Texarkana Independent School District v. Lewis, 8070

• Decision Date: 07 September 1971
• Docket Number: No. 8070,8070
• Parties: TEXARKANA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Appellants, v. Velma LEWIS et al., Appellees.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 727

470 S.W.2d 727

TEXARKANA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Appellants, v. Velma LEWIS et al., Appellees.

No. 8070.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas,

Texarkana.

Sept. 7, 1971.

John D. Raffaelli, Raffaelli, Hawkins & Carter, Texarkana, for appellants.

Sherman Kusin, Harkness, Friedman & Kusin, Texarkana, for appellees.

RAY, Justice.

This is an appeal by the Texarkana Independent School District from a judgment granting a permanent injunction in a class action enjoining the school district from suspending or expelling appellees and all other persons in the same class from the Texas High School at Texarkana, Texas, for past or future violations of regulations promulgated by the Board of Trustees concerning disruptive behavior. This suit was brought in the trial court as a class action by the parents as next friends of eight students who were expelled and all others similarly situated. The case was tried before the court without a jury. Seventy-six students had been expelled by the Board of Trustees for the remainder of the Spring Semester of 1971 for alleged disruptive activities at the Senior High School. The Trial Court found basically the following:

1. That the suit was properly brought as a class action;

2. That procedural due process was not followed by school officials in that:

(a) the students were not given written notice of the charges against them;

(b) the students were not allowed sufficient time to prepare their defense;

(c) the students were not notified of their right of counsel; and

(d) the students were not notified of their right to have a record made of the evidence introduced at the hearing before the Principals .

The Trial Court further found that procedural due process was not followed by the Board of Trustees for each of the preceding reasons plus an additional finding by the Court that the Board of Trustees continued to hear evidence during its deliberations at a time when the students and parents were not present.

The Trial Court found further that the guidelines concerning disruptive activity adopted by the Board of Trustees and furnished to each individual student were vague and indefinite and in violation of the Constitution of the United States, and therefore null and void.

The Court granted a permanent injunction against appellants, enjoining them from suspending any students from attendance at Texarkana Senior High School in Texarkana for the balance of the Spring Semester, and from in any way interfering with appellees' attendance at the school at any time in the future until appellant school district adopted a method of holding and conducting hearings in connection with suspensions or expulsions which furnishes to the student or students involved procedural due process, both before the Principals and the Board of Trustees. The Court set out the following method for holding and conducting the hearings as guides for procedural due process:

'(a) that written notice be given to the student involved and to his parents in adequate time for them to prepare for the hearing;

(b) that a specific statement of the offense charged against the student be set out in the notice;

(c) that the student shall be informed in the written notice that he has the right to be represented by counsel at all hearings;

(d) that the student be informed in the said written notice that he may make a record at his own expense of the evidence introduced at the hearing, if he desires;

(e) that all testimony received either by the School Principals or by the Board of Trustees shall be introduced in the presence of the student; his parents and counsel, if they desire to be present, with the right of the student, his parents and counsel to cross-examine.'

The appellants were further enjoined from suspending or expelling students until such time as appellants had adopted positive and definite guidelines for the discipline of students attending schools within the Texarkana Independent School District, and required copies of the guidelines to be furnished to each student with directions that guidelines be read by the student and delivered by the student to his parents.

This appeal by the school district and its officials is predicated upon four points of error which are as follows:

'First, that the Court erred in holding that the Appellant did not accord the plaintiffs procedural due process in the investigation and hearing of a matter involving disruptive activities at the school.

'Second, that in the investigation of a disruptive activity in which 212 students of a senior high school were involved in vandalism and in fighting between the black and white races on the school grounds during school hours, procedural due process does not require the fixed, mechanical, legalistic steps outlined by the trial court; and the Court was in error in enjoining the defendants in the future from suspending or expelling any student for misconduct until and unless the defendants have followed a method of procedure in accordance with the listed mechanical and legalistic steps fixed by the Court.

'Third, the Court erred in holding that the guidelines by the school concerning disruptive activities were unconstitutionally vague and indefinite.

'Fourth, the Court erred in granting a class action judgment.'

The facts in this case are complex and lengthy, but basically the Board of Trustees of Texas High School had adopted a statement of policy concerning disruptive activities in October of 1969, following a previous disturbance at the school. Disruptive activities were categorized in the statement of policy as being major disruptive activities and minor disruptive activities. Major disruptive behavior carried a penalty of suspension for the remainder of the semester and failing grades in each of the courses in which the student was enrolled. The first category is defined as follows:

'Major disruptive behavior shall be interpreted to include any activity or action by any student that interferes with the normal routine operation of the school program, such as:

1. Demonstration;

2. Sit-ins;

3. Group violence;

4. Desecration of the American flag.'

Minor disruptive behavior carrying a suspension from school for five days for the first offense and permanent suspension for the second offense was defined as follows:

'Minor disruptive behavior shall be interpreted to include any activity that interferes with routine operation of the school program, such as:

1. Disrespect or disobedience of school personnel;

2. Leaving class without permission;

3. Blocking corridors or hallways;

4. Harassment of students through name calling;

5. Use of vulgar or profane language.'

It was agreed and stipulated that appellees had been furnished a copy of appellants' statement of policy outlined above.

The chronology of events pertinent to this case are as follows:

1. On Wednesday morning, February 17, 1971, before classes began, a disturbance started between some of the black students and some of the white students at Texas Senior High School in the student center of the building. The two groups were separated by members of the school administration, but approximately 500 students reassembled outside the building in the outer court area, where name calling and threats between the two groups continued. Principal W. E. McGuire announced over the intercom system that the students should go to class, at which time many students started to their classes. However, a large group went to the eastern part of the school grounds, where fighting broke out, teachers were threatened, and cars were damaged by vandalism. When the disturbance could no longer be controlled by the administration, police officers were called to the scene to quell the disruptive activity. The disturbance had started at approximately 8:17 on Wednesday morning, and continued until approximately 8:40 a.m., when the police arrived. The doors to the school were locked about 8:45 a.m., and the classroom teachers were instructed to make a careful check and list all students who were absent from class at the first period. School was dismissed at 11:40 a.m., the same day, and that afternoon the entire staff of the school met to determine which of the absent students had been observed by any teacher or principal in the school building or on the school grounds that morning when the fighting had occurred. Those students who had been observed and identified, and who were not present for the first period class, totalled approximately 212 in number. The next day when those 212 students came to the Principal's office to get their absence slips in order to be readmitted to school, they were told to assemble in the school auditorium, where the Principal informed the students that they were temporarily suspended from school and that they and their parents would soon be contacted by letter.

2. On Saturday, February 20th, a letter was sent to all of the parents of the students who were absent from class on February 17th, and who had been identified as being present on the campus when the disruptive activity occurred. The letter informed the parents that their child was temporarily suspended from the school in connection with the disruptive activity, and that each parent should call the Principal's office to make an appointment.

3. On Monday, February 22nd, the parents of the students involved began coming to the Principal's office at regular intervals. The Principal and two assistant principals began the interviews in their separate rooms. Each child was given an opportunity to tell what he had done on the morning of the disturbance, and each parent was given an opportunity to add anything else that would enlighten the Principal on the activities of his child. The Principal or assistant conducting the hearing made a memorandum in writing of what each person said. This memorandum was read to the child and to the parent at the conclusion of the hearing for corrections or additions. Also, each child was...