Lile v. Hancock Place School Dist.
| Decision Date | 22 October 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 49461,49461 |
| Citation | 701 S.W.2d 500 |
| Parties | 29 Ed. Law Rep. 848 Charles G. LILE, Appellant, v. HANCOCK PLACE SCHOOL DISTRICT, Respondent. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Richard H. Sindel, Clayton, Sally E. Barker, Schuchat, Cook & Werner, St. Louis, for appellant.
George J. Bude, Clayton, for respondent.
After a public hearing pursuant to § 168.118, RSMo 1978, the Board of Education of the Hancock Place School District terminated the indefinite contract of Charles G. Lile, a tenured teacher. The Board of Education (hereinafter Board) found that Charles G. Lile (hereinafter Lile or appellant) had engaged in "immoral conduct" proscribed by § 168.114.1(2), RSMo 1978, thereby rendering his contract terminable. Lile appealed to the St. Louis County Circuit Court, which affirmed the Board's decision. On appeal to this court, Lile argues that the Board's decision: (1) was not supported by competent and substantial evidence; (2) violated his right to due process; and (3) violated his right of privacy. Finding each of these arguments without merit, we affirm.
The relevant facts, as found by the Board, are largely undisputed. Appellant began teaching in the Hancock Place School District (hereinafter District) in 1975. He remained in that capacity, teaching fourth grade, until June 2, 1984, when he was suspended in connection with this action. 1
A.H. and S.H., two minor girls, were students in the District when the hearing was held before the Board. 2 A.H. and S.H are currently aged ten and fourteen, respectively. Their parents were divorced sometime prior to 1980. The divorce court awarded the mother legal custody of both girls.
In 1980, S.H. was a student in appellant's fourth grade class. Appellant met S.H.'s mother during that school year, and shortly thereafter they began dating. Later in 1980, the two girls and their mother began living with appellant in his home. They lived with him approximately one-half of the time thereafter until April of 1984.
In April of 1984 the girls' mother fell ill and was hospitalized. In early May, while she remained hospitalized, the girls moved out of appellant's home and began residing with their natural father. On May 6, 1984, their father filed a complaint with the St. Louis County Police Department charging that appellant had sexually abused both girls. 3 Police officers at that time questioned A.H. and S.H. about the alleged sexual abuse.
On May 7, 1984, the police contacted appellant and advised him that the charge had been filed. Appellant agreed to discuss the charge with police officers. Officer Rebecca Hendrickson was present when appellant gave his statement to the police. Officer Hendrickson testified at the hearing before the Board as a witness for the District. Based upon her testimony, the Board, in its findings of fact, found that appellant made the following admissions to the police:
(1) That he had walked into the bathroom on several occasions while the girls were taking baths and that they were free to do so when he was in the bathroom;
(2) That [A.H.] and [S.H.] had seen a nude photograph of their mother and asked Mr. Lile to take one of them, too. Mr. Lile took one of each of them while they were in the bathtub;
(3) That when [S.H.] and [A.H.'s] mother had to go to the hospital in May, 1984 he had both girls sleep with him;
(4) That he was on a medication which made him hot and therefore he walked around the house in the nude, in the presence of the girls and their mother. He further stated that [the girls' mother] was not concerned about it because the medication he was on made him impotent.
(5) He stated that on previous occasions he had taken baths with the girls when they were younger, possibly two years prior to this time [August 27, 1984]. During these occasions he helped wash them.
(6) That on one occasion Mr. Lile had [S.H.] remove her brassiere so that he could examine sores on her body.
Officer Hendrickson was also present when S.H. discussed the charge with the police. Based upon Officer Hendrickson's testimony, the Board found that S.H. made the following allegations to the police:
(1) That while Mr. Lile was sleeping with [S.H.] he reached over and around her and touched her breast;
(2) That when Mr. Lile walked into the bathroom while the girls were bathing, he at times would go to the bathroom.
(3) At the time that Mr. Lile took the nude photographs of the girls, they did not consider it a joke but were embarrassed.
Neither appellant nor S.H. testified at the hearing. Their mother testified as a witness for appellant. In its findings of fact, the Board described her testimony as follows:
[The girls' mother] testified that while she and her daughters lived with Mr. Lile all four walked around the house in the nude and that it was normal for them to do so. She further stated that it was also normal for anyone [sic] of them to go into the bathroom while one of the others might be using it. Further, that it was not unusual for Mr. Lile to walk into the bathroom while the girls were taking a bath. She also testified that Mr. Lile took a shower with [A.H.] shortly after [they] started living with Mr. Lile because [she] was having difficulty getting [A.H.] to take a shower. [A.H.] was five years old at the time. [She] further testified that Mr. Lile had a nickname for [S.H.], "blackie," because that was the color of her pubic hair.
One of appellant's former students and several parents of his past and present students testified as witnesses for appellant. Each of them indicated that appellant was a teacher of exceptional quality, and several of the parents said they would have no objection to appellant's continuing to teach their children. The District's attorney argued that such evidence was irrelevant because the District was not challenging appellant's competency or his past record as a teacher.
The superintendent of the District learned of the sexual abuse charge in early May. He interviewed both girls on May 24-25, 1984. On June 1, 1984, the superintendent received a telephone call from a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, inquiring about the charge. Later that same day the superintendent told appellant not to return to the classroom. The following day, June 2, articles appeared in the Post-Dispatch and the St. Louis Globe-Democrat stating that appellant had been charged with sexual abuse of a thirteen-year old girl. 4 Later that day the superintendent suspended appellant for the remainder of the school year.
On June 6, 1984, the principal of the school at which appellant had been teaching, Robert Schnurmann, delivered to the superintendent a written report he had prepared describing comments made to him by students and parents concerning the sexual abuse charge against appellant. This report was received in evidence at the hearing before the Board, but neither Mr. Schnurmann nor any of the persons whose comments were recorded in the report were called to testify. 5
After making its findings of fact, the Board reached the following conclusions:
The Board concludes that the acts committed by Mr. Lile, as described above in our Findings of Facts, constitute immoral conduct, unfitting him to teach children. As their teacher he has great influence on his students' social and moral behavior. This influence creates a corresponding responsibility in and out of the classroom to demonstrate to them proper moral conduct. By his actions he has shown himself unfit to do so.
The Board of Education concludes that there would be a cloud of uncertainty and suspicion surrounding Mr. Lile's future activities with his classroom students which would adversely impact on his students, their parents and consequently on his ability to teach. The report from Mr. Schnurmann to [the superintendent] is evidence of that adverse impact.
The Board thus voted to terminate appellant's contract with the District.
Preliminarily, we note that an appellate court sitting in review of an administrative agency reviews the findings and decision of the agency rather than the judgment of the circuit court. Feltz v. Hesselback, 675 S.W.2d 60, 62 (Mo.App.1984). We thus focus our attention upon the Board's findings and decision. The Missouri Teacher Tenure Act provides that an appeal from a decision of a board of education is governed by chapter 536, RSMo 1978. Section 536.140.2 delimits our scope of review in reviewing the Board's evidentiary findings. 6 We must consider all competent evidence before the Board, but our inquiry is nevertheless limited:
We may only determine whether the Board reasonably could have made its findings and reached the decision it did.... We may not substitute our judgment on the evidence, and we may not set aside the Board's decision unless it is not supported by competent and substantial evidence on the whole record, or it is contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Also we are to consider the evidence in a light most favorable to the Board's decision, together with all reasonable inferences which support it. Moore v. Board of Education of the Special School District of St. Louis County, 547 S.W.2d 188 (Mo.App.1977).
Rafael v. Meramec Valley R-III Board of Ed., 569 S.W.2d 309, 314-15 (Mo.App.1978).
Our scope of review is less restricted if the appellant challenges the agency's interpretation or application of a law or legal standard. Section 536.140.3, RSMo 1978. In such case the reviewing court may independently weigh the evidence and resolve factual issues, but in so doing "the court shall give due weight to the opportunity of the agency to observe the witnesses, and to the expertness and experience of the particular agency." Id. See also City of Cabool v. Missouri State Board of Mediation, 689 S.W.2d 51, 54 (Mo. banc 1985); Evangelical Retirement...
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