State ex rel. Hawkins v. Tyler County Bd. of Educ., 14191
| Citation | 275 S.E.2d 908,166 W.Va. 363 |
| Decision Date | 19 December 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 14191,14191 |
| Court | Supreme Court of West Virginia |
| Parties | STATE ex rel. Lorraine HAWKINS v. The TYLER COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, A Statutory Corporation, and Jackson L. Flannigan, Superintendent of The Tyler County Board of Education. |
Syllabus by the Court
1. The transfer or reassignment of a teacher by a county board of education for his or her refusal to violate county policy is an arbitrary or capricious act.
2. The assignment of teachers to extracurricular duties is a matter of educational policy within the discretion of the county boards of education.
3. The board of education's power to assign extracurricular duties to teachers is not unlimited and must be exercised in a reasonable manner. Assignments must be nondiscriminatory, related to a teacher's interest and expertise, and must not require excessive hours beyond the contractual workday.
Fowler & Paterno, John R. Fowler and John L. MacCorkle, Charleston, for plaintiff in error.
Love, Wise, Robinson & Woodroe, John O. Kizer and Kurt E. Entsminger, Charleston, for defendant in error.
Lorraine Hawkins appeals from an order of the Circuit Court of Tyler County which dismissed her petition for a writ of mandamus to compel the appellees, the Tyler County Board of Education, (hereinafter the Board) to reinstate her to her teaching position at Tyler County High School. The petition alleged that the Board acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner in transferring her from her tenured teaching position at Tyler County High School and reassigning her to Paden City Middle School. The circuit court found that the appellees had acted in good faith and in the best interests of the school system and dismissed the petition. We think the lower court erred in its findings and we reverse the order denying the appellant's petition.
The facts of this case are essentially undisputed. The appellant has been employed as a teacher in Tyler County School system on a continuing contract basis since 1969. Until the Board ordered her transfer in 1977, she taught social studies and physical education at Ellsworth-Boreman Junior High School and at Tyler County High School. From 1973 until 1977, in addition to her regular teaching duties, she was the head coach of the girls' basketball and volleyball teams at Tyler County High School. During the 1975-1976 school year the appellant was asked to coach girls' track but refused. Another teacher was hired to fill that position but she left the school system after one year. In the fall of 1976, the appellant returned to her teaching duties and discovered she had been assigned as the girls' track coach, a duty which she accepted. The Board paid the appellant additional compensation for these coaching duties.
In March of 1977, the appellant wrote a letter to Mr. Jimmy Wyatt, principal of Tyler County High School, requesting that she be relieved of her coaching duties for basketball and track during the 1977-1978 school year. She stated that she felt that coaching three sports would interfere with her curricular teaching duties. She requested that she be allowed to continue as head volleyball coach and expressed her desire to remain at Tyler County High School. Mr. Wyatt received the letter on March 14 and immediately recommended to the Board that the appellant be transferred to another school, apparently in compliance with an "unofficial" school policy requiring any teacher who resigned a coaching position to be placed upon the transfer list automatically. On March 15, at a regular meeting of the Tyler County Board of Education, the appellant's name was placed on the list for transfer and she was informed that she would be assigned to another school at a subsequent meeting.
On May 10, 1977, Mr. Wyatt approached the appellant and asked her to reconsider her resignation of her coaching duties, indicating that he wanted her to coach basketball and volleyball. The appellant asked the principal if she would be provided with an assistant to help her coach basketball. On May 13, Mr. Wyatt informed her that she would not be getting an assistant basketball coach for the next school year. The appellant then refused to accept the basketball coach position, stating that she "couldn't handle basketball myself because of the program expanding". She did, however, offer to coach volleyball and track without an assistant. Mr. Wyatt again recommended that the Board transfer the appellant to another school and at the Board meeting on May 17, she was reassigned to the Paden City Middle School for the 1977-1978 school term.
In a letter dated May 26, the appellant indicated to the Board and to Mr. Wyatt that she could not adequately perform her job without someone to assist her in coaching basketball but that she was willing to remain at Tyler County High School in her previous position, ostensibly as the head coach of three sports, if an assistant were provided. The letter was read at a meeting of the Board on June 7, but no action was taken. On June 10, the appellant instituted sexual discrimination grievance proceedings which, after a hearing before the Board, were resolved against her. The appellant then filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in the Circuit Court of Tyler County and a hearing was held on September 15, 1977. Based on findings of fact set forth in a memorandum opinion, the circuit court determined that the Board had acted reasonably and in good faith in transferring the appellant, and entered an order denying the writ and dismissing the proceedings at the cost of the appellant. It is from this order that the appellant appeals, contending that the lower court erred in not finding that her transfer was the result of arbitrary and capricious conduct on the part of the Board.
The county boards of education are granted authority by statute to transfer teachers. The Code provision in effect at the time of appellant's transfer provides: "The superintendent, subject only to approval of the board, shall have authority to assign, transfer, promote, demote or suspend school personnel and to recommend their dismissal pursuant to provisions of this chapter ..." W.Va. Code § 18A-2-7 (1969). This provision vests great discretion in the county superintendent and the county board of education to transfer and assign teachers to designated schools and this Court will not interfere with the exercise of that discretion where such action is taken in good faith for the benefit of the school system and is not arbitrary. Bates v. Board of Education of Mineral County, 133 W.Va. 225, 55 S.E.2d 777 (1949); Weaver v. Board of Education of Calhoun County, 128 W.Va. 42, 35 S.E.2d 679 (1945). Teachers have no vested right to be assigned to any particular school in the county. Weaver, supra. However, the power of the county superintendent to transfer teachers must be exercised in a reasonable manner and in the best interests of the schools. Arbitrary and capricious use of the power will not be permitted. Beverlin v. Board of Education of Lewis County, W.Va., 216 S.E.2d 554 (1975); Neal v. Board of Education of Putnam County, 116 W.Va. 435, 181 S.E. 541 (1935). Mandamus will lie to control a board of education in the exercise of its discretion only upon a showing of caprice, passion, partiality, fraud, arbitrary conduct, some ulterior motive or misapprehension of the law. State ex rel. Withers v. Board of Education of Mason County, 153 W.Va. 867, 172 S.E.2d 796 (1970); State ex rel. Payne v. Board of Education of Jefferson County, 135 W.Va. 349, 63 S.E.2d 579 (1951).
The appellant contends that the Board's action was arbitrary and capricious because it resulted from her refusal to assume coaching duties in violation of county policy. Appellant first refers to the following provision of the Tyler County Policy Manual:
"5.16.48: No coach shall serve in the position of head coach in more than two (2) sports."
The appellant maintained below that she was transferred to another school because she refused to coach three sports. She contends that because her transfer was predicated upon her refusal to violate county policy, it was invalid.
We agree with the appellant's theory that the transfer or reassignment of a teacher by a county board of education for his or her refusal to violate county policy is an arbitrary or capricious act. County boards of education are bound by procedures they properly establish to conduct their affairs. Powell v. Brown, W.Va., 238 S.E.2d 220 (1977). There is no statutory provision regulating the assignment of extracurricular duties to teachers, nor does there appear to be a state policy in that regard. In such circumstances policies of the county boards of education are binding upon them and a teacher may not be transferred for refusing to disobey such policies.
Here, however, it does not appear that the appellant's refusal to coach three sports was the reason for her transfer. The Board maintains that she was transferred because of her refusal to coach one particular sport basketball. The evidence appears to support this contention. When the appellant spoke with Mr. Wyatt about reconsidering her resignation, his concern appeared to be that she coach the two major girls' sports of basketball and volleyball, rather than that she coach all three of the girls' sports. Indeed, Mr. Wyatt's recommendation that the appellant be placed on the transfer list appeared to be predicated only upon her refusal to accept the head basketball coach position at Tyler County High School, without regard to her resignation of coaching duties in other sports. We cannot say that the circuit court was clearly wrong in finding that the appellant's transfer was not the result of her refusal to violate county policy by coaching three sports.
A question remains, however: Could the Board lawfully reassign the appellant to...
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...conduct, some ulterior motive, or misapprehension of law upon the part of such board." See also State ex rel. Hawkins v. Tyler County Board of Education, 166 W.Va. 363, 275 S.E.2d 908 (1980); State ex rel. Payne v. Board of Education of Jefferson County, 135 W.Va. 349, 63 S.E.2d 579 (1951).......
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