Perry v. Independent School District No. 696, 43253

• Decision Date: 24 August 1973
• Docket Number: No. 43253,43253
• Citation: 297 Minn. 197,210 N.W.2d 283
• Parties: Carole J. PERRY, Appellant, v. INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 696, et al., Respondents.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 283

210 N.W.2d 283

297 Minn. 197

Carole J. PERRY, Appellant, v. INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 696, et al., Respondents.

No. 43253.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Aug. 24, 1973.

Reavill, Neimeyer, Johnson, Fredin & Killen, Conrad M. Fredin, Duluth, David A. Bourgin, Virginia, for appellant.

Peterson & Popovich, Peter S. Popovich, James E. Knutson, and Ivars J. Krafts, for respondents.

Clinton J. Hall, St. Paul, for Minnesota Education Association, amicus curiae.

Heard before KNUTSON, C.J., and OTIS, PETERSON, and KELLY, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff, Carole J. Perry, brought this action for a declaratory judgment determining that she is a duly qualified teacher in defendant school district in Ely, Minnesota, and requiring defendants to grant her permanent contract status pursuant to this state's continuing contract law, Minn.St. 125.12. The court determined that she was not entitled to relief and ordered dismissal of the action with prejudice. Plaintiff appeals from the denial of her motion for a new trial. We reverse.

Plaintiff is a qualified elementary school teacher certified by the state. Her ability and qualifications as a teacher were equivalent to those of other teachers in defendant school district.

On November 14, 1960, the school board adopted a policy not to hire married women teachers except as substitutes. This rule was to be waived only where there were last-minute vacancies in the teaching staff, in which case only a special contract without the usual continuing contract provision was to be offered. One of the reasons for this policy was that women teachers present employment problems because of pregnancies and the care of their children.

In December 1965, plaintiff was hired as a substitute grade school teacher and rendered satisfactory service for the remainder of the 1965-1966 school term. On August 23, 1966, she was hired as a 'long-term substitute' for the 1966-1967 school year. She was not offered a regular employment contract although a regular contract form was used with the word 'SUBSTITUTE' typed at the top and the following language typed within the body:

'Party of the first part agrees to teach as a substitute teacher during the school term of 1966-67 receiving any fringe benefits given regular staff members, and it is mutually agreed that this contract shall terminate at the end of said school term.'

Plaintiff was informed that because she was a married woman, a substitute teacher's contract was the only form of contract she would be offered in that school district. She was neither hired to replace a teacher on leave of absence nor did an emergency exist in the school district except for the lack of qualified male or single teachers. Her teaching during that school year was satisfactory and she fulfilled all the duties of a regular teacher.

On August 15, 1967, plaintiff was offered a similar contract for the 1967-1968 school term. Conditions in the school system at the time of contracting and plaintiff's performance during the school year were the same as the previous year.

On August 13, 1968, plaintiff was offered a substantially similar contract for the 1968-1969 school year. The only pertinent change was that the provision for termination of her employment contract was changed to read:

'It is mutually agreed that this contract may be terminated prior to the end of the school term should a suitable permanent staff member be employed.'

Again, conditions in the school system and the plaintiff's performance of her duties were the same as the previous years.

On March 18, 1968, and again on March 18, 1969, plaintiff received letters from the superintendent of the school district thanking her for her teaching services and informing her that, pursuant to her contract, her employment would be terminated at the end of the year. In addition, the letters informed her that future employment would depend on whether a permanent replacement was found before the next school year began.

In the middle of April 1969, plaintiff, after consulting counsel concerning her rights, advised the superintendent that she was available to teach the following year. Thereafter, no action was taken by the school board in terminating her contract and she received no formal notice of proposed termination or discharge. She was never given any reason why she was not rehired other than that she was a married woman. Plaintiff has never requested a hearing on her yearly termination although she had asked the superintendent to bring her request for continued employment before the school board.

Three issues are raised on appeal: First, whether a school board under its statutory grant of general powers may except a teacher's contract from the provisions of Minn.St. 125.12 (continuing contract law) by classifying such teacher as a 'long-term substitute'? Secondly, has a teacher who signed a contract limiting employment to one year waived her rights to a continuing contract as provided by the statute? Thirdly, does a school board policy refusing regular employment to married women teachers deny rights guaranteed under Minnesota statutes and the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution?

1. School boards and school districts are created by statute and have only such powers as are conferred upon them by the legislature. Independent School Dist. No. 581 v. Mattheis, 275 Minn. 383, 147 N.W.2d 374 (1966); Minneapolis Federation of Teachers v. Obermeyer, 275 Minn. 347, 147 N.W.2d 358 (1966); Board of Education v. Sand, 227 Minn. 202, 34 N.W.2d 689 (1948). The legislature may regulate the manner of exercise of this power and modify or abrogate it as desired. Melby v. Hellie, 249 Minn. 17, 80 N.W.2d 849 (1957); State ex rel. Klimek v. School Dist. No. 70, 204 Minn. 279, 283 N.W. 397 (1939); Kramer v. County of Renville, 144 Minn. 195, 175 N.W. 101 (1919).

Minn.St. 123.33 authorizes a school board to manage the schools within its district and adopt necessary rules and policies for their administration. The trial court, relying on Brown v. Wells, 288 Minn. 468, 181 N.W.2d 708 (1970), reasoned that policies and regulations of a school board should not be overturned by the courts unless they are clearly unreasonable and arbitrary. The court concluded that the policy in the present case of not offering regular contracts to married women was not unreasonable.

Although a school board is given authority to regulate the operative affairs of the school district, the legislature has limited its powers in regard to the employment of teachers. Minn.St. 123.35, subd. 5, provides:

'The board shall employ and contract with necessary qualified teachers and discharge the same for cause, but no substitute teacher shall be hired Except to replace a regular teacher on leave of absence or in an emergency of less than one school year's duration.' (Italics supplied.) ¹

In addition to this limitation on hiring of substitutes, the termination of a teacher's employment is governed by the continuing contract statute, § 125.12. These provisions apply to all 'teachers,' defined in subdivision 1, as:

'A superintendent, principal, supervisor, and Classroom teacher and any other professional employee required to hold a certificate from the state department * * *.' (Italics supplied.)

A school board has no authority to except a teacher's contract from the continuing contract statute by offering yearly contracts designating the teacher as a 'long term substitute.' If the employee comes within the statutory definition of teacher and is hired for an emergency which exceeds the period for which a substitute can be hired, the continuing contract statute applies regardless of the terms of the contract itself.

Plaintiff was certified by the state department and hired as an elementary classroom instructor. Her initial employment in December 1965 for the remainder of that school year was in an emergency of less than one year's duration and therefore not subject to the continuing contract provisions. However, when she was hired for the following school year of 1966-1967, the contract provided for employment in excess of the period for which a 'substitute' may be hired. Her contract was therefore not self-terminating at the end of the school year as stated in her contract because it was in contravention of Minn.St. 123.35, subd. 5. Consequently, the school board was required to follow the procedures for nonrenewal of her contract as set forth in § 125.12, subd. 3, which provides:

'The first and second consecutive years of a teacher's first teaching experience in Minnesota in a single school district shall be deemed to be a probationary period of employment. * * * During the probationary period any annual contract with any teacher may or may not be renewed as the school board shall see fit; provided, however, that the school board shall give any such teacher whose contract it declines to renew for the following school year written notice to that effect before April 1. * * *'

For nonprobationary teachers, subd. 4, states:

'A teacher who has completed his probationary period in any school district, and who has not been discharged or advised of a refusal to renew his contract pursuant to subdivision 3, shall have a continuing contract with such district. Thereafter, the teacher's contract shall remain in full force and effect, except as modified by mutual consent of the board and the teacher, until terminated by a majority roll call vote of the full membership of the board, upon one of the grounds specified in subdivision 6, or by the written resignation of the teacher, before April 1, or until the teacher is discharged pursuant to subdivision 8. * * * Before a teacher's contract is terminated by the board, the board shall notify the teacher in writing and state its ground for the proposed termination * * *.' ²

The statute thereafter specifies the procedures for hearings on a proposed termination.

We have often recognized that the...