Ridgway v. Bd. of Educ. of Upper Freehold Tp.
| Decision Date | 11 January 1916 |
| Citation | 96 A. 390,88 N.J.Law 530 |
| Parties | RIDGWAY et al. v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF UPPER FREEHOLD TP. |
| Court | New Jersey Supreme Court |
(Syllabus by the Court.)
Mandamus by Richard T. Ridgway and others against the Board of Education of the Township of Upper Freehold. On demurrer to alternative writ of mandamus. Judgment for defendants on demurrer.
Argued November term, 1915, before PARKER, MINTURN, and KALISCH, JJ.
John Meirs, of New Egypt, for relators. Barton B. Hutchinson, of Trenton, for defendants.
The action is brought to compel the board of education of the township of Upper Freehold to call a special meeting of the voters to consider certain specifically proposed alterations in the annual budget that was adopted in March, 1915. The right to require such special meeting to be called is rested on the presentation to the board of a petition for such meeting, signed by 50 qualified voters of the school district, pursuant to clause 10 of section 86 of the School Law (C. S. 4752).
We consider that the matter is brought before us prematurely. It is manifestly a controversy arising under the school laws, and by the terms of the act cognizable in the first instance by the state superintendent of public instruction, and on appeal from his decision by the state board of education. C. S. 4726, § 3, par. 4; Id. 4727, § 10. This legislative policy did not originate in the act of 1903; it will be found in the act of 1867 (P. L. p. 365, § 28; Nix. Dig. 1868, p. 872; Rev. 1877, p. 1075), and goes back at least as far as 1851 . It does not appear in the record before us that these statutory tribunals were appealed to. The law is settled that the prerogative writs of the state should not be awarded until the remedies provided by the school law have been exhausted. Stockton v. Board of Education, 72 N. J. Law, 80, 59 Atl. 1061; Montclair v. Baxter, 76 N. J. Law, 68, 68 Atl. 494. The principle was applied in Jefferson v. Board, 64 N. J. Law, 59, 45 Atl. 775, to the case of refusal to admit a pupil into a school; in Buren v. Albertson, 54 N. J. Law, 72, 22 Atl. 1083, to a contested election of a school trustee; in Montclair v. Baxter, to a refusal by the municipal council to honor a requisition for a school appropriation. These diverse cases indicate the wide scope of the statutory provision.
If it appeared by the record that the statutory procedure had been followed, we should still be constrained to...
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...223 A.2d 481 (citing Town Council of Montclair v. Baxter, 76 N.J.L. 68, 68 A. 794 (Sup.Ct.1908); Ridgway v. Upper Freehold Board of Education, 88 N.J.L. 530, 96 A. 390 (Sup.Ct.1916), and distinguishing cases where no administrative expertise was implicated). 5 B. It is apparent that the myr......
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...72 N.J.L. 80, 59 A. 1061 (Sup.Ct.1905); Montclair v. Baxter, 76 N.J.L. 68, 68 A. 794 (Sup.Ct.1908); Ridgway v. Upper Freehold Bd. Education, 88 N.J.L. 530, 96 A. 390 (Sup.Ct.1916). Cf. Koven v. Stanley, 84 N.J.L. 446, 87 A. 89 (Sup.Ct.1913); Waldor v. Untermann, supra. In Lutz v. Kaltenbach......
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