bd of Education

• Decision Date: 02 February 2001
• Docket Number: 00-01019
• Citation: 60 S.W.3d 65
• Parties: KNOX COUNTY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION v. KNOX COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, ET AL.IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE
• Court: Tennessee Court of Appeals

KNOX COUNTY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION v KNOX COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, ET AL.

No. E2000-01019-COA-R3-CV

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE

December 6, 2000 Session

FILED FEBRUARY 2, 2001

Appeal from the Chancery Court for Knox County: No. 135371-1

John F. Weaver, Chancellor

This is an action brought by the Knox County Education Association seeking a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief against the Knox County Board of Education and its then-superintendent, Allen Morgan. The trial court found that provisions of a private act granting tenure to principals employed in the Knox County School System were repealed and superseded by the enactment in 1992 of a public act, the Education Improvement Act, and that the private act, to the extent that it conflicts with the general law, violates Article XI, Section 8 of the Tennessee Constitution. The trial court further found that Knox County principals are not members of the bargaining unit represented by the Knox County Education Association as to the subjects of performance, accountability, and contract renewal. The Knox County Education Association appeals, arguing (1) the trial court erred in finding that provisions of the private act were repealed by the Education Improvement Act and (2) the trial court erred in concluding that school principals are not members of the bargaining unit as to the subjects of performance, accountability, and contract renewal. We affirm.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court

Affirmed; Case Remanded

CHARLES D. SUSANO, JR., J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which HOUSTON M. GODDARD, P.J., and HERSCHEL P. FRANKS, J., joined.

Richard L. Colbert and Kurtis J. Winstead, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Knox County Education Association.

Martha Haren McCampbell, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellees, Knox County Board of Education and Allen Morgan, Superintendent of Knox County Schools.

OPINION

I. General Overview

The Knox County Education Association ("the KCEA") is the recognized professional employees' organization representing all certified employees of the Knox County School System. The Knox County Board of Education ("the Board") manages and controls the public schools in the Knox County School System. The defendant Allen Morgan, as the Superintendent, was the chief administrative official of the Knox County School System at the time this action was commenced.¹

The Legislature enacted Chapter 18 of the Tennessee Private Acts of 1937 ("the Private Tenure Act"), a private act that the parties agree is applicable to Knox County. The Private Tenure Act, as amended², provides that "civil service or permanent tenure" applies to all principals, teachers, supervisors of instruction, clerks, and secretaries employed by the local board of education upon four years of service and that such tenured employees may not be suspended, demoted or discharged from service except for inefficient service, neglect of duty, or improper conduct. The Private Tenure Act further provides that a tenured employee may not be dismissed, discharged, demoted or changed from one position or class to another position or class at a reduced salary, unless and until charges as specified by the private act, as amended, have been filed and sustained against the employee. When Knox County adopted its charter in 1988, the Private Tenure Act was adopted as a part of that foundation document.

The Legislature enacted a public act, the Teacher Tenure Act, T.C.A. 49-5-501, et seq. in 1951. The Teacher Tenure Act provides that a teacher may be dismissed for incompetence, inefficiency, neglect of duty, unprofessional conduct or insubordination, T.C.A. 49-5-511(a)(2) (Supp. 2000), and that a teacher may be transferred from one location or type of work to another for which the teacher is qualified, provided the transfer is made in accordance with board policy and any locally negotiated agreement. T.C.A. 49-5-510 (Supp. 2000). The term "teacher" includes principals, supervisors, superintendents, and other certificated personnel. T.C.A. 49-5-501(10) (1996). However, the Teacher Tenure Act specifically provides that it has no effect upon the operation of local or private tenure acts already in existence, T.C.A. 49-5-502(b)(1) (1996), such as the Private Tenure Act applicable to Knox County.

The controversy in this case stems from the fact that, in 1992, the Legislature enacted the Education Improvement Act ("the EIA"), 1992 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 535, which amended various provisions of Titles 8 and 49 of the Code. The EIA, among other things, abolished the elected office of county school superintendent and replaced it with an appointed superintendent or "director of schools", who would be directly employed by the local board of education. T.C.A. 49-2-301(d) (Supp. 2000). The EIA took effect on July 1, 1992; however, superintendents who had been elected and were in office on that date were allowed to complete their terms. T.C.A. 49-2-301(c) (Supp. 2000). Superintendent Morgan completed his elected term of office and began serving as an appointed superintendent on September 1, 1996.

The EIA vests in the appointed superintendent powers that previously had been reserved for the local boards of education. Significantly, the superintendent is empowered to fill the position of principal for schools under the superintendent's jurisdiction. T.C.A. 49-2-303(a)(1) (1996). The EIA provides that each principal's employment contract must be in writing, that it may not exceed the contract term of the superintendent, and that it may be renewed. Id. The contracts are required to include performance standards and to provide for written evaluations by the superintendent. Id. Reasons for non-renewal of a contract include inadequate performance, as determined by the written evaluations. Id. The EIA further provides that a principal who has tenure as a teacher retains the rights of that tenure. Id.

In 1997, Superintendent Morgan presented employment contracts to all principals in the Knox County School System, which contracts provided, in pertinent part, as follows:

This contract may be renewed, but such renewal shall not extend the ending date past the ending date in the superintendent's employment contract. The superintendent may nonrenew the contract for any reason deemed appropriate, except that such nonrenewal shall not be based on discriminatory reasons. The superintendent shall inform the principal of such nonrenewal on or before May 15 of the year in which the contract expires.

* * *

This contract may be unilaterally terminated by the superintendent for inadequate performance or for any of the causes listed in Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Part 5. A principal with tenure whose contract is terminated under this section shall be transferred to another professional position for which he is licensed and qualified. Nothing in this contract shall be construed to prevent the board from terminating a tenured principal from employment for cause.

The KCEA brought this action, seeking (1) a declaration that the Private Tenure Act, as amended, and the Knox County Charter govern the rights, privileges and tenure status of employees of the Knox County School System; (2) a declaration that the employment contract proposed by Superintendent Morgan to the principals of Knox County violates the principals' rights under the Private Tenure Act as well as under the Education Professional Negotiations Act, T.C.A. 49-5-601, et seq.; (3) an injunction enjoining the Board of Education and Superintendent Morgan from insisting upon the execution of the employment contract as a condition of continued employment with the Knox County School System; (4) a declaration that the principals of the Knox County School System are members of the bargaining unit represented by the KCEA and are entitled to all the benefits of the Memorandum of Agreement negotiated between the Board and the KCEA; and (5) an injunction prohibiting the Board or Superintendent Morgan from attempting to require principals to give up any benefits of the Memorandum of Agreement as a condition of continued employment as principals.³

Following a bench trial, the court below filed its memorandum opinion, in which it found that the employment contract presented to Knox County principals is valid. The court declared that the provisions of the Private Tenure Act relating to the tenure rights of employees as principals conflict with the EIA and therefore were repealed and superseded by the latter general law. The court found no reasonable basis for treating principals in Knox County differently from principals in other parts of the state; therefore, it concluded that the Private Tenure Act, to the extent that its provisions are inconsistent with the EIA, is invalid under Article XI, Section 8 of the Tennessee Constitution. It further found that because a principal's rights are statutory and therefore may be rescinded without compensation, the power of superintendents to nonrenew a principal's contract under the EIA does not violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Finally, the trial court found that principals are members of the bargaining unit represented by the KCEA for all purposes except for performance, accountability, and contract renewal. This appeal followed.

II. Standard of Review

In this non-jury case, our review is de novo upon the record of the proceedings below; however, that record comes to us with a presumption that the trial court's factual findings are correct. Tenn. R. App. P. 13(d). We must honor that presumption unless we find that the evidence preponderates against the trial court's factual findings. Union Carbide Corp. v. Huddleston, 854 S.W.2d 87, 91 (Tenn. 1993). The trial court's conclusions of law, however, are not accorded the same deference. Campbell v. Florida Steel Corp., 919 S.W.2d 26, 35...