Smith v. Sch. Dist. No. 1, Marshall Cnty., Case Number: 29184

• Decision Date: 30 April 1940
• Docket Number: Case Number: 29184
• Citation: 102 P.2d 131,187 Okla. 184,1940 OK 226
• Parties: SMITH v. SCHOOL DIST. NO. 1, MARSHALL COUNTY
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

1940 OK 226

102 P.2d 131

187 Okla. 184

SMITH v. SCHOOL DIST. NO. 1, MARSHALL COUNTY

Case Number: 29184

Supreme Court of Oklahoma

Decided: April 30, 1940

Syllabus

¶0 1. SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS--Validity of teachers' contracts--Controlling effect of rules relating to contracts generally.

Except in so far as controlled by the Constitution or by statute, the making, requisites, and validity of a contract of employment of a teacher in the public schools are governed by the rules relating to contracts generally.

2. SAME --Contract not invalidated because of negotiations had before beginning of fiscal year.

A contract between a school district and a teacher is not necessarily rendered invalid because of negotiations of the parties had in reference thereto before the beginning of the fiscal year during which the services are to be performed.

3. SAME --County superintendent's approval essential to make teacher's contract enforceable.

The approval of the county superintendent to a teacher's contract in a dependent school district is essential to make it complete and enforceable.

Appeal from District Court, Marshall County; John B. Ogden, Judge.

Action by Mrs. Winston Smith against School District No. 1 of Marshall County. Judgment for defendant, and plaintiff appeals. Reversed.

Reuel W. Little, of Madill, for plaintiff in error.

Welch & Grigsby, of Madill, for defendant in error.

HURST, J.

¶1 This action involves the validity of a teacher's contract entered into under the following circumstances: Mrs. Winston Smith was a teacher in school district No. 1, in Marshall county, during the school year 1936-1937. In March, 1937, the principal of the school, acting under the authority of the school board, presented Mrs. Smith a form of contract to be executed for the term of school to begin September 6, 1937, stating that she was to be paid the largest amount that could be paid under the state aid rule, which he estimated would be $85 to $90 per month.

¶2 The date of the contract was purposely left blank to be inserted after July. 1st, and the form was to be signed by the school board and approved by the county superintendent when the amount of salary allowable under the state aid rule could be determined. The county superintendent testified that the amount of state aid could not be determined until the budget had been made out, after July 1st.

¶3 The forms were signed by two members of the board probably before July 1st. Mr. Coe, who was a member of the board during the time of the negotiations, testified he and Mr. Dunning, another member, had signed the contract when he last saw it. The instrument bears the signature of the third member, the newly elected clerk. The time the latter signed the instrument does not appear. Mr. Coe testified further that the principal had authority to act for the board in the matter of teachers' contracts. It may reasonably be inferred, therefore, that the copies of the contract before reaching the county superintendent's office were last in possession of either the clerk of the board or the principal. The copies were found by the newly elected county superintendent in a box in his office sometime after July 5th, along with a number of other teachers' contracts left for his approval. Mr. Coe testified also that the board had agreed that Mrs. Smith was to receive the largest amount of salary allowed under the state aid law. When the new county superintendent examined these instruments, along with other contracts, he dated them as of July 6, 1937, and on July 9, 1937, approved them, at the same time completing the jurat to the oath required of the teacher. The amount of salary was filled in later in July by Mr. Smith and Mrs. Smith's counsel, in the presence of the county superintendent after he had stated the amount for which Mrs. Smith would qualify under the state aid law.

¶4 The board, after the approval of Mrs. Smith's contract, made a contract with another teacher, replacing Mrs. Smith, and this contract was approved by the county superintendent. A week after Mrs. Smith presented herself to teach, she was advised that the board desired this other teacher in her place. After attempts to obtain other employment, she brought this action, alleging her contract was valid and that she was at all times able, willing, and ready to perform. The trial court sustained a demurrer to her evidence, and she appeals.

¶5 Her qualifications are not in issue here. The only question presented is the validity of the contract. It is contended by the defendant in error, the school district, that the contract was completely executed and delivered before July 1, 1937, and, therefore, is void under the decisions of this court in Brians v. Consolidated School District, 183 Okla. 29, 79 P.2d 798, and Dungan v. Independent School District No. 39 of Gage, Ellis County, 182 Okla. 385, 77 P.2d 1117. The plaintiff in error relies chiefly upon the case of Anderson v. Miller, 172 Okla. 480, 45 P.2d 499, and the general rules relating to contracts therein considered. Other cases cited were decided prior to the effective date of section 6814, O. S. 1931, 70 O. S. A. § 117, which is invoked by the school district as barring recovery.

¶6 The section just cited provides that the district board shall enter into written contracts with teachers for the fiscal year, but that the board shall not have authority to enter into contracts until after the beginning of the fiscal year for which the contract is made. It contains a further provision that there shall be no authority to pay the teacher, except for services rendered under a valid written contract approved by the county superintendent. The underlying question, therefore, decisive of this case, is whether the contract involved herein was "entered into" before or after the beginning of the fiscal year. The question of ratification is not before us.

¶7 It was held for a long time that contracts could be executed at or after the spring school meeting for services to be performed during the next succeeding school term, but later cases held the statute permitting such contracts invalid, as violative of section 26, art. 10, of the Constitution, and held that such contracts must be executed after the beginning of the fiscal year in which they were to be performed. Some of these cases will be hereinafter cited. Following these cases came the enactment of the section here under consideration. And in the Brians Case, supra, it was held in effect that decisions prior to the effective date of the act were not controlling; but there are certain features of the act that should be construed in reference to these prior decisions.

¶8 The part that the county superintendent plays in the execution of the contract has been a matter of controversy, resulting in some conflicting and irreconcilable opinions. A brief reference to some of the cases will show the conflict and the difficulty of arriving at the true meaning of the decisions. The 1931 act contains the identical provisions of the 1913 law insofar as it provides for a written contract with teachers and requires the approval of the county superintendent before any payments can be made. The change was made in the last half of the section as to the time of entering into the contract. In this respect, however, the law merely adopted the holding of this court as expressed in numerous decisions, such as School District No. 76, Creek County, v. Bath, 120 Okla. 204, 250 P. 1003. The re-enactment of the matters contained in the first paragraph of the section, of course, is presumed to have been made with the construction placed thereon by this court. We should, therefore, determine if possible what that construction had been. The decisions, both before and after the 1931 act became effective, in some instances apparently attempt to make a distinction which does not exist.

¶9 One of the earlier cases is Means, Supt., v. Vernon, 108 Okla. 123, 235 P. 163, which held the approval by the county superintendent essential to the validity of the contract. It also held the approval a judicial or quasi-judicial act. This case was followed in Shoffner v. Smith, 155 Okla. 43, 7 P.2d 655. But between these two cases in point of time we find Frost v. School District No. 98, Payne County, 118 Okla. 57, 246 P. 432, and Board of Education v. Barrow, 139 Okla. 109, 281 P. 218. In the former the court held a teacher's contract valid, although never approved by the county superintendent. In the latter this court, without referring to the Frost Case, held that without the approval of the county superintendent a teacher's contract was invalid, citing the Means Case, supra. The Frost Case, however, later was cited with approval, and the cases of Means v. Vernon and Shoffner v. Smith were overruled insofar as they held that the approval of the county superintendent was a judicial act to be exercised in his discretion. Shofner v. Mercer, 164 Okla. 170, 23 P.2d 623. This latter case was followed in Johnson v. Brown, 180 Okla. 148, 68 P.2d 855, where the county superintendent was required by mandamus to approve a contract. It is apparent, therefore, from this case and the case it follows, also a case in mandamus, that it is not true that the county superintendent has no part to play in giving effect to a contract. Since it appeared to the court that mandamus should issue, it is clear that the approval of the county superintendent is a necessary act, for mandamus will not issue to compel a useless act. Jones v. Sneed, 101 Okla. 295, 225 P. 700; State ex rel. West v. McCafferty, 25 Okla. 2, 105 P. 992, L. R. A. 1915A, 639.

¶10 The act also provides that a school teacher is so bound by her contract that she cannot without consent enter into any other contract to teach in this state during the same period of time. The obligation should lie on the board and superintendent not to contract with another to replace the teacher over her objection after contract has been legally...