Sheets v. Dollarway School Dist.

• Decision Date: 18 June 2003
• Docket Number: No. CA 02-772.,CA 02-772.
• Citation: 82 Ark. App. 539,120 S.W.3d 119
• Parties: Garrett SHEETS v. DOLLARWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT.
• Court: Arkansas Court of Appeals

120 S.W.3d 119

Garrett SHEETS v. DOLLARWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT.

No. CA 02-772.

Court of Appeals of Arkansas, Divisions I, II.

June 18, 2003.

Mitchell, Blackstock, Barnes, Wagoner, Ivers and Sneddon, by: Marcia Barnes, Little Rock, for appellant.

W. Paul Blume, Little Rock, for appellee.

JOSEPHINE LINKER HART, Judge.

Appellant, Garrett Sheets, appeals the trial court's dismissal with prejudice of his complaint to enforce his teacher employment contract. For reversal, appellant argues (1) that appellee, Dollarway School District, breached the written contracts between the parties for the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 school years when it failed to strictly comply with the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act (TFDA or the Act) and its own personnel policies; and (2) that his contract was automatically renewed on May 21, 2000, and thus, he was a "teacher" as defined by the TFDA during the 2000-01 school year and entitled to the benefits of the Act regardless of the duties relegated to him. We reverse in part and affirm in part.

Procedural History

On July 27, 1999, appellant entered into a written teacher's contract with appellee. The contract provided that appellant was to receive a $28,250 salary as the junior high in-school suspension teacher, the junior high head basketball coach, the assistant junior high football coach, and the assistant senior high baseball coach for the 1999-2000 school year. Superintendent Thomas Gathen later reassigned appellant to two elementary physical education classes in lieu of the two in-school suspension classes. In January of 2000, appellant was reassigned from head junior high basketball coach to assistant junior high basketball coach. His salary was not affected by his job reassignments.

On April 11, the Dollarway School Board voted to discontinue appellant's coaching duties as head junior high basketball coach for the 2000-01 school year. Appellant was presented with a new "teacher's contract" on May 12, 2000, which stated his duties would be "Middle/Jr. High Teacher." The new contract provided that appellant would be paid $23,400 as a classroom teacher and would work as the physical education instructor and in-school suspension monitor. This contract did not provide for appellant to perform coaching duties or for payment of any coaching duties. This decrease resulted in appellant incurring a net salary reduction of $4,850. Appellant refused to sign the contract and opted, instead, to endorse his previous contract for the 1999-2000 school year. After asking for a hearing on the nonrenewal of his coaching duties, the school board held a hearing on June 8, 2000, and again voted not to renew appellant's coaching contract. During the summer, appellee's superintendent offered appellant the assistant coach position with the football and baseball teams and an additional payment of $4,200, but appellant declined the offer. Appellant did, however, continue to work as the in-school suspension monitor for the 2000-01 school year.

On August 22, 2000, appellant filed a petition for a writ of mandamus alleging that appellee breached its contract with appellant by violating the TFDA and that such breach entitled appellant to all the monetary benefits which he had under the 1999-2000 contract, plus interest and attorney's fees. Appellant later amended his complaint to include a claim for breach of contract.

When appellant's contract was not renewed for the 2001-02 school year, appellant amended his complaint on July 23, 2001, alleging that the district had once again failed to strictly follow the provisions set out in the TFDA and such failure was a breach of his 2000-01 contract. After trial on October 24, 2001, both parties submitted briefs and findings of fact and conclusions of law. On March 20, 2002, the trial court, finding for Dollarway School District, accepted as its judgment appellee's proposed finding of fact and conclusions. From that order comes this appeal.

The trial judge found that appellant was a "probationary teacher" as defined by Arkansas Code Annotated section 6-17-1502(a)(2) (Repl.1999) and was, therefore, ineligible to appeal under the provisions of the TFDA. The trial court also concluded that because appellant was a probationary teacher the school district was not held to a standard of strict compliance mandated by Arkansas Code Annotated section 6-17-1503 (1999). He reasoned that allowing a probationary teacher to superimpose the "strict compliance" standard of the Act on the breach-of-contract action would extend the benefits granted by the Act for a period of time equal to the statute of limitations for a contract claim. The trial judge held that appellant must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that appellee materially breached his contract.

The trial judge then compared the five-year statute of limitations for a contract claim to the specific time limitations of seventy-five days for an appeal by a nonprobationary teacher and concluded that the legislature did not intend to give probationary teachers a greater period of time to bring a common-law cause of action than nonprobationary teachers had to bring an appeal of the decision of the board.

The trial court further found that even assuming that appellant was entitled to judgment on the contract, he had failed to mitigate his damages by refusing to accept the offer of additional coaching duties with the district or the offer of employment from the Altheimer Unified School District. Last, the trial court determined that appellant was not a teacher, probationary or otherwise, during the 2000-01 school year because his position of in-school suspension monitor did not require certification as a condition precedent to employment.

Teacher Fair Dismissal Act

Upon review, although we are mindful that it is not the function of the appellate court to substitute its judgment for the trial court, the question of whether or not a school district has strictly complied is a question of law. Jackson v. El Dorado Sch. Dist., 74 Ark.App. 433, 48 S.W.3d 558 (2001).

The TFDA defined "teacher" as one employed by an Arkansas public school district who is required to hold a teaching certificate from the Department of Education as a condition to employment. "Probationary teacher" is defined as one who has not completed three successive years of employment in the district in which the teacher is currently employed; further, a teacher is deemed to have completed the probationary period by employment in an Arkansas school district for three years. Ark.Code Ann. § 6-17-1502(a)(1) and (2) (Repl.1999).

Arkansas Code Annotated section 6-17-1506 (Repl.1999) provides:

(a) Every contract of employment made between a teacher and the board of directors of a school district shall be renewed in writing on the same terms and for the same salary, unless increased or decreased by law, for the next school year succeeding the date of termination fixed therein, which renewal may be made by an endorsement on the existing contract instrument unless:

(1) By May 1 of the contract year, the teacher is notified by the school superintendent that the superintendent is recommending that the teacher's contract not be renewed;

...

(2)(A) A notice of nonrenewal shall be delivered in person to the teacher or mailed by registered or certified mail to the teacher at the teacher's residence address....

(B) The notice of recommended nonrenewal of a teacher shall include a statement of the reasons for the recommendation, setting forth the reasons in separately numbered paragraphs so that a reasonable teacher can prepare a defense....

Arkansas Code Annotated section 6-17-1503 (Repl.1999) states in pertinent part:

A nonrenewal, termination, suspension, or other disciplinary action by a school district shall be void unless the school district strictly complies with all provisions of this subchapter and the school district's applicable personnel policies.

Arkansas Code Annotated section 6-17-1504 (Repl.1999) states:

(a) Each teacher ... must be evaluated in writing annually.

(b) Evaluation criteria and procedures shall be established in the manner prescribed in subchapter 2 of this chapter.

(c) Whenever a superintendent ... believes or has reason to believe that a teacher is having difficulties or problems meeting the expectations of the district ... and [the superintendent] believes the problems could lead to termination or nonrenewal of contract, the administrator shall bring the problems and difficulties to the attention of the involved in writing and shall document the efforts which have been undertaken to assist the teacher....

For reversal, appellant asserts that the school district failed to strictly comply with the TFDA and its own personnel policies and such failure breached both the 1999-2000 and the 2000-01 teacher's contracts. Appellant states that the district violated Arkansas Code Annotated sections 6-17-1504(a) et. seq. by failing to provide him with an annual teacher evaluation, notice of his nonrenewal of his contract and his right to a hearing before the school board on or before May 1 of the contract year, and a copy of the district's personnel policies. He further states that appellee denied him the right to a hearing before the school board voted to nonrenew his contract. Appellant also argues that the strict compliance standard equally applies to probationary teachers as well as nonprobationary teachers.

The application of the TFDA to a probationary teacher was addressed by our supreme court in Love v. Smackover Sch. Dist., 322 Ark. 1, 907 S.W.2d 136 (1995). In that case, Love had worked as a certified teacher for a period of one year and was a probationary teacher as defined by Ark.Code Ann. § 6-17-1502. In July, she learned that she would not be rehired for her position in the upcoming school year. In April of the following year, she filed suit alleging that she had not received notice of nonrenewal by May 1 as is required by ...