Case Title: Spainhour v. Dover Pub. Sch. Dist.

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: arkansas

Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Date: 1998-01-15T00:00:00Z

Document:
Teresa SPAINHOUR v. DOVER PUBLIC SCHOOL
DISTRICT

97-533                                             ___ S.W.2d ___

                    Supreme Court of Arkansas
               Opinion delivered January 15, 1998


1.   Schools & school districts -- Teacher Fair Dismissal Act --
     strict compliance required. -- The Teacher Fair Dismissal Act
     was amended by Act 625 of 1989, codified at Ark. Code Ann. 
     6-17-1503 (Repl. 1993), which in relevant part provided that
     a nonrenewal, termination, suspension, or other disciplinary
     action by a school district is void unless the school district
     strictly complies with all provisions of the act and any
     amendments, and the school district's applicable personnel
     policies.

2.   Schools & school districts -- Teacher Fair Dismissal Act --
     substantial compliance no longer sufficient -- untimely notice
     of nonrenewal results in automatic renewal. -- Substantial
     compliance no longer governs Teacher Fair Dismissal Act cases;
     the General Assembly stated unequivocally in Act 625 of 1989
     that there must be strict compliance with the Act before a
     nonrenewal, termination, or suspension may be put into effect;
     the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act requires strict compliance with
     all its provisions, otherwise, a nonrenewal, termination,
     suspension, or other disciplinary action by the school
     district is void; if notice of nonrenewal is not given to the
     teacher before May 1 of the contract year, the teacher's
     contract is automatically renewed for the next school year. 
3.   Schools & school districts -- appellee failed to comply with
     Act -- case remanded for entry of proper order. -- Where
     appellee failed to comply with  6-17-1509 of the Teacher Fair
     Dismissal Act by failing to give the appellant a hearing
     before it voted not to renew her contract, the fact that the
     Board subsequently held a meeting in which it substantially
     complied with the hearing provisions of  6-17-1509 was not
     sufficient; substantial compliance is no longer the rule after
     Act 625's passage; the trial court incorrectly found the
     Board's action not to renew appellant did not violate the
     Arkansas Teacher Fair Dismissal Act; the supreme court
     remanded the case to the trial court for entry of an order
     consistent with its opinion.


     Appeal from Pope Circuit Court; John S. Patterson, Judge;
circuit court and court of appeals reversed and remanded.
     Roachell Law Firm, by:  Travis N. Creed, for appellant.
     McCormick & Kennedy, P.A., by:  David H. McCormick, for
appellee.
     Reversed and remanded.
     Tom Glaze, Justice.
     Teresa Spainhour petitions for the review of the court of
appeals' three-three decision, affirming the trial court's ruling
that the Dover School District's action complied with the Arkansas
Teacher Fair Dismissal Act when the District voted not to renew
Spainhour's teaching contract.  See Spainhour v. Dover School
Dist., 57 Ark. App. 195, 943 S.W.2d 610 (1997).  We reverse the
trial court's and court of appeals' decisions. 
     The facts are essentially undisputed, and are correctly set
forth in the court of appeals' prevailing opinion.  Our difference
with the court of appeals' opinion is its erroneous reliance on
Murray v. Altheimer-Sherrill Public Schools, 294 Ark. 403,