Pell v. Board of Educ. of Monroe County
| Decision Date | 07 December 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 21414,21414 |
| Citation | 188 W.Va. 718,426 S.E.2d 510 |
| Parties | , 80 Ed. Law Rep. 1081 Ed PELL, Jim E. Craft, Glenn Dowdy, Charles Allen and Bobby E. Via, Petitioners Below, Appellees v. The BOARD OF EDUCATION OF MONROE COUNTY; and Kyle Baker, Robert Weikle, Harry H. Mohler, Sharon Harris and Steve Miller, each individually, Members of the Board of Education of Monroe County, Respondents Below, Appellants School Building Authority of West Virginia, Intervenor-Appellee. |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
Dec. 7, 1992.
1. "Mandamus will lie to control a board of education in the exercise of its discretion upon a showing of caprice, passion, partiality, fraud, arbitrary conduct, some ulterior motive, or misapprehension of the law." Syl. pt. 4, Dillon v. Board of Education, 177 W.Va. 145, 351 S.E.2d 58 (1986).
2. Pursuant to W.Va.Code, 18-5-13 [1990], a county board of education has the authority to close and consolidate schools. However, mandamus will lie to control a county board of education in the exercise of its discretion upon a showing of caprice, passion, partiality, fraud, arbitrary conduct, some ulterior motive, or misapprehension of the law. If a comprehensive educational facilities plan has been developed by a county board of education, approved by the state board of education, submitted to a regional educational services agency, granted approval for funding on a priority basis by the state school building authority, satisfied all requirements for approval, notice, and hearing pursuant to W.Va.Code, 18-5-13a [1991], and contracts have been entered into to begin implementation of such plan, then it is arbitrary and capricious for a county board of education, with no articulated reasons, to take action that would cause the plan to not be implemented or to replace such plan with an alternative plan, where such action would place in jeopardy the possibility of obtaining the approved funding.
Barry L. Bruce, Lewisburg, for appellants.
Jesse O. Guills, Jr., Lewisburg, for appellees.
Mario J. Palumbo and Brentz H. Thompson, Office of the Atty. Gen., Charleston, for School Bldg. Authority, intervenor-appellee.
This case is before the Court upon the appeal of the Board of Education of Monroe County, and Kyle Baker, Robert Weikle Harry H. Mohler, Sharon Harris, and Steve Miller, members of that Board of Education, the respondents below. The appellees and petitioners below are Ed Pell, Jim E. Craft, Glenn Dowdy, Charles Allen, and Bobby E. Via. 1 The appellants are aggrieved by the final order of the Circuit Court of Monroe County entered on September 23, 1992. The lower court proceeding was a mandamus action which sought to compel the respondents to implement a school consolidation plan.
In the spring of 1990, a Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan (CEFP) was completed by the Board of Education of Monroe County and filed with the state board of education. Under this plan: new construction would begin on a new high school at Coulters Chapel for grades 9 through 12; Peterstown and Union High Schools would be closed; the elementary and junior high schools at Greenville would be closed; ninth grade students would be transferred to the new high school; and middle and elementary students would be placed at Gap Mills, Union, or Peterstown.
The state board of education approved the CEFP and it was then submitted to the regional educational service agency (RESA) for priority consideration on a competitive basis for grant funds through the school building authority (SBA). 2
Initially, the Monroe County CEFP placed second in priority consideration to a plan in McDowell County, but upon the return of funds from McDowell County, another priority consideration was performed. Although the Monroe County CEFP placed second again, it was awarded a needs grant of $7,810,091.86. This grant, combined with local funding, was projected to meet the total cost of the plan, which is approximately $8.4 million. The Monroe County Board of Education was notified of the award in January 1991. Accordingly, in May 1991, a grant contract was signed between the SBA and the Monroe County Board of Education, effective March 25, 1991.
Following public hearings, the Monroe County Board of Education, on April 15, 1991, voted 3 to 2 to close the two high schools, as well as the junior high and elementary schools. In June 1991, the state board approved the consolidation plan.
On May 12, 1992, an election for members of the Monroe County Board of Education was held. Harry Mohler and Steve Miller were elected. Mohler had openly questioned the validity of the consolidation plan.
On May 18, 1992, two board members who opposed the consolidation plan and board member-elect Mohler sent a letter to the three board members who were in favor of the plan, expressing an interest in evaluating a new plan, and to not make any contractual commitments on the proposed plan. 3
On June 13, 1992, the prior county board approved contracts with the architect, Gandee & Partners, and the construction manager, Kenhill Construction Co., Inc. On June 24, 1992, the prior county board voted, 3-2, to submit the design development plans to the SBA for approval.
On July 1, 1992, the terms of the new board members began, and on July 6, 1992, they took office, delaying any action on the new school for thirty days.
On August 4, 1992, a committee was appointed by the current county board to review the feasibility of developing an alternative plan as well as the deficiencies of the current CEFP. On August 27, 1992, a "cease and desist" order was placed on any action on the current CEFP by the current county board. Among other things, the appellants contend that the CEFP is deficient because the Gap Mills facility should be closed, and new transportation times exceed state guidelines for certain students affected by the plan.
On September 14, 1992, the current county board voted, 3-2, to not approve budget supplements that would have placed the proposed plan in the school-year budget. Upon a petition for a writ of mandamus by the appellees, the Circuit Court of Monroe County held that the appellants, the current county board, has a legal duty to proceed with the current plan of consolidation, and that the actions of the appellants, in failing to proceed with implementing the CEFP, were arbitrary and capricious.
On September 27, 1992, the current county board voted to submit a draft of an alternative plan of consolidation to the SBA. On September 28, 1992, the SBA refused to consider such a draft. The alternative plan includes closing the elementary school at Gap Mills, which, as asserted by the appellants, would save in transportation costs.
The parties have stipulated total expenses incurred, to date, for the new consolidated high school are $181,000, of which $65,104.09 has been paid.
We begin our discussion of the relevant legal principles implicated in this mandamus appeal by pointing out that the issue in this case is not the merits of consolidation. Our concern is not whether consolidation is a good idea for the schools in Monroe County. Rather, the primary legal issue raised by the appellants in this case is whether the circuit court committed error by ruling that their actions were arbitrary and capricious. For reasons stated herein, we hold that the circuit court did not commit error, and accordingly, affirm the judgment of that court.
W.Va.Code, 18-5-13 [1990] provides, in part:
In Haynes v. Board of Education, 181 W.Va. 435, 436, 383 S.E.2d 67, 68 (1989), we declined to address the "wisdom or correctness" of a county board of education's decision to close and consolidate schools. In Haynes, at issue was whether proper hearings and votes were conducted by a county board of education prior to consolidation procedures.
However, we believe that the "wisdom or correctness" of the appellants' actions in this case is inapposite to the circuit court's decision, because wisdom or correctness of the decision to close or consolidate schools is not at issue. Rather, what is at issue is whether the appellants' actions were arbitrary and capricious by intentionally not implementing a consolidation plan that had already been approved and for which extensive steps had been taken.
Although W.Va.Code, 18-5-13 [1990] vests in a county board of education the authority to close and consolidate schools, the discretion to exercise this authority is not unfettered. This Court has recognized the following principle: "Mandamus will lie to control a board of education in the exercise of its discretion upon a showing of caprice, passion, partiality, fraud, arbitrary conduct, some ulterior motive, or misapprehension of the law." Syl. pt. 4, Dillon v. Board of Education, 177 W.Va. 145, 351 S.E.2d 58 (1986). See State ex rel. Hawkins v. Tyler County Board of Education, 166 W.Va. 363, 366, 275 S.E.2d 908, 912 (1980); syl. pt. 5, State ex rel. Withers v. Board of Education, 153 W.Va. 867, 172 S.E.2d 796 (1970); syl. pt. 1, State ex rel. Payne v. Board of Education, 135 W.Va. 349, 63 S.E.2d 579 (1951). 4
The appellants, in support of their contention that mandamus is inappropriate in this case, cite decisions from other jurisdictions. For example, in State ex rel. Johnson v. Butler County Board of Education, 107 Ohio App. 98, 152 N.E.2d 358, 360 (1957), the Court of Appeals of Ohio, in a mandamus proceeding to compel a board of education to declare the creation of a school district completed, held:
We are of the opinion that for this...
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